ANOTHER FINE MEAL IN CUENCA

Chuck and Nancy kept talking about this great restaurant which was closed for remodeling for most of our stay. Finally they opened and we went for dinner. The restaurant is called Tiesto and as soon as we were through the doors I knew we were in for something different. This restaurant is in a very old building with the original floors and huge oven which used to be in the outdoor kitchen. This isn't the greatest photo but it shows the old oven with the hood which was so low everyone had to duck to get around it.


The staff were very solicitous, including the chef, who greeted us warmly. The two waiters were dressed in chinos and panama hats - a very good look. The restaurant had purchased their dishes from Artesa, our favorite pottery place, and they got one of each pattern.

Lots of the items on the menu here are dishes for 4 people. We had a hard time deciding because everything looked so good. We decided on the Lomo (beef) in merlot, blackberry and ishpingo. Of course I had to ask what ishpingo was and the chef described it as "flower of cinnamon." He then brought to our table a sample of what it was.

Sure enough, it smells of cinnamon. (Later I was able to find a bag of these at the Coop. There the name is spelled slightly differently).

We had decided on a pinotage from South Africa (for $17) for our wine, but the chef wouldn't allow it - he stated that as our sauce was made with merlot, we needed merlot to drink. So we asked him to recommend a wine and he recommended a merlot from Chile. As it turns out, he was exactly correct - the wine was delicious and perfect with the meal (and when the bill came I noticed it was a dollar cheaper than the one we had picked out).

While we were waiting (and not very long, it turns out) for our meal, we got bread and lots of fun condiments, such as a bowl of garlic, olive oil and parsley, a bowl of pickled jalapenos, a bowl of aji (local salsa) etc.

It was hard to restrain from filling up on bread with these wonderful condiments. I am so glad I didn't pig out at this stage because here's what the main dish looked like.

The sauce on this steak was so delicious, and there was a big pool of it in the middle to keep dipping into. I couldn't believe we could possibly eat all the meat, but we managed. Along with the meat came sides that were very interesting in their concept and variety. We had a dish like couscous, which was made with the local grain quinoa, and had another that was made of cucumber, tomatoes and pepper, one of potatoes and one I am not sure about, but maybe was white beans, garlic and ?? taro?? In any case, all were scrumptious and we cleaned them up.

We were so full we couldn't even bear to look at the dessert menu.

This restaurant doesn't even open until 7 pm. We were the first group in and had the staff all to ourselves for about 1/2 hour. As we were eating the place started filling up. By the time we left it was going full bore. Nevertheless, the chef made sure to greet us again before we left and was very concerned that everyone enjoyed their meal. This restaurant was a high point, not only for Cuenca, but for any place. Oh, and did I mention? The bill for 4 people was $54.

Getting ready to depart for home tomorrow, so I have some blogs to catch up on. Stay tuned.

Audrey