FOOD BIZ | Are Your Restos Male or Female?

A typical tasting course (one of six, eight or
 twelve) at Lula Bistro in Guadalajara.

Guadalajara, Mexico, December 29, 2017 – What do you think?

Are there male and female, yang and yin, restaurants?

Caroline picked out several of the best restos in Guadalajara for us to visit during the interlude between Christmas and New Year's.

We started with Lula Bistro and El Hueso. We had different views about whether they could be identified by gender. Can you add to this discussion?

Lula Bistro – Yin?

The first place we went was Lula Bistro (lulabistro.com, +55-33-3647-6423). It is beautifully decorated with modern fixtures and indirect lighting. The atmosphere is hushed and respectful of the hard work going on in the kitchen to prepare its three tasting-menu options. We passed up the 12-tiempo (course) tasting menu and opted for the six- and eight-tiempo menus at MX$850 and MX$1,200 (US$40 and US$60).

We had one plate after another of delicate items in a subtle sauce. Every one was beautiful to look at and scrumptious. Here is a listing of the courses for the six-course tasting menu:

Pescado del Día, Ensalada de Betabel, Pulpo a las Brasas, Pescado Miso, Cheese Cake de Queso de Cabra Orgánico, Sinfonía.

Each of the items on the list is either a mélange of several other items as in the photo above, or is decorated with delicate sprigs or shavings or dollops or gorgeous edible flowers.

What was not to like? It was fascinating to examine, and not one bite was a disappointment. It was healthy, as well. Despite the number of courses, the total calories for the six-tiempo menu I estimate were well below 1,000. It well deserves its self-description, Alta Cocina (Haute Cuisine). We could all have handled the 12-course menu, though none of us went away hungry after the shorter repasts.

Caroline asks questions of the helpful waiter.
Steffi shows confidence in Caroline's
line of questioning.

El Hueso – Yang?

The next evening we went to El Hueso (huesorestaurant.com, +52-33-3615 3591). The name is Spanish for "The Bone".

The entire restaurant is decorated with animal bones that were found in the desert, whitened by the  sun. Those not used to decorate the walls are piled in boxes and under shelves all through the restaurant. You could say it's different!

Customers sit at long tables and the general atmosphere is conducive to talking with strangers, as at a club table. We were surrounded by non-English speakers, all of whom were friendly and communicative nonetheless. The atmosphere is that of a rural wedding feast, as the diners are not reluctant to express their high expectation for their coming food and drink.

Main course on the table.
 Caroline took a photo.

Instead of multiple courses per person, we were advised to consider each menu item as a portion to be shared by two people.

So the four of us (we were joined by Steffi) had two appetizers, two main courses and two desserts. In contrast with the day before, these shared portions were more than we could eat.

The two starters were Pulpo Adobado and Tomato Salad. The two main courses were Rack de Cordero (Lamb) and Cabreria (an unusual cut of beef close to the bone).

Despite sharing each of the three courses, we probably consumed 50 percent more calories than the evening before.

As Alice looked away for a moment,
Caroline caught her Dad taking a lustful
anticipatory look at the rack of lamb. 

Yin or Yang?

The Lula Bistro looks like a yin resto. Emphasis on the appearance and delicacy of the food. Many small items. Respectful atmosphere. Dignified serving. High class. A good place for a guy to take a woman he wants to impress.

El Hueso is more yang. Big portions, communal eating atmosphere, friendly – largely because of the outgoing, even festive, attitude of the well-trained waitstaff. Fun! A good place for a woman to suggest to a man she is interested in...

What do you think?

Oh, btw. Lula Bistro was sparsely attended. El Hueso was full.

Postscript: We all had dinner again tonight, this time at La Docena, which is rated one of the 50 best restaurants in Latin America. Caroline has dined at their Mexico City restaurant. Caroline read my post above and said that it is an over-simplification to call a restaurant yin or yang. She said the décor at Lula Bistro was yang (masculine) and many of the presentations at El Hueso were yin. Of course, she is a true expert on the food biz and she is right. As Carl Jung said, there is an image of a woman (anima) inside every man, and an image of a man (animus) inside every woman. When I say a restaurant is yin or yang, I should be more careful and put it all in terms of which gender predominates. Is the distinction between yin and yang in ambience and cuisine useful for you?

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The Scottish Independence Vote - Yin and Yang

Scotland votes yes or no on Independence on September 18.

The U.S. dog in this fight is economic.

Scottish influence on the United States has been huge from the birth of the USA. The American Constitution is based on that of the Scottish Presbyterian Church.

At least one-third of the signers of the Declaration of Independence were of Scottish origin.

Scottish influence on American politics are mixed. They have both yin (unification for economic purposes) and yang (independent Scotland first, unconquered) elements.

• Scotland always knew what it wanted from uniting with England - access to British markets. (Yin.)
• Adam Smith, Scotsman and champion of free trade, mocked the short-sightedness of trade restrictions. (Yin.)
• His pro-trade Wealth of Nations appeared the same year as the American Declaration of Independence. (Yin.)
• Scotland, however, has been proud of its strong self-defense against English soldiers. (Yang.)
• Scottish soldiers, early practitioners if guerrilla ("secret") warfare, drove back the successive attacks on them by Edward I and Edward II.  (Yang.)
• The agreement of Scotland with Edward III to unite with Britain in 1707, yielding the two-flag Union Jack (minus until 1808 the second diagonal red cross of St. Patrick), was negotiated to ensure Scotland access to colonial markets. (Yin.)

The "Yes" for independence campaign taps into the yang of the Battle of Bannockburn and the Good Sir James Douglas and the chasing of British troops back to Yorkshire. It taps into "Braveheart" Wallace and the Declaration of Arbroath, which inspired the American version.

The "No" campaign taps into the yin of economic growth, of open markets. J.K. Rowling, a beneficiary of open trade and free movement between England and Scotland, has contributed substantially to the anti-independence, "Better Together" campaign. The root of the first three letters of economic is the Greek word for home (οἶκος, oikos).

It looks now as though the vote will be closer than expected one month ago. The pro-independence yang ("Yes") vote has been growing. Its emotional appeal is strong.

Despite the seeming momentum of yang in the polls, I expect that yin ("No") will win. Scotland's nomenklatura does not want to risk losing markets by voting "Yes". I think that is also the sensible vote. Save the macho stuff for the gym and the Highland Games.

Comment

After I posted the above I read the New York Times editorial on the subject. The Times does not take a position on the yes or no case, but notes that it is more than an economic issue. It concludes, based on what both sides are saying to the swing voters, that voting either way will have limited consequences.

I'm not so sure the consequences will be so limited.

The main position of the Times is that the votes in Scotland and Catalonia are possible only because of the European Union, and isn't it wonderful that Scotland has a chance to vote on this instead of having to defend one's independence by fighting (as in Scotland under Edward I and II, and in Ukraine today).

Update, September 7 - A poll shows the "yes" vote has pulled ahead, although by a statistically insignificant margin. In other words, it is a toss-up. Yin or yang?