almost

Two private parties later and things have gone pretty well. Only some adjustments when it comes to the lighting and a solution for those occasional windy rainstorms and it will be perfect. Opening our doors to the public on Saturday when people can actually order from the full menu for the first time.

Monday

The good news the bar construction is really taking off. The landscaping is coming along great and should be done in another couple of days. We are eternally greatful for our metal worker and foreman, Reinell, who got kitchen shelves up and the structure for the entrance stairs ready just waiting for the wood guy to show. Tomorrow we will start setting up the office at KOKi

crunch time

If we get the gas connected today Monday we will have our first test dinner will be served tonight. It will be so much more pleasurable if the electrician also shows up to grant us light by then. Though we have made amazing progress in a short amount of time we are worried about the slow progress on the bar counter construction. Whatever little has been done might have to be redone. The assembly of the wood pieces on the bar face appears sloppy. This needs to be completed in order to assemble the rest of the bar with refrigerators, blenders, sink and the rest. Meltdown. I hope they pull it together by Wednesday at the latest. This will be a excruciating week.

Costa Rica the happiest country in the world

Landscaping

The last few days have been as exciting as they have been exhausting. The sun has been sizzling nonstop and we are working on getting the plants in the ground without getting to much sundamage. Finally tonight the rain came and provided a much needed release for our newly transplanted vegetation. The restaurant only covers about a quarter of the terrain of our ocean front lot in town so it was important to plant lush gardens to create an ambiance that detracts from the fact that the rest of the area is basically a huge gravel parking lot. We have now have a green buffer with all indigineous plants from the area. We make an effort on bringing plants that provide a living environment for the local wildlife such as humming birds who love a particular banana plant whos bright red flowers attract them with its sweet honey. Today there were litterally hundreds of humming birds all over the place and both our sloths took up in the tree situated right in the middle of the dining area deck. Our green Iguana also passed by to check out the progress up close and in the mornings there is this particularly funny squirrel that shows up like clockwork to stuff his cheeks full with almond from the tree in the restaurant before looking around at us and returning thru the restaurant whith his cheeks bulging with almonds on his way back to his abode in a tree half a block away. I can only imagine faces of our future breakfast guests when this spectacle unfolds infront of their eyes. Our existing sangrillo trees that we incorporated into the restaurant area are not only great for shade but is also the habitat of a particularly beautiful butterfly - the Morpho - that are colored in metallic, shimmering shades of iridescent blue and can have an imposing wingspan of up to 20 cm (8 inches). We also discovered the presence of the tiny bright green and red poison dart frogs that love to live in the cool crevices provided by trees and exposed corall which we have plenty of. The sound of the waves, the ocean breeze, the palatte of colors from the flowers and wildlife makes the place such a magical sanctuary that sometimes I just have to stop sit down and take it all in.

We are also happy to welcome our Chef Martin Gonzales, whos latinamerican fusion cuisine with roots in aztec as well as mayan tradition, two cultures that greatly influenced the area by their interchange and trade, will stimulate our tastebuds using local ingredients presented with a modern interpretation. His passion for the art is tremendously contagious and the love transmitted in each dish doesn't go unnoticed to any diner.

humming birds love these red banana plants

Tomorrow the roof is going up

plants are in

office before the landscaping

shadow play on office wall

bar

Bar area

dining area view from the kitchen