I had to laugh at this poorly translated restaurant description at a hotel we are going to stay at in Campeche, Mexico (I finally gave in to Delta and paid the rebooking penalty to switch our Oaxacan tickets. Now we will fly into Merida, Yucatan and stay in various haciendas in the region).
“In the kitchen of the Balandra we dealt with care to obtain a new [marriage] between yesterday and the today; to sensitize fibers of nostalgia and paladar, to rescue the classic flavors with contemporary shades, taking advantage of today the ingredients that are always born of our earth. Of redescubrir the legacy of our ancestors reinterpretado with the unique aim to please the taste by the good table, since it has been the custom of the frank ones from always.”
LaPriel and I are flying to New York on Thursday to meet up with my sisters and mom for a weekend in the city. Since they don’t arrive until Friday morning, LaPriel and I will have a quiet dinner Thursday evening at Blue Hill, hoping to redescover the legacy of our ancestors by experiencing pleasing taste by the good table as has been the custom of the frank ones from always.
This restaurant intrigues me because its founder and chef, Dan Barber, sustainably raises most of the ingredients from the good earth up at his Stone Barns farm. I haven’t had meat since reading The Way We Eat, Why Our Food Choices Matter last July. Perhaps one of Barber’s pastured cows will tempt me to indulge.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Have a wonderful trip. The restaurant looks wonderful. And that translation was hilarious. I imagine we are just as entertaining in our interpretations of their language.
I guess I know where I will eat next time I’m in NYC, as the Washington Square Park area is one of my favorites and that restaurant looks really great. I know you don’t drink, but if you want to check out a neat old lounge, try the bar at the Washington Square Hotel, which is one short street north, at Waverly Place and Washington Square Park. Also, I don’t know if you are staying in the area, but my favorite breakfast place around there is Cafe La Palette, with wonderful fresh greens and salmon and such. It is due south on McDougal street, just a block south of Houston.
Have a great time!
Thanks Kell. Having been laughed at many times as I butchered the Spanish language in front of native speakers, I know how dicey trying to literally translate from one language to another can be. Strict constructionists make for lousy translators.
Cafe La Palette sounds like a delightful place, LIsa. We are staying at the Sheraton Manhattan near 51st and Broadway (a function of cashing in hotel points). Any of your favorites in that area?
JD, unfortunately, I don’t know that area well. But New York Magazine has a great searchable restaurant guide, which includes searches by neighborhood. I looked at the Midtown West list, and found lots of great options:
http://nymag.com/search/listings-search.cgi?nymbreadcrumb_push=Midtown%20West&results_per_page=25&search_type=restaurant&autonomy_fieldname=nyml_address_all_neighborhoods&autonomy_fieldvalue=Midtown%20West&filter_prettyname=Midtown%20West
Your readers are anxiously awaiting a post on the NYC trip, JD!