City of David is Going “Gourmet”!

Forty-five minutes south of Boquete is the City of David, the provincial capital of Chiriqui, Panama. The city is sprawled out for miles, with streets going every direction inside the “U” of the Pan-American Highway. Whichever way you drive, you’ll end up at this wide Highway, it’s very confusing. Until recently, there were no traffic lights of any kind, anywhere in Chiriqui, but now there are 3! There were no “5-star” hotels, large department stores, mega supermarkets or an International airport. But, that has all changed.

It was fun to arrange for 30 “recent” residents of Boquete to tour some of the new and developing areas in David, which we did last week. Touted as the “Gourmet Tour of David” was quite surprising, especially when being deprived of anything “gourmet” west of Panama City for years.

Ely’s Bakery isn’t exactly “new”, they have been supplying supermarkets in David and Boquete with fine baked goods for years. What was surprising, were all the varieties of breads and fancy cakes that are made in such close quarters, so quickly and so tasty. Owner, Danilo and Pastry Chef, Chomp, gave everyone a close-up tour of the facilities, including a giant, walk-in oven and each of us took home a loaf of his specialty bread. We’ll all be back for some of Ely’s delicate, gourmet pastries, and more.

We toured the Cuidad de David Hotel and inspected some of the beautifully decorated, “high-end” rooms and suites. One had a sunken whirl-pool tub, elegant fixtures and “5-star” amenities.

Chef, Jose Valdes, showed us some of his world-class cooking skills and everyone enjoyed a full “dinner” for lunch, including 3 delightful desserts presented by Swiss-trained Chef, Nicole. Thanks to Idu and staff for such a fine afternoon in this gorgeous, world-class hotel.

Another surprise was the huge housewares department on the 3rd floor of the new Conway Department Store. Thanks to managers, Mr. Taylor, clerks Roberto and Viedna, I was able to arrange 4 of the housewares department’s displays to depict French, Spanish, Italian and Asian cuisines, including recipes from each country. This is a photo of the Asian display, complete with a stone place mat. Everyone enjoyed seeing the extensive inventory of “gourmet” cooking items now available in David.

The final event of the day was a wine tasting at the new Felipe Motta Wine Store, located in the same shopping area as the Conway store.

Manager, Gina, provided the wine room of the store and 5 interesting wines for us to taste. The plum saki seemed to garner the most raves, but when Gina asked which was my favorite wine, she presented me with a bottle of Mouton Cadet Bordeaux 2007 from France. What a delightful way to end the perfect day in the upcoming City of David.

I can’t wait until David and I have a nice, fresh salad, a filete of beef to grill, and twice-baked potatoes for a candle-light dinner some evening soon. Of course, the star will be my “Bordeaux” wine from Felipe Motta. Talk about “gourmet”!

Cheers!
Cora

Come on a Gourmet Tour to David

On Thursday, April 22, 2010, a large, air-conditioned Coaster bus will leave Alto Boquete for a “Gourmet Tour of David”. This “gourmet adventure”, all-inclusive tour, will leave the high school parking at 9:00am and will make 4 very interesting stops in David throughout the day, all relating to fine dining, gourmet cooking, and fine wines.

This 7-hour tour will begin with a stop at Danilo’s, Ely Commercial Bakery, where we’ll be treated to a cup of boutique coffee, a personal tour of the bakery facilities, and a take-home loaf of Danilo’s specialty bread. This is a very popular bakery, one that bakes most of the breads and fancy cakes for large local supermarkets, both in David and Boquete. Ely’s distinctive truck may look familiar to you.

The second stop will be at the new Cuidad de David Hotel, for a private tour of the guest rooms, Business Center, Fitness Center and Stylo Restaurant. While visiting the Cuidad de David, Executive Chef, Jose Valdes, will conduct a tour of the hotel’s two kitchens, and present a special cooking demonstration for us.

We’ll enjoy a full-course lunch, with a large soup and salad bar, hot entree of the day, non-alcoholic drink, and 3 desserts.

I would rate this hotel for service, quality of food and elegant atmosphere, among the top hotels in the world. Their stated goal is to “offer you an exceptional experience with hospitality, friendly service and high technology”, and they are meeting that goal every day at the Cuidad de David Hotel.

We’ll continue traveling to David’s newest mega-store, Conway Department Store. While there, we’ll browse the new house wares department and collect recipes and ideas for preparing gourmet meals at home. Four International cuisines will be featured there.

Our final stop will be at the new Felipe Motta Wine Store, where we will be tasting wines from 4 different wine-making regions. This wine store is so new that they will bring in wines from Panama City just for our tasting.

