Saturday, November 23, 2013

The Tweet Life

Outdoor dining area at El Gorjeo de Las Aves En Las Mañanas de Abril
Some restaurants have good food and service; others have great view or setting. Rarely does a restaurant with a beautiful setting also have good food. There are a few exceptions. One is El Gorjeo de las Aves en Las Mañanas de Abril.

You may recall from a previous post of mine that it's a breakfast/brunch only restaurant, located on the lush, landscaped grounds of a beautiful estate in Ziracuaretiro, Michoacán, open from 9 to 1 seven days a week. It's the younger sister of the acclaimed La Mesa de Blanca, not far away, on the other side of Ziracua. Keep in mind that La Mesa de Blanca is open only from 1 to 6 p.m., Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Both restaurants feature Michoacán specialties created by and under the supervision of Chef Blanca Vidales and her husband, Sr. Rodrigo Lemus.

On the most recent visit, Sra. Cuevas and I took two of my visiting my sisters in law to brunch at this delightful place. When we arrived at about 10:00 a.m on a Thursday, we were the only guests. Still, the service was welcoming and attentive.

The menu is neither long nor complex.
El Gorjeo main menu
We were brought a basket of warm, freshly baked pan casero and two conserves, one of naranja  and the other of fresa. The breads were even better than those we had on our first visit.

Pan casero El Gorjeo
I knew that we had to have a jarra  of the unmissable agua fresca de zarzamora, blackberry fresh water. The juice menu, offering orange, grapefruit, tangerine, lima (sweet lime), jugo verde, and jugo de frutas were first rate, but it is our tradition to drink agua fresca de zarzamora when we are at either of the sister restaurants.

Nectar of Ziracuaretiro 
We noted that for $90 pesos, one could have a combination of two different dishes. My sister in law, Joan, chose a half and half combo of Enchiladas Verde and Enmoladas.

Enchiladas Verde, L; Enmoladas, R.
Sra. Cuevas enjoyed Aporreadillo con Salsa de Aguacate a specialty of the restaurants. It's shredded dried beef scrambled with eggs with a very mild sauce of avocado. ( Ziracuaretiro, after all, is in the heart of avocado growing country.)

Aporreadillo en salsa de aguacate
My sister in law Wendy, had if I recall correctly, Enmoladas, and I Enchiladas Verdes. Both are filled with shredded chicken.

¡Que guapas las enmoladas! Archive photo.
Enchiladas verdes con crema. Archive photo.
I had brought a small bottle of my homemade limoncello as a little gift for Blanca and Rodrigo. Chef Blanca was away in Oaxaca, and Sr. Rodrigo up in their house, but our waiter went up to tell Rodrigo of our presence. He came down and joined us and we chatted. He then asked us if we would like to see some lodgings now available to rent as B & B.

I was excited, as I had occasionally fantasized staying overnight in this little corner of Paradise. He led us toward the back of the property, where we crossed a rushing stream on a narrow, arched footbridge.

The Bridge Over The River Sighs
On the other side are vehicle navigable streets leading to a gated enclave. Within the enclave are two houses, a new, two bedroom, two bathroom house, called "Bambú", for the grove of bamboo behind it. It's new, attractive, well kept and sleeps up to seven guests, if two sofa beds are deployed. There's even a small swimming pool.

One of two bedrooms in "Bambú"


Sala of Bambú
Casa Bambú to the left
About a block away,closer to the footbridge crossing is the more compact, modest, rustic "La Cabaña", sleeping up to five guests. There is a loft, reached by a narrow spiral ladder where there are three beds, best suited to agile youths.

La Cabaña

We returned across the footbridge to the grounds of El Gorjeo.

"El Nido" is a cozy studio apartment on "el primer piso", about midway down the hill from the parking lot to the dining area. This appealed to my romantic side as a snug "love nest" for love birds. It's also closest to the dining area.

El Nido bedroom
I should note that all are equipped with at least basic kitchenettes, although in some, stoves have yet to be installed. Rodrigo told us, "They are coming." Besides, breakfast at El Gorjeo is included in the rates! 


Rodrigo then showed us one more house, "La Casita", a rancho style building on the hilltop, fairly close to the parking lot and behind their own spacious house. It has two bedrooms. The main attraction for me is the ample porch.
La Casita
La Casita porch
Rodrigo told us that the price for any of the lodgings includes breakfast at El Gorjeo. The cost is $1000 pesos, notwithstanding the number of guests.


Ratings

Restaurant:

Food: ****

Service: *****

Ambience: *****++!

Cost: $-$ 1/2 (Each $ is approximately $100 pesos per person.)

Lodgings are unrated as we have not stayed there yet.

Contacts:
La Mesa de Blanca
01 423 59 30355
01 423 59 303 56

El Gorjeo de Las Aves En Las Mañanas de Abril

01 423 59 301 47

Sr. Rodrigo Lemus Lemus
Sra. Chef Blanca Vidales de Lemus

The lodgings have the same telephone numbers.

Location



View Larger Map

8 comments:

Felipe Zapata said...

Very nice writeup, Señor Cuevas.

DonCuevas said...

Thank you, Felipe.

Your lovely wife and you might consider this place for a getaway from all the stresses of your busy daily life.

Saludos,
Don Cuevas

jennifer rose said...

Do they deliver?

DonCuevas said...

Nothing worse than a soggy, reheated enchilada. You should go there sometime, perhaps spend the night, eat at either or both El Gorjeo and/or La Mesa de Blanca. La Mesa de Blanca has a more ample menu, and a nice ambiance; El Gorjeo has a nice menu but beats all on entorno.

Saludos,
Don Cuevas

Tancho said...

Nice to know they have rooms, a perfect place to send off visitors after we get tired of them.....
We have always enjoy the breakfasts there, it is a different world, secluded away from the noise and traffic, the rushing creek is my favorite.

Tancho said...

With all the stresses that Felipe has, I doubt he will ever leave Patzcuaro......

Nancy Jorden said...

This looks so good. I want something like this on my kitchen table. Thanks for sharing.

Kim G said...

It looks charming there. I'll have to spend a night some time.



Another restaurant which has (or at least had) excellent food combined with excellent environs, (especially the garden) is Cafe des Artistes in Puerto Vallarta. F and I shared one of the most memorable meals I've ever had there. The name initially put me off, but the food, ambiance, and service are all excellent.



Saludos,


Kim G
Boston, MA
Where it's hard to find a place that has great ambiance and great food. But when pressed, I usually opt for great food.