As mentioned in the previous blog we booked to have lunch on Wednesday in our favourite La Palma restaurant (Enriclai) which is tiny and run by Pedro (the cook) and Carmen (the waitress). Someone suggested in Trip Advisor that “Carmen is a legend in her own restaurant - the whole experience is pure theatre.” I can’t better that description. I assumed they would alternate tables to create social distancing, not a bit of it, they still squeezed 12 of us in for lunch. The whole restaurant is 24ft by 16ft but the kitchen takes a third of that so it is very “friendly” with just five tables. As a sop to covid Carmen no longer puts her arm round you when describing the menu but she still manages to touch you several times during the meal although she does wear gloves.
There is no menu, she just describes in broken English what they have today, she starts by saying nothing is frozen – all fresh. The choice on Wednesday was different varieties of fish or tagliatellie, with soup or salad to start and some very nice mousse for pud. The bill was 75€ including wine.
She spends at least 20% of her time turning away people at the door who would like a table, they are always full! It shows how you can make money from a small restaurant if you get it right. They are probably taking £800 a day, five days a week, that’s £200,000 a year between two of them. The rent is tiny as the restaurant is small and not in a prime position and the basic ingredients are always what is in season therefore low cost.