Cuenca Perspectives by Jim: CASA DEL PARQUE

Cuenca Perspectives by Jim: CASA DEL PARQUE: In my last blog post, I presented the magnificence of  Mansion Matilde to you, which occupies the second floor of Casa Del Parque .  Today, ...

CASA DEL PARQUE

In my last blog post, I presented the magnificence of  Mansion Matilde to you, which occupies the second floor of Casa Del Parque.  Today, we shall explore the first floor food court, which is also an upscale myriad of restaurants, eateries, and bars.  Generally done in the same style reminiscent of sixteenth and seventeenth century Spanish architecture and design.  It has quickly become a gastronomical and cultural delight as a major addition to the food scene in Cuenca.

The exterior of Casa Del Parque

Below is the walkway of the exterior of the building.

Along this same east side of Parque Calderon on Calle Louis Cordero, is the location for the city bus tour, which is about a two hour ride and takes the sightseers to the heights of Turi, where panoramic views of the city can be seen.  

As we enter into the main entrance of Casa Del Parque, we are greeted with a sandwich vendor on the right, followed by this cheese vendor, El Bueste, which also offers sandwiches and wine.

Looking straight down is the longest open space in the food court that is not rambling through maze-like passageways to many of the other eateries.

This passageway, for lack of a better term, has comfortable seats where diners can sit and eat whatever foods they have purchased.  A little further down are tables and chairs.  The wall here and in some of the other passageways are decorated with historic photos of the city of Cuenca, of historical figures from Cuenca's past, and of past owners and  history of the Casa Del Parque when it  once was the premier private residence in Cuenca.

As we continue toward the rear of the passageway we come to a comfort spot where people can sit and relax.  Below is a photo of Esteban Rios, one of the joven (young men) residing with me.

                                                                                                                               

Above is Esteban's older brother, Mathias, who also resides with me.

Notice the luxury of the setting.

Mathias and Esteban Rios

 Mathias and Jim enjoying the evening.

                                   

Esteban and Jim in a photo.

Below is the trio of us. We agreed we would wear our "Panama" hats, which are really ECUADORIAN HATS and NOT PANAMA HATS!

Esteban and I had just watched a gangster movie the night before that took place in Los Angeles back in the postwar 40's, about Mickey Cohen.  In the fictionalized version, starring Sean Penn, Cohen thought he could come to control all of LA.  Needless to say, the movie made Mickey more powerful and ruthless than he was in real life.  

After we saw the movie, we three decided the hats were appropriate, as we do our best gangster interpretation minus the 40's styled tailored suits, minus the cigars, and, oh yea, minus the sidearms.  Definitely, we were stripped down to be bare-bones gangsters, but at least Esteban has an appropriate scowl on his face for this photo below.

As we come to the end of the passageway, restrooms are on the right, another eatery leading us in another direction on the left, and straight ahead is Consuelo, a restaurant which features Ecuadorian cuisine, in a very eclectic setting.

The bar is phenomenal and first catches the eye as one enters.

Vivid colors are quickly absorbed by the eye balls, which immediately enlarge by the breadth and depth of colors.

What makes Consuelo so eclectic is the fact that it is the first restaurant I have ever entered that chose as its motif, to be a replica of a Catholic Church.  Not that Cuenca is exactly hurting for a lack of Catholic Churches.  Once in Madison, Wisconsin, I ate in a restaurant that had been a church, but became an Italian Restaurant. Consuelo's was the first time I encountered the reverse.

The bar area and the restaurant's main dining room, in the photos above and below, have a tabernacle, altars, candles, shrines, and some rather unusual furnishings.  This kitsch style reminded me of my visit many years ago to House on a Rock in Spring Green, Wisconsin.

Not to leave anything out in this potpourri of surprises and colors are the portraits of past Cuencano military leaders and heroes who contributed to the independence of Ecuador; first from Spain, and then from Gran Colombia.

I suppose if one is Catholic, they can go to mass and have lunch or dinner at the same time at Consuelo.  They get to kill two birds with one stone.

Above my table was a mirror, as I took this shot of the space behind me.

