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Restaurant Thu Jun 21 2007
Palmito to Close Soon
Ironically, our first visit to a cute and tiny Lakeview restaurant turned out to be our last. Palmito, the cozy restaurant that serves updated Costa Rican food, is closing by the end of the month.
My company had a pork chop with pineapple and cucumber salsa, while I had what's called "gallos." Gallos was a combination of three stewed meats served on tortillas: pork with potatoes, shredded beef, and chorizo with chayote. They were all good in a homey and comforting way, but both my dish and my company's might have been lacking in that edge that could have justified the $15 range prices. Compared to places like Café 28, which serves excellent Cuban and Mexican food in the same price range, Palmito seemed a notch below.
I myself wasn't blown away by what we chose to eat there yesterday, but if you have a favorite dish or two cooked at Palmito, now is the time to get the last taste of it. As we had our dinner, the waiter guy was calling up the restaurant's regulars to inform them of the closure. At the table next to ours, the chef's family (wife and two young girls) dined in the warm light of the setting sun. We were the only other diners. Just before we stood up to leave, the young chef came out of the kitchen, still in his whites, and sat down with his family (as I assumed them to be) to while away the slow evening. His slouched shoulder and lowered head seemed to say more than his inaudible murmur to his daughters in bright summer dresses. As we drove home, we didn't discuss the food as we would normally do--it seemed rather pointless and a bit cruel.
