Solfood

Say, did you see the amazingly huge moon in the sky?
I noticed it last night after eating a mind altering bowl of beef stew at Zaragoza. I read about the tiny store in the Village Voice years ago, but I didn't start frequenting the place until I was off of work this December. The prices for a tamale ($1) and taco ($1.50) are so cheap, I could even splurge on a Jarritos. I love how the owner adds shredded lettuce, squirts sour cream onto the taco, sprinkles white cheese and then asks you what kind of sauce, green or red. I love their chicken mole with rich beans and rice because it's such a simple meal yet the sauce is complex, bitter, sweet, earthy. I dunno if it's from a can, but I don't care. I love how the bottle opener is located over the trash can and next to the juke box, so you can slip in a quarter as your soda top falls into the bin. Zaragoza is not fancy at all, hell it's really a tiny bodega, but it's home to the kind of delicious and inexpensive cooking that I constantly crave. The flautas and tamales are nuked, but honestly, who cares?
Life is tough. If my mom isn't making me food, I want someone's mom making it! Because it's been so cold, the soup was a brilliant choice last night. This soup ate like a meal and yes, you could definately eat it with a fork. Full of beef on the bone, carrots and potatoes, the Mexican additions of chopped raw onion, rice, cilantro and a twist of lime made this huge bowl exciting. The bill came to $7 with the tamarind Jarritos. But because it came with a stack of 7 tortillas, and I was full, life was looking a little brighter. In light of all the recent closings of East Village institutions like the Second Avenue Deli, as long as little joints like Zaragoza exist, I think things will be alright.