Muchos Gatos......

Last night we went out to dinner with friends to Coqui Fire Cafe. Our reservations were for 7:30pm. We got to town early because there was something we had heard about but had never seen. We were lucky enough to arrive at just the right time. You see, there's this guy in Isabell and he feeds the cats. When I say he feeds the cats, I  mean he really feeds the cats, like 60 cats. We weren't exactly sure where it was but we knew it was just a block or so from Coqui Fire Cafe. It was dark when we drove by, but you could see all these cat waiting. Waiting on the curb, lined up like statues. Waiting on the the couple cars parked in front of the house. It was surreal there were so many cats.

There's 31 cats in the above picture. Lorrie and I counted at least 60, maybe more. What's weird was that they were all so quiet. No fights or growling. They were all waiting to be feed.

Like I said we timed it just right because the guy came out to feed the cats just a few minutes after we arrived. He was a gentle person and told us that he feed them twice a day and that it took a bag of cat food each day. We've heard that he spends a large chunk of his SS check on the cats.

What was even wilder was this hen chicken that was walking around among all these cats, also eating the cat food:

Still having a few minutes to burn before our reservations, Lorrie and I walked down to the Plaza in the middle of town. It's such a nice place with people" out and abou"t in the evening air. The breezes are just about perfect.

It was so nice being  there. We've really grown to love Isabel. Back when we first started coming to Vieques most all our time was spent in Esperanza, but that has since waned. On the plaza there were families out enjoying the evening, kids playing and of course the ambient noise from the people in the Bar Plaza. It's almost like stepping back in time, a gentler, more simple time. Yes, I know, I'm  romanticizing. Vieques has it's problems, but there is that vibe and I hope that never gets lost.

We left the plaza and made our way back to Coqui Fire Cafe. So far everything we've heard about the place has been good. I know we love their hot sauces. Coqui Fire Cafe is located two blocks from Blackbeards on Calle Carlos Lebrum. They are open Mon-Fri 5-9 pm. and serve Authentic Mexican Food with a Caribbean flare.

We sat outdoors, it was a beautiful full or nearly full, moon.  They had the plastic chairs and tables, much like other smaller restaurants in Vieques. No liquor license yet, so it was BYOB. We opted for water, given it was Mexican cuisine. We started off with  a quesadilla  appetizer.  Two of us didn't caer much for the quesadillas. Much different than what we have back home, but I believe that we eat more of a  Tex-Mex than actual Mexican, so we're not accustomed to the flavor. For entrees we ordered carnitas with black beans and rice. I almost ordered the Big kahuna Burrito, but opted for the pork.

Man was I glad I did. This dish was fantastic. Wonderful flavor. The presentation was so enticing that I started eating and forgot to take a picture first. Here's a picture of my Carnitas, partially eaten:

The portioning was perfect and the flavors bounced off each other just enough to make it interesting. Chef Jimmy came over to our table and ask how our meal was, nice touch. As our conversations with him went on his wife, who greets you, came over and told him "you've got to cook, people are coming in!" I walked back to the kitchen and ask Jimmy if I could take a picture of the place:

Great place, great food, great people. I think that's a Big Kahuna, front and center....yum. Total for the meal was $49. That was  shrimp fajitas for Lorrie, carnitas for me, pina colada cheesecake for desert (oh man was that good there was no picture taking of that beauty) and the quesidillas which were the only thing we didn't care for.

:-)