I was at a business lunch with my boss to this fantastic little Cuban place in Carrollton called Caribbean Cafe. It’s a little hole in the wall place just off Beltline Rd. with a beautiful interior. Let me tell you, this place is truly Cuban. And I know that because I used my scientific method of determining whether a place is authentic or not: I listened for accents and looked around at the other patrons. I know, REALLY scientific.
My boss ordered this dish called Ropa Vieja, which was basically a stewed, shredded beef. “I wonder what that means,” he said.
Using my limitless Spanish vocabulary and translating skills, I said, “I think it means ‘old clothes.’”
He frowned at his plate and said, “Well, it certainly tastes better than old clothes!”
After paying for the meal, he decided to ask our waitress who, by hearing her accent, we determined was truly Cuban. With the menu in hand, he pointed out the dish to her and asked, “How do you translate that to English?”
I saw the tiny hint of amusement on her face as she replied, “Oh… uhh… I think it maybe means… ‘chopped beef’…?” As if she didn’t know Spanish (but again, my skills of deduction told me she did). She was clearly lying, probably out of embarrassment of having to tell American patrons that we were essentially eating ‘old clothes.’
However, I decided to call her on it and say, smilingly, “It doesn’t mean ‘old clothes’?”
And then she laughed, realizing she was just caught, and said, “Oh-oh yeah! It means ‘old clothes.’”
Normally, if it had been anyone else, I would have yelled, “Busted!” and did my “I’m-so-freak’n-awesome-you-can’t-touch-this” dance, but because she was a fantastic waitress, and because I was probably going to go back there sometime, I held back. Instead, we were good sports, laughed along with her, and thanked her for the delicious lunch.
Back at the car, my boss laughed at me and said, “You totally called her on it! I’m impressed!”
I laughed and said, “Finally! Seven years of Spanish classes have now paid off!”
