October 8, 2021 Lunch - PPI Pulled Pork and fries (So-Mann), and Korean Fried Chicken. Dinner - Vara Winery
I started the day hungry so at 9:00 I ate a bowl of granola with milk and 8 blueberries and yogurt and 1/3 banana sliced and 1/2 apple diced.
Suzette had suggested eating dinner at Vara since they serve paella on Friday nights and we could watch the fireworks after the balloon glow because Varna’s patio is just south and across the ditch from the Balloon Park, so I called and made a reservation for 7:30 for two.
It was a busy day and I did not take a break until Suzette arrived at 3:00. We heated the Leftovers from our snack yesterday at Kitsune at the Old Town Tap Room. The reheated fries were soggy and the pulled pork toughened in the microwave but the Korean chicken was wonderful. The lessen is if you think there will be leftovers, get the KF chicken.
Johal visited in the afternoon and at 6:15 we drove him back to Nizar’s house and then drove across Paseo del Norte to 2nd St. And then up 2nd St. to Alameda and then east on Alameda to the entrance to Vara to avoid the largest part of the crowd.
Vara was like a quiet island sanctuary in a sea of activity. We were shown to a table on the patio but as soon as we were seated at 7:30 and ordered a paella, a merguez sausage, and a flight of 4 red wines the fireworks started and we drifted out to the edge of the lawn to obtain a wonderful view of the fireworks. Here are some photos of the lawn area and some of the fireworks.
After the fireworks we returned to our table to find that the four glasses of red wine and the merguez sausage had been served. Almost immediately the paella was served. It was a large four portion pan costing $40.00. Min the sea of rice, sofrito, and tomatoes were clams, shrimp, mussels, chicken and strips of chorizo. We only were able to eat 1/2 of the paella and even less of the merguez sausage because both were spicy but the merguez sausage was really spicy even though I ordered a side of bread and ate slices of sausage on pieces of bread.
The paella drizzled with aioli sauce
I was amazed that by 8:40 we had seen the fireworks and eaten dinner and were on our way home.
We drove back home by way of 2nd. St., which was not very crowded.
We could eat no more, so we considered but then passed on the Blue Bell pistachio ice cream I bought at Lowe’s yesterday. I drank two cups of chai and felt it puff up the rice in my stomach.
I we had read about the new Pommier French restaurant in Eldorado in today’s venue, so since we plan to go to Santa Fe for a big estate sale tomorrow, I called Amy and invited her and Vahl to join us for lunch at 1:30 at the restaurant. Amy said they were watching the San Francisco v. Los Angeles baseball playoff game and it was exciting. So, we watched the news and San Francisco’s. Los Angeles game and later I watched Arizona State beat Stanford in football and the blogged.
The paella was burned/scorched to an inedible black on the bottom. I asked a waitress if burning the bottom occurred often and she said,”Yes, because they bake the paella.”
I would have suggested more stock to avoid burning but the head chef had left.
It was a fun evening.
Bon Appetit
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