Dinner At Joe's Secret Garden

I am a total failure in providing any pictures of last nights dinner.  I brought my camera and was so busy meeting people and have a grand time that I never thought about taking one picture.... sorry!

Joe's Secret Garden is in a large private home about a half of mile from our condo.  We took a taxi there because we didn't know exactly where it was located.  There was a young girl (late teens I guess) standing out by the private gate.  We entered the small front courtyard and into the house.  The young girl pointed the way to the room with the bar.  The bartender was the Expat we had meet last Tuesday & the one who told us about this dinner (John & Barbie).

Another guy, Rick, came up and introduced himself and bought us our first drink because we were new.  My guess is there were close to 100 Expats last night.  What Joe & Joe have done is turn a large beautiful home into a first floor dining area.  So, there were tables set up in each area.  They had done name cards on each table and you sat where they had placed you.

Back to the cocktail hour.... Ed and I met so many really interesting people.  I met a lady who had lived in Alaska for 18 years.  Another lady (Sheryl) had lived in Vietnam and I just didn't get to talk to her long enough.  It seems that Ed & I were the newest Gringos last night.  Most of the people we talked to have lived here from 5 years to a half of year. 

One couple that were our table mates were Bill & Lorell.  He had worked for IBM for many years and then started his own company and it had a major project just north of Great Falls, Montana.  His wife had taken an undergrad degree in Spanish and spoke it very well, she was warm and charming & very sweet.  They have just finished building a condo and now 'camping' out it in until the furniture arrives from the states.

Our other table mates were Dave & his charming wife, Christa and she was from Germany.  They are relative newly weds and it was cute being with them.  Dave has lived in South America for 15 years in in Cuenca for 5 years.  So, he is a guy with a wealth of information and a really nice person.  Our table discussions were stimulating and fun.  I felt the 6 of us got along well and were well matched.

Now, to the food.... it was a set dinner and served family style.  They started the tables off with fresh rolls, coleslaw, a type of 'homefried potatoes with onion' and sliced beef tenderloin perfectly cooked and melt in your mouth.  Then, they bought out large dishes of Bar-B-Q beef that was fall off the bone tender & moist.  There was also small dishes of extra Bar-B-Q sauce on the table.  One of the Joe's walked around offering a hotter sauce for those into really spicy.  The food kept coming and coming & the whole evening was about good conversation, lots of food and wine.  After all that food, a desert was served, a banana type of pudding - not my thing but I did try it.

Oh, it was one couple (Karen & her husband) were celebrating their birthdays just days apart, so there was a small birthday cake for them and Joe played the beautiful piano in the living room and everyone sang Happy Birthday to them.  The crowd wanted Joe to continue to play and he did for a while.  It really was a grand evening and we look forward to our next event with them.

Now, the way you paid your tab was also well done.  During the cocktail hour, they just put the drinks on your name tab.  So, at the end of the evening you just paid your bill that included all your drinks.  The dinner was a fixed price that had been posted at the time you make your reservations.  They had a table set up in the coat room for everyone to pay their bill and it was very efficient and went quickly.

The night air was lovely and the walk home seemed the perfect end to a fun event.  So, we slowly strolled home and talked about the really nice people we had met, Ed and I often got into different small groups conversations.  We are both darn happy in our new home with these new friends....

Life is good,
Peggy