We plan to load the bus about 3:00pm for the return trip to Boquete, scheduled to arrive at the high school a bit before 4:00pm.

The day will be one of adventure, learning about facilities available in David we may not have known before, enjoying world-class dining, exploring new International cuisines and the wines that match them, as well as improving our culinary skills.

The cost of this full-day “Gourmet Adventure Tour” is $35, including everything mentioned above, plus a travel bag and souvenir wine glass. There are only 20 seats remaining, so make your reservations now at boquetegourmet@gmail.com, call me at 6614-9514, or comment on this blog.

Hope you can join us,
Cora

Taste is First at Boquete’s New Oasis

Right in the middle of Boquete, just across the new bridge, I found a lovely “new” restaurant, El Oasis. The tasty dinner I ordered, boneless leg of lamb, garlic mashed potatoes and ratatouille, was outstanding.

Usually, I tell about the restaurant first and show you the entrance, but the food at El Oasis was so unexpected, I just had to talk about it first.

The presentation of this unusual cut of tender lamb was colorful, the taste was fresh and the intriguing flavors mixed to make a most memorable dining experience.

The reputation of El Oasis is growing fast as folks come from Panama City and parts far and wide to taste Chef Belisario Torres’ creative and delectable offerings.

I used the word “new” in my title because the owner, Anayansi Menendez has just completed a new addition to the restaurant, which allows for 12 more diners. There are designer walkways along the river’s edge and the parking facilities have been improved. The decor is simple, yet elegant. Two fireplaces provide a warm, cozy atmosphere, the music was subtle and the expansive windows open onto lovely mountain views just outside.  This is ambiance at its finest.

Two days later, I returned to El Oasis with friends and ordered the local smoked trout.  The result was the same, as it was the best local fish I’ve had anywhere. The dinners were beautifully and graciously presented by server Carlisto, and everyone totally enjoyed their various dishes.

If this type of fine dining continues to be offered there, El Oasis will surely become one of the highest rated dining establishments in town. This photo shows the front entrance of El Oasis Hotel and Restaurant. To enter the restaurant, go below and around the back.

My final thought upon reflecting on my dining experiences at El Oasis was the price, which is $10-12 per entree.  I’ll return over and over again. Next time, I’ll try Chef Belisario’s filet mignon, accompanied with a favorite wine, Trivento Reserve Malbec, 2007 from Argentina.

Salud, Cora

Visiting a Panama City Gourmet

It was the highlight of our last trip abroad to visit Gale Cellucci, Theater Producer for the Theatre Guild Ancon in Panama City, artist, fine art collector and gourmet cook.

I first met Gale when David and I went to Panama City to see a play at the Ancon Playhouse several years ago, directed by our good friend Carlos Williams.

Gale has lived in Panama City for over 35 years and she has kept in touch with our fledgling theater group in Boquete over the past few years.

When she learned that David and I were returning to Panama on a late flight and planned to immediately connect to an overnight bus to Boquete, Gale offered us the opportunity to stay overnight and to continue on to Boquete another day. The decision was easy to make.

Before long, we were enjoying a welcome drink and hors d’oeuvres on Gale’s spectacular balcony overlooking the waterfront in sparkling downtown Panama City. Gale served a tasty Roasted Pepper, Anchovy and Caper Bruschetta along with one of her favorite wines, CONCHA Y TORO Marquez de Casa Concha Merlot (Chile).

The orange peppers were roasted previously and stored in a glass jar into which Gale added extra virgin olive oil and garlic cloves.  She uses roasted peppers often and tries to keep them on hand.  Gale roasts them on her gas stove top, places them in a bag to finish cooking, then peels off the dark, roasted skins.

When we arrived at Gale’s La Cresta home, she sliced some crusty Italian peasant bread, toasted it under the broiler and carefully arranged slices of her prepared peppers on top.  Since we all love anchovies, she opened a thin tin of rolled fillets topped with capers and completed the delicious dish.

What a lovely view we enjoyed as the cool Panama evening allowed for good, lively conversation with dear friends.

We laughed when Gale told us about receiving two matching owls for her owl collection this Christmas.  Each owl was given to her by one of her children, one living in NYC and the other in Italy. Neither child knew what the other would get for Mom, quite a surprise.   You can see a few of Gale’s owls sitting among the candles along her delightful balcony.

We could not have planned a more perfect interlude in our round-the-world travels than spending time with this most interesting and multi-talented lady.  Thanks so much Gale, and we hope you can visit us in Boquete soon.
Cora