New Eating Place in Atenas

We just had breakfast this morning at the a brand new restaurant in Atenas and boy, was it a treat! Called Nátural, it will feature as many organic and fresh ingredients as the charming young proprietress María can muster. Located diagonal from the ICE offices, the restaurant's open-air patio seating allowed fresh breezes to keep us comfortable as we enjoyed one of the best breakfasts we have had here in Costa Rica -- and that's saying a lot!

María at the feria

Our introduction to María and her excellent products came a few weeks ago at the feria, the local farmer's market where we pick up our supply of fresh fruit and vegetables. As we strolled the sidewalk where the vendors set up their stalls, we came to a new one. Just a simple table with small jars of green sauces beside a basket of torn bread chunks, it was staffed by a stunningly beautiful young woman. We stopped for a taste of the goods and were delighted with the incredible flavors of a dip made of several finely chopped herbs swimming in rich, buttery extra virgin olive oil. Next to the dip were samples of pesto sauce and marmelades, also quite delicious. But the dip, with its slightly picante or spicy flavor, was just addictive. We immediately bought a jar and proceeded to demolish it within three days. 

María told us she had recently moved to Atenas with her mom, who has always lived in the bustling capital city of San Jose. As they settled in, her mother was enthralled by the laid-back rural feeling in our little town. She felt like she had moved to the country, María said, and they both have fallen in love with our friendly community. At the feria that week, María informed us that she was planning to open a restaurant which would offer all natural, healthy foods. Well, we could hardly wait. After the closure a few months back of Cafe Cultura, the most recent effort to bring healthy organic fare to Atenas, we had almost given up on having a local eatery that would satisfy our desires for nutritious locally-sourced food. We love Gallo Pinto, of course, the popular beans-and-rice dish of Costa Rica and several local restaurants offer good food, but for us, nothing compares to the pleasure of knowing you are indulging in pesticide-free, unprocessed, all natural food.

Our waitress Margarita 

Well, it would seem that María is positioned to fulfill our wishes! Layne enjoyed a beautiful omelet made, according to our pleasant English-speaking waitress Margarita, with organic eggs and chock-full of perfectly sautéed vegetables -- mushrooms, red bell peppers, onions, carrots and spinach (did I forget anything?) -- luxuriously surrounded by a beautifully melted cheese, perhaps a Gouda. Gosh, it was good! Sharing the plate were three small slices of a dense, rich fresh-baked whole grain bread and a flawless salad in a light vinaigrette. Margarita even offered Layne a small dish of that fabulous herb dip we love. Although I stole some bites off Layne's plate, I only had a fruit smoothie because of the diet I'm on to help cure my eczema. But those tastes were enough to show what quality this place offers. And the prices were great as well. My smoothie, which was a beautiful combination of fresh fruits, not from concentrate, mind you, was only 1100 colones or about $2.25, including the tax, and Layne's omelet was just 2400 colones, a bit under $5.00. Very reasonable.

Layne's excellent omelet

Veggie-stuffed bread rolls

When we arrived after breakfast to pick up our organic veggie order from our friend Nathalie, we mentioned the wonderful food we'd just enjoyed. It turned out that she had had lunch at Nátural's the day before. She proceeded to rave about the veggie-stuffed bread

specialty that María had shown us just prior to popping them in the oven, as well as the apple pie, which Nathalie said was so good she had to have seconds!

We wish María every success in her new venture and want to assure our Atenas readers that you will not be disappointed if you walk the block and a half from the Central Park to enjoy a meal at Nátural, Atenas' newest and best healthy food restaurant. Buena suerte, María!

  

Don't Cry for Me, Costa Rica!

Our Santa Eulalia neighborhood

Just as we are feeling comfortably settled into our Santa Eulalia neighborhood, we've been hit with a wild pitch: We must return to our home in California! It has been a stressful two weeks since we got the news that the tenant renting our house had broken the lease. On top of that, our property manager said we probably needed to reduce the rent in order to lease it again. Given the small margins we have had between the mortgage and the rental income, we've decided our best course of action is to return to our Pilot Hill ranchette to live for a while as we look for ways to cut our expenses there. If we manage to do that, hopefully we will be able to return to Costa Rica one of these days.

At least it's springtime there so we won't be heading from tropical balmy days to frigid wintry weather. But it's also "springtime" here with many fruits and vegetables coming into season. Our avocado tree in front has bulbous green fruit all over it but they probably won't ripen before we depart on April 11th. Likewise, our mango tree in the backyard has fruit ripening but still too green to pick. 

Avocados about to ripen

Still-green mangos

We have so many mandarinas (like a tangerine), they are falling on the ground in abundance. Even our landlords came over recently to ask if they could pick a few. They filled two big bags and we still have so many I'm beginning to add them to salads just to try and use them.

Sadly, my brand new orchids, which I just bought a few weeks ago, cannot travel with me. I plan to offer them to Seidy (finally, this IS the correct spelling of her name!). She has a yard full of wild orchids of all kinds so I'm sure they''ll have a good home. Likewise, my "kitchen garden" of herbs will be parceled out to friends nearby. Bonnie wants the basil and I'm sure Jackie will take the oregano and rosemary. Hopefully, someone will take the big Aloe Vera plant. Sigh.

Goodbye to my herb garden

Of course, we had planned to go back to the States later this year to see family and friends, as we have every year, so this just pushed those plans forward a bit. We will now have time to deal with some of the "stuff" still in the barn. I worry that between the heat and the moisture that some things of value are being ruined. Long-time readers will recall what a hectic dash out of our home we had to make in December of 2009 when we decided to rent the house and head for Costa Rica. The prospective renters were being pushed out of their home due to a foreclosure. To paraphrase an old saying: Manure rolls downhill, so we had to get out of our house of over 14 years in less than six weeks. A lot of our stuff just ended up in our large storage barn. This return to residency there will give us a chance to clear it out.

We also look forward with joy to the opportunity to spend time with old friends again. Dinner parties with Ruth, chats over the fence with our neighbor Susan, time to drive into San Francisco to see our son Damian and grandson Kai and other friends there. We will make our pilgrimage to Portland to visit family there this summer and on to Spokane to see Layne's son Jess and his family. I will have a chance to fly to Texas and spend some time with my mom.

Still it's a bittersweet pill to have to leave Costa Rica, our adopted homeland that has welcomed us so warmly. As time allows, I'll continue to post reports on our activities as we settle back into life in California. And as circumstances allow, we hope to return to Costa Rica, at least for visits if not for good. Pura Vida!!