Grand Openings

We recently had two new businesses open on the same day.  It was lots of fun and I wanted to share that with you.

There is a new restaurant in town (of course there is--we have new restaurants opening on a regular basis here) but this one is a wee bit different.  It's a totally vegan restaurant.  It's owned and operated by an Ecuadorian family who don't speak English but the chef does and he loves talking about the food he makes so it's lovely to be able to hear what is in something until my Spanish gets to the point where I can understand all of that.

The decor is lovely with tables set a comfortable distance apart.

There was a respectable crowd who came to see what was going on here.

In addition to food, they have a few hand crafted items for sale.  I'm particularly fond of the metal church on the right but it wasn't the right time for buying that.

They set up a lovely tasting buffet.  The glasses have either almond milk or sesame milk in them, the muffins are truly the first healthy muffins I've ever had that were so good I went back for seconds.  There were also spinach empanadas and a vegetable stick wrapped in some kind of dough and cooked.  The dipping sauces were curry and hummus.  Ooh, the hummus was good, as were the empanadas.

There's even a little patio if one is so inclined.  We all had a grand time and I have since been back for lunch and thoroughly enjoyed my meal.

That evening we were treated to the opening of an art gallery here in town.

Nancy opened this adorable art gallery just around the corner from her restaurant, Serendipity.

She had a featured artist, Arja Aulikki Toivonen, originally from Finland (in the center of the photo) who now lives in Peguche, just down the road from us.  Her paintings are behind her.  It was tough to get good photos of them because of all the people around.

It was easier to get a little closer to the gorgeous ceramic art.

Isn't it lovely?

This painting is one of Nancy's. She does lovely work.  I hope we get to see more of her work here as well.

Nancy and Arja.

We had an overflow crowd.  There wasn't enough room inside for everyone.  Fortunately, it was a lovely evening to be outside.

We really do have a good time here.  With such a small community I can always be assured that whatever I attend, if there are expats there, I'll know at least some of them.