New Found Food Downtown

It was lunch time so I left my desk and headed out to get a drink to have with the lunch I had packed. I will usually just drink water but some days I want a sweet tea or an iced coffee from a nearby restaurant. This also gets me out for a little while. 

This day, I was really craving a fresh juice from a local juice bar. It was only a couple blocks from where I work so I headed that way. Sadly it was closed with a “For Sale” sign out front. I had to settle for that ice tea and head back to the office. On my way back, I had plenty of time to spare so I thought I would ride down town to see if there were any new places opened up. 

As I was cruising slowly down main street, I saw a man carrying out a to go order from this little underground place called Bayahibe Cafe. It used to be a coffee shop.

I did not know it was now open to something else, so I parked the car and went inside. You barely know there is anything here because all you can see is a small door squeezed between two large buildings that leads down into a basement cafe. 

I opened the door and made my way down the deep stairway and into the cute little cafe where I was greeted by a smile and the smell of delicious food. 

“I just saw this place and thought I’d come see what you have to offer”. She began pointing at little printed menus on the glass wall. 

“Wait, what? You have real fruit juice too?” I began to tell her about the juice bar that I first went to and it was closed. She said that was her friends place. What are the odds that I landed in a place that had what I was looking for? 

The smell of the Pastilles En Hojas enticed my taste buds so I had to order one to try. They are like tamales but wrapped in Plantain leaf pockets instead of corn. While my food was cooking, I noticed she was preparing a sweet coffee. She was adding marshmallows, cinnimon and other stuff I did not need. I told her I did not order a coffee and she said “I know, I made this special for you to take with you and try. It is Dominican Coffee. No charge.”

       

I was very grateful, gave her a tip and took the coffee along with my food back to the office. I never even got a juice. I plan to go back next week and try one of the fruit juices. I bet they are good. 

Sometimes you just have to look around to find places. Explore and don’t be afraid to try new things.