Finding a place in Centro open for breakfast on New Year’s day proved to be a bit of a challenge.  But Rooster’s was accommodating people and we were overjoyed.  You could sense that tables were waiting a pretty long time and we saw just one server zooming around trying to take care of everybody.  So a gentleman, whom I assume was the owner, began greeting potential customers at the door, to explain to them that some key staff members had not shown up for their shift and that he would prefer that they came back another time.  We have spent most of our careers in the restaurant and food-service business and really respected the proprietor’s decision in how to handle this restaurant disaster.  As for us, we were on vacation, had all the time in the world and the only real plan for the day was for the guys to catch some football watching at Jax.  So when other people decided to leave, we stayed and we were so very glad that we did.

Some menu choices were very good like the D’s pancakes with eggs and chirizo sausage. 

Others dishes were exceptional like the light and lemony hollandaise sauce on the eggs Benedict

and the Creme Brulee French Toast which our Newbie ordered.  You could see her taking little baby slivers of her meal to stop and savour each bite and make the consumption of it last a very, very, long time.

I choose the Isla Omelette with portobella mushrooms and zucchini flowers.  In regions of Italy, cooking with zucchini flowers is quite common.  I have had the pleasure to taste them only once previously even though I do have a recipe waiting in the wings that I have been wanting to try.

The contrasts between the earthy, meaty portobello and the fresh and pungent zucchini flowers were really exquisite.  Unfortunately, the over-sized slices of onion which had not been sauteed for long enough were a bit of a distraction and upset my tummy that afternoon.  But no matter, I would choose the omelette again given the chance and looking forward to another opportunity to do so.

It turned out to be a very lazy day for us. Since the guys were occupied, I took  a solo walk on Playa Sol at sunset.  For sustenance I stopped at the “Corn Man’s” cart.  He prepares each cob to order by piercing a pointed stick into one end and asking if you would like chili spice and mayonnaise (since the mayo wasn’t refrigerated I let it pass).  He did  accommodate my request with a big squeeze of lime and coarse salt.  For a decadent touch, he then rolled it in queso for me.  When I had seen others walking with their cobs on previous days, I wondered why anyone would choose to have their corn cobbed rolled in lumpy sugar?  Ah it’s cheese not sugar, after all! 

 

These were the photos that I captured of the first sunset of the year 2012.

Many readers are sad to learn of the closure of Sergio’s Playa Sol-ourselves included.  I had walked by the empty stretch of sand on a number of occasions but the closure hadn’t really sunk in until I saw this sad sight:

Quite a blustery wind was coming off the water that night but since we prairie girls are a hardy bunch, we wrapped up in pashminas, poured Kahlua over ice and squeezed in big wedges of lime.  We took these, as well as coconut shrimp left overs down to the seawall to face the wind head on. 

Afterwards, we walked Hidalgo to pick up a couple of snacks and had left overs of pork and rice back at the hotel.  A lovely, lazy, do-nothing-at-all way to start the new year.

 Kath’s quote: “…in a well regulated kitchen nothing is ever wasted, but with careful preparation even the ‘rough ends’ of a beef steak may be made into a wholesome, tender and appetizing dish; that ‘stale bread’ may be used in the most delicious ‘desserts’ and ‘farcies,’ and ‘left-over’ food from the day before need not be thrown in the trash-box, but may be made into an endless variety of wholesome and nutrious dishes.” –The Picayune’s Creole Cook Book 1901

 

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