What Do You Mean It's Closed?

The whole restaurant to myself




January 27, 2010
Wednesday
It’s looking like tomorrow I am going to start heading south to my Aunt’s ranch about seven hours away. I’m planning on taking the scenic route along the Pacific Ocean, so I figure it will take me all of tomorrow and part of Friday. If you’ve read my Blogs from past years, you know that I can’t leave Santiago without enjoying a great Argentine steak at one of my favorite places to eat. I’m talking about “El Rancho Del Che” in the foot hills of the Andes, not far from Santiago. Last year I took Sharon there for the first time, and she talks about that experience ‘til this day. At El Rancho Del Che they specialize in meat, all kinds of meat and let me tell you, it’s worth the drive. It seems though, that the last couple of times I’ve been there, I’ve hit their slow time. They told me today that January is typically their slow month, and today when I arrived the doors were locked, but there were two people working in the dining room. As the door opened, I asked Arturo if they were open and he indicated that they were not and I think he must have felt my disappointment, because he told me that if I wanted to eat, he would prepare me a nice meal. Now, let me ask you, has anyone ever opened a restaurant just for you, so you wouldn’t go away disappointed? I didn’t think so! This is the kind of hospitality you can expect here in Chile. I’m sure that if you’ve been reading this blog for the last few weeks, you’ve picked up on the fact that people here in Chile will go out of their way to help you. That is the way it is here.
Arturo let me in and led me to the dining room where I had my pick of the tables. Since it had to be close to 90 degrees today, he suggested I sit in the area where the fan was, and he turned it on producing a gentle breeze that made it quite comfortable in there. Arturo took my order and promptly set a cold Cristal Lager in front of me for starters. Not long after, he appeared at my table with a Chilean salad and shortly after that arrived the Steak cooked just the way I like it. I had a nice conversation with Arturo while I enjoyed the meal talking about his brother who also works there and of all the times I’ve been to the Restaurant. I assured him I would be back before I return to the USA in February.