I'd first like to start by showing you all how the pavement outside our cafe has been left. Due to the fact that the management company, 'Crespo', and the town hall cannot agree as to whose plumber will connect the pipes, it had just been left like this...
We complained to the Town hall on Friday morning, who 'didn't know anything about the problem', and were told that the Mayor, Senor Cesar Sanchez, was on his way to sort it out! A bit strange we thought. About 15 minutes later, the mayor did indeed arrive, but simply went into the Restaurant across the road, (you know, the one I spoke about the other day), and spoke to them. He then went back to his office! WHY did he go to see them? They don't have an effing eyesore outside their place and they didn't ring to complain, WE DID! A lady told us not to worry, as the matter was in hand. By the time we left work for the afternoon, nothing had happened.
We arrived back at work at around 6pm, in time to be ready for the bands and Fish & chips. This is what we found outside our door...
Seriously, this is no joke! They have placed 6 wooden boards over the mess! Simply laid them next to each other. When you step on one end, the other raises up! From the view you are looking at, the fourth plank, (that's in reference to the wood, not the guy from the town hall), sticks up about 4 inches where it meets the paving! It's only a matter of time before someone trips or slips. Still, we needed worry, as 'the matter is in hand'. These 'fuck wits' get paid for this!!! I'm sorry about my language, but I really have had enough now... So we are are still faced with the dilemma of where can we put our chairs and tables... Later in this blog, you will see where we have had to put them..
As the title says...what a weekend! It started on Friday night, (as most weekends do!), with some of the bands due to be playing in Saturday's 'Moors & Christians' parade, doing a little 'jolly' up our road. Its a crap picture, but you get the idea...
It meant that there were a few people milling about and we were able to take a few quid in drinks before opening for Fish and Chips. It was an okay Friday night, not the busiest we've ever had, but by no means the worst. I think a lot of people were saving themselves for the big parade on Saturday...
Saturday, and the 'Moors & Christians' parade were causing me great concern. I was faced with the problem that if it rained, it was more than likely to be called off. All the signs and forecasts suggested a torrential downpour. We had a fully booked restaurant and they needed feeding. However, if the parade was cancelled, I doubt very much if those who had booked would have even left home. I decided that rather than cook the menu I had in mind, I would have to have a reserve menu up my sleeve. Something that I could cook last minute so that if it was cancelled, there would be no waste.
I decided to wait until the morning to make my decision...
Saturday morning arrived, and it was chucking it down. Seriously heavy rain. So serious that after we had done the final bit of shopping and dropped it in the restaurant, we were unable to get home our normal way as roads were being closed! The drainage system in Spain is non existent, so when there's any sort of heavy downpour, the roads just end up being flooded. I felt pretty certain that it would not take place. I checked and double checked the weather reports, and it appeared that if the rain was to abate, it would be around 7pm. Would the parade have already been called off by that stage, or were 'they' waiting to make 'their' decision. There was no way of finding out for certain, so I resorted to plan B!
For those of you not familiar with how restaurants work, I can only say that the hardest thing to deal with is everyone turning up at the same time. As the parade had a scheduled start time of 7pm, we knew that the majority of those that had booked, would be arriving at the same time. I decided to give each table a little sharing platter consisting of some Serrano ham, Manchego cheese, home made tapenade and crostinis. It wasn't the most inventive starter I've ever thought of, but it wasn't the time for poncy or fancy! Here's what it looked like. Again, not the greatest photo I've ever taken, but...
I needed to be able to get a lot of food out quickly, without compromising my standards. That sounds a little 'anal', but that's me! I will never change! I needed to do things that I was familiar with and comfortable with. I decided to do rib eye steak, fall off the bone ribs and chicken wrapped with bacon. No pictures except for the chicken before it hit the oven...
The night was a success, and the food went down very well. Although a decent return financially for us upstairs in the restaurant, we were about 50 percent down in the cafe. There were no where as many people milling about as there were last year. Most probably something to do with the fact that basically from the moment the parade started, it rained! I have a little bit of footage for you to see. Note the people walking down the pavement. Last year it was 8 deep and you couldn't move... Again, sorry it's not the clearest video you will ever watch, but I was hanging out of the window and using my phone!
By the time everyone had gone, we had finished clearing away and getting ready for Sunday lunch, it was a little after midnight. I quickly watched Chelsea give Spurs a good thrashing, watched the recording of X Factor, and went to bed.
NO idea where I was when the alarm went off this morning at 7.45, but soon realised it was Sunday, and shot out of bed! We were dreading this morning, as it's the morning after the parade and they re-enact the 'battles', right in front of our cafe. The noise from the guns is deafening! I have made a little a video of the proceedings to give you an idea. even though it sounds loud on the recording, it really doesn't come close to being there. Here it is...
Another full house again and for the third week running, we managed to turn a couple of tables and get a few more in! We had a few travel from a fair old distance who said that they had come because they had heard good things about us and wanted to give us a try. It was a 45 minute drive for them and they said they'd be back, so pretty happy with that. During the mayhem, I only managed 1 photo! It's my home made smoked 'Jimackerel' Pate!...
So a really busy weekend all round!
I'm off for some dinner now and then X Factor, so I'll be back soon!
Take care
Jimbo
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