Fatale Abstraction

I've been recording Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations on the DVR lately and Friday night I watched a few episodes. Bourdain's globe-trotting gourmand schtick gave me a taste for something exotic, and I decided to go somewhere interesting for dinner Saturday night. Oddly enough, I found Queen of Sheba restaurant [Ethiopian] driving up Inwood north of 635 Friday afternoon. It's up in Addison now, but when I went there about 20 years ago, or so, they were on Lemmon avenue between McKinney and Cole. After they packed up from Lemmon, I never knew where they went. Anyway, I'm vowing to break out of eating the usual stuff - I think I'm missing out by not trying new and different foods that are to be found here.

Carribbean Grill at the SW corner of Belt Line and Webb Chapel fit the bill perfectly Saturday night(I wasn't keen to sit on the floor in my cowgirl boots at the Ethiopian joint). CG is a Cuban venue, and I ordered something the name of which I can't begin to remember. The dish consisted of braised beef steaks in a very tomatoey sauce with fried plaintains, white rice and gorgeously seasoned black beans on the side. Honestly, that's the first time I've really liked black beans. The beef wasn't a superlative cut, but all the stuff it was smothered in was fresh and delicious, so it sorta didn't matter too much. I like the way they really fried the plaintains. I love Texas de Brazil, but I think it's insipid to fry bananas but not bring them to the point of caramelization on the outside. I mean, otherwise, they're just hot and full of grease -- what's the point? Anyway, this very much reminded me of Mexican food, only much cleaner and fresher-tasting. And sauced, spiced tomatoes with white rice and fried bananas is one of the best flavor combinations in the world, in my humble opinion. Even better with scrambled eggs. I know it sounds revolting, but it's long been a favorite. The acid of the tomatoes is foiled by the sweetness of the bananas, which compliments the saltiness, and then of course the white rice brings a wonderful starchy body to the party. I first saw this combination in a Greek cookbook about 25 years ago, and it's been one of my abiding affections, this combination. Oh, and you need some garlic in there, too. Yum. Garlic.

Sorry. I drifted off there, for a moment. I'll go on in case someone is still reading:

Halfway through my meal, a sweet little older lady came up to me and started speaking Spanish, and I said "Do you speak English?" and she and I sort of grinned and gestured at each other as she handed me her daughter's business card. A few minutes later, her daughter, Aura, came over to tell me they were here in Texas promoting this new energy company, and that they live in New Jersey. She had this gorgeous, smoky sort of voice, and it was just fun to hear her talk. I told her I'd look their program up on the net and consider it. Funny, in a lot of other contexts, I would have recoiled from a vaguely sales-pitchy approach, but actually it was very casual and chatty, and not just about selling, it seemed. I really liked them.

The meal was amazing, and I was thrilled with my choice for the evening. The music they played was like a younger, hipper Buena Vista Social Club, sort of Danzón-esque, and all the while, technicolor visions of vintage Jordan-Almond-colored cars danced through my head. As I was leaving, Aura hollered across the restaurant "Goodbye, Rita!" and I loved just hearing her say my name. That was fabulous. All that good food and casual chat and I never mentioned the most famous Cuban in the world.

If you live in the area, definitely go check it out.