The food is good, typical Ecuatoriano dishes.  For desert, we had a common dessert which can be found all over El Centro by street vendors, which is called Espumilla.  Espumilla is made from fruits like guayaba, strawberries, mora (blackberries), naranjilla, or lemon.  Add sugar and eggs, and whip it into a very light, fluffy, tasty mixture, which is fluffier and better tasting than meringue.  

At first glance, Espumilla can be mistaken for ice cream, since the fluffy concoction on the streets with cones sticking upside-down in it appear to be ice cream.  At Consuelo, the Espumilla, which is a shaped into the face of a clown, can be eaten in the cones or from a dish, with different toppings to add.

Next we move to the left of Consuelo's to an Italian eatery, Rocco Pizzeria, which serves some basic pastas and is best known for its hand-crafted pizzas.

An Italian restaurant, Rocco Pizzeria, is just the perfect backdrop for these two Mafioso strongmen below.  Hopefully, this will not be their Roman banquet meal before lights out permanently.

A Punta de Nieve Posteria (A Point of Snow Pastries),  which is one of my favorite pastry shoppes in Cuenca, that offers unique pastries not always found in other pastry shoppes in the city, and has delicious cakes.        

When I first came to Cuenca to visit in 2010, if I ordered coffee with cream.  They would universally bring out a jar of instant Nescafe, a cup filled half filled with milk, and a cup of hot water.  One was expected to mix the hot water with the Nescafe, and then add it to the milk in the other cup.  I found it mystifying.

Most Ecuadorians are supposedly tea drinkers, but coffee has become more popular probably due to Gringo influence and increased tourists from North America and Europe in cities like Cuenca over the last decade.  Ecuador also has some of the best coffee beans in South America, which come from the Loja Valley, and can rival many of the best coffee beans in Colombia.

Now in Cuenca, coffee and pastry shops are ubiquitous.  I'll bet on a per capita basis, there are as many coffee shops as one would find in Paris.  It is astounding how much this city has changed in one decade. Mochaccinos and Cappuccinos are a way of life.  Italian style espresso has a way to go in Cuenca, however.

Yes, among the food selections in Casa Del Parque is a Dunkin' Donuts.  Our first and only in Cuenca, and more upscale than the Dunkin' Donuts I remember back home, and which also offers sandwiches.  I can't recall eating a Dunkin' Donut, since my sons, as high school students, worked at one back in the early 2,000's.  They could bring the leftover donuts home after work in the evening without charge to them.  Just one of many reasons, why my life has been a roller coaster of dieting.

Here in Cuenca, I tried a lemon cream-filled one, and it was delicious.  I understand that a donut back home in the states runs about 95 cents now.  In Cuenca, be prepared to pay $1.75.  How Cuencanos can afford it, is beyond me; but it's doing great business, especially at a time when international tourists are still rare to find in the city.

Below is La Creme, the ice-cream shoppe.  Cuencanos really love their ice-cream. No matter where you go in Cuenca, you will find creamy ice-cream, and in some places good Italiano gelato. 

One of my favorite restaurants in Cuenca is Sofy Glocal Cuisine.  There are only about three restaurants at the higher end of dining that sport female chefs of which I am aware, and all three chefs can hold their own with their male counterparts in Cuenca.  The salads at Sofy's are unique.  Many customers love her steak or beef dish, which is very good.  Sofy's Thai Chicken is a favorite.  However, my favorite is the lamb ribs with Quinoa and the sauce is to die for.  The establishment is also known for its Golden Margaritas. 

If you are very lucky, now and then, Sofy's sister, Karen, helps out in waiting tables.  She is very lively, talkative, and a joy to have serve you.

Above is Esteban enjoying a bacon cheese burger and Sangria, with a vegetable other than potatoes that looks like fries at Sofy.

Across from Sofy, but which must be entered from the exterior of the building is the sport's bar, LATITUDE CERO , which caters to   the Ecuadorian craft beer by the same name, which has won a number of awards, and the pub is viewed in the two photos below:

Another entrance to the food court is on Calle Simon Bolivar on the north side of the building.  Sofy Glocal Cuisine is to the right, as we make our way down the corridor to the center courtyard.

The center courtyard of which all the eateries radiate is stunningly attractive, and where people can dine and they are served from the various restaurants and eateries.

The courtyard take some getting use to during one's initial visit.  A number of the eateries will suddenly have waiters converge upon your table leaving behind menus, and almost at once ready to take your order.  If one doesn't speak Spanish, it gets more complicated.

