February 24, 2017
La Pascana – My Favorite Restaurant
How I never met this restaurant in the 80s I will never know. I think it was because it was more hidden. The Plaza was more enclosed by trees and the streets facing the Plaza were not as pretty as now.
My friend, Anna, told me that she remembers visiting it when she was a teenager, before they had paved the streets of Santa Cruz. It has been here forever!
When I visited in March of 2016, with the intent of moving back to Santa Cruz, I stayed at the Senses Boutique Hotel. It is about $90 a night and worth double that. It has absorbed the La Pascana Restaurant into the hotel and expanded its size. The hotel also includes the Nice Cream ice cream parlor I wrote about recently.
The hotel has some funky artwork, and some of that runs over into the restaurant. They have to keep the Spanish Colonial feel, but like the Manzana 1, they make it feel chic, modern, and funky.
Staying here in March, I decided to get a few meals here, since I could bill it to my hotel room. The burgers aren’t that great, but get away from North American foods and the restaurant excels. When I had what are called Argentinean empanadas, I decided this was my restaurant. Empanadas are what we would call turnovers, but these are not sweet, but savory. I prefer the chicken over the beef, but both are so good.
One of the reasons I wanted to live near the Plaza was to visit this little restaurant. I have been back at least once a week since I arrived in July; in fact, it was my first meal back in Bolivia in July. Frequently, I just go to get a meal of fried yucca and a coke. Not a real meal, and maybe not that nutritious, but it satisfies the hunger. It is the best fried yucca I have ever had, though my friend, Anna, will tell you it is nothing to compare to her mom’s fried yucca.
I have been there enough that they know who I am. The young man, who is one who usually waits on me, came to the table and said, “La usual, Señor?” That means, “The usual, sir?” Well, that is what I came for, so I said yes. That is how you know a restaurant is yours.
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