 

My first time eating in the courtyard, I had already ordered from the pastry shoppe, and chose to eat in the courtyard where the staff for that shoppe brought my order.  Meanwhile, I was suddenly converged upon by other waiters from other eateries with their menus.  I had no idea what was taking place.  

When a group of us are together,  we can find ourselves ordering from different venues, and hope in the end all of the checks come out correctly.  Once without knowing what I did, not that it mattered, but it can be confusing; I order pizza from one venue, and I unwittingly ordered mochaccino from a different venue, with two different  bills to pay as I got the various menus mixed-up.  

Sometimes where a restaurant is overfilled or customers just choose to eat in the courtyard, the wait-staff has their work cut out for them, as they move from customers in the restaurant and customers in the courtyard.

It is also on the second floor of the courtyard where the elegant Matildes encompasses the second floor, with its bar and many dining rooms, which I shared with you in my last blog post.

The courtyard is also where live music is performed on occasion, based upon weekly schedules.

This final photo is a decorative art piece in the courtyard, which was on display in June during the Corpus Christi Festival, which is a week of candies and pastries served from a hundred cabinas, which is a celebration that is either a sweet-tooth's dream, or an insulin nightmare.  I haven't covered all the eateries and plazas yet around Parque Calderon.  They is more to come.

Cuenca Perspectives by Jim: MATILDE MANSION RESTAURANT AND PARQUE CASA

Cuenca Perspectives by Jim: MATILDE MANSION RESTAURANT AND PARQUE CASA: A great many changes have taken place in El Centro in recent months.  When the lockdowns turned Cuenca into a virtual ghost town,  I thought...

MATILDE MANSION RESTAURANT AND PARQUE CASA

A great many changes have taken place in El Centro in recent months.  When the lockdowns turned Cuenca into a virtual ghost town,  I thought much of the center would be filled with vacant buildings when the covid scare ended; just the opposite happened.  The city is more vibrant than ever.  Many owners of businesses in the city have lowered rents either to avoid losing commercial renters or to fill their vacant stores and offices.  Much of South America and the United States are experiencing steep inflation spikes. At the moment, as reported by the government; Ecuador has been moving in the opposite direction.

My brother, Leo, who visited me in January of 2020 before the pandemic, would be surprised with the changes that have taken place since that short time ago.  Here is one of the main changes.  The heart of El Centro is Parque Calderon, and the square around it is a mecca of new restaurants and stores.  Today, I will focus on the yellow limestone building on the east side across the street from  Parque Calderon on Avenida Louis Cordero and Avenida Simon Bolivar.

The building in the photo above which has laid vacant for some years, has finally undergone renovation in a most fabulous way.  The whole two story building, now known as Parque Casa, which running along Avenida Cordero, shares the block with the Old Cathedral, and has become a food emporium.  

            Parque Casa by night.

The entire second floor is occupied by Matilde Mansion Restaurant, which is partitioned into three spacious, but intimate dining rooms.  There is also a fourth inner room with a large rectangular table that can seat twelve, either for a business group or private affairs. The restaurant also includes a splendid pub.

What makes Matilde Mansion worthy of attention is that it is the most elegant restaurant in the city.  When I arrived in Cuenca more than ten years ago, I never thought such elegance in an eatery would be found in Cuenca.  The interior design is breath-takingly beautiful, and reminds me of the Palace of Versailles outside of Paris.  Matilde is not as ornately lavish and at times as garish as Versailles, which was built at the time when the French royalty were living well beyond their means, and were unwittingly laying the groundwork for their own decadent downfall through the French Revolution.  However, Matilde is a lavish splendor to experience.

As the old saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words," so let us begin our tour.

Matildes is entered through an interior courtyard on the first floor.  We make our way up the stairway.

The stairway alone is inviting and entices us to the anticipation of something grand.

The ceiling and chandeliers only enhance our expectations as we leave behind the stairway and make our way up to the Mansion.

There is no such thing as simply entering a dining area, as we arrive at the top of the stairs, but first we pass through the inner courtyard as the various dining areas radiate from the center.

There is a long table resplendent with flowers, candles, and lamps; which complement beautifully the ornate décor of the walls and ceiling, and the chandelier.

Each dining room is adorned with its own personalized very plush décor.

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The dining room above and its ceiling in the photo below has it own distinct character and appearance.

There is a interior salon that can be used for small private affairs and professional conferences over dinner.  The room is an eye opener of beauty, and is done in a wall paper style of elegance that is reminiscent of a style that was very much the style in some of the restaurants in the United States in the 1980's.

 

Friends and I were gathering for a surprise birthday party for our friend Maria Rosa, who is the mother of Mathias, Esteban, and Andres Rios.  Maria knew that her sons and I were taking her out for her birthday.  However, she did not know that some of her other friends would also be there, or that the restaurant we were taking her was Matildes Mansion.

Betty Jones, and a partial view of our dining room behind her.

Above is Mathias, Betty and Mike Jones.

Unlike the other dining rooms our ceiling was painted with sky, clouds, and cherubs; so reminiscent of various palaces in Europe, as well as some of the rooms in Versailles palace.

Mathias did the decorations for the dinner party, as he sent the balloons skyward..

Friends included Loren and Nancy Kuehne.

Birthday lady Maria Rosa with Karen and Sieg Braum.

Michael and Betty Jones are below.  The rose was Mathias, Esteban, and Andres' gift to their mother.  The flower is alive, and is suppose to remain fresh and living for approximately five years.  The perfect gift from her sons to a loving mother, whose name is Maria Rosa.

Below is Sherri Nadeau, who shares her birthday date with Mathias.

Here is a photo of me enjoying my gin and tonic.  I sure am glad I have a group of friends, who enjoy going out to eat, look forward to new dining experiences, and just having fun.  I am always ready for a party.

All the tables in each dining room are decorated in their own unique style and dinnerware.  Our table settings were of bone china imported from England.  It seems ironic that a dish called China was made in England, when almost everything else in the world is made in China.

Escargot was the favorite appetizer.  They were large and plump.

The best entrées appeared to be the seafood entrées.  Karen especially enjoyed her octopus, which since I was sitting at the opposite end from Karen, I don't have a picture to show you.

Fish above or surf and turf below served on beautiful china.

Below a photo of a grilled seafood platter.

Steak is tricky in Ecuador.  It has improved since I first arrived over ten years ago.  I failed to take a photo of my steak.  The steak was good.  It was not tough, but not the most tender and flavorful that now can be found in some of the restaurants in Cuenca. The steak, in a restaurant of this quality, should be among the outstanding offerings to match the lavish décor.  Appetizers can also be open to a redo.  I had the onion soup, and it was good, but not exceptional.  A traditional French Onion would actually be better if prepared properly.

As dinner plates were cleared away, we prepared for the birthday salute and the cake and ice cream.

After a round of Feliz Cumpleanos, Maria Rosa cut the cake, as each piece was passed around.  Below is a brief video.

What a better way to enjoy cake and ice cream or just simply to close out the night with a cappuccino.

Karen and Maria Rosa above and Maria Rosa with Jim Mola (me) below.

Below is Maria with two of her sons, Andres, and Esteban, with Sieg in the background.

A salute to the Birthday Lady on her special day.  May she have many more birthdays and happiness to look forward to in the future.

The twelve of us spent four hours having a really wonderful time.  By the last hour the many people in our dining room were gone, and we continued to enjoy the celebration.

Below, Betty could now move to the other side of the room opposite our party tables, and show off the painting on the wall.

As 11:00 p.m. enclosed upon us.  It was time to say goodbye.  Dapper Mike below was prepared for the almost inevitable in Cuenca--rain.

Adjacent to our dining room was the pub.  Beautiful in itself, and the crowd of young people still in the bar continued to keep the night young.

Matildes Mansion is a great place for a dinner party, or just to come and enjoy a drink or a pastry and a cup of cappuccino.  Ladies enjoy the afternoon Tea Room.  Surprisingly, its prices are in-line with other upscale restaurants in Cuenca.  Most main dishes are in the $12 to $20 range.  Alcoholic drinks are comparable in price to other upscale restaurants in Cuenca as well.  When we first visited, we thought menu prices would be the most expensive in Cuenca, but that to date has not been the case.  A lavish evening like this in a luxurious restaurant in major European or American cities like Chicago would cost us two to three times the price here in Cuenca.  We shall return!