Cafe Bohemio in Puerto Vallarta Serves Home Cooked American Style and Mexican Style Dishes in The Romantic Zone in Town

Owner Sol Rose is A Chef and Entertainer and Puts on a Great Culinary Show

Two New Artist Co-Operatives Open in Puerto Vallarta

Donate to Cheryl’s Shoe-box Shoe-drive at Reina’s Bar

Hello fellow travelers, welcome this episode of the Puerto Vallarta Travel show. I am your host Barry Kessler and I am just so happy to be introducing you to my favorite vacation destination, and maybe even yours, Puerto Vallarta Mexico.

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That music you were just listening to is performed by Alberto Perez, the owner of the La Palapa Group of Restaurants. Those are La Palapa, Puerto Vallarta’s Oldest Restaurant on the famous Los Muertos Beach, and The El Dorado Restaurant and Beach Club right

next door so you can enjoy that fantastic view of the Los Muertos Pier all lit up at night in beautiful colors, or during the day in its grand splendor for breakfast, lunch or dinner, seated with your toes in the sand right at the water’s edge. It’s so romantic, it’s so, Puerto Vallarta my friends. This week we’re going to have dinner in the romantic zone at a restaurant called Café Bohemio where you will meet the head chef and owner Sol Rose. Sol is a very interesting guy and his restaurant is a great place but before we get to Sol and Café Bohemio, let’s see what’s happening this week in Puerto Vallarta, the 20th of December, 2019.

Puerto Vallarta Has Two Brand New Art Cooperatives

Two new art Cooperatives just opened in Puerto Vallarta so here comes the art! The first one is named Casa Abierta. It was inaugurated October the 30th. It’s on Calla Abasolo 239,  just up the street from our friend Eddie Ortiz at Eddie’s Hair Salon.

It’s a beautiful space featuring the work on local Mexican artists, and it was dedicated and inaugurated by mayor Davalos himself with great fanfare even in the rain. I have a couple of pictures thanks to our friend Jose Maria Zorilla Alcala from the Belmar Hotel.

The other Artist Co-op just opened and it’s called Arte Viviente, and they are selling all hand made local sourced items, but are inviting all artists in the area, both Mexican

nationals and expats as well. They are located at the corner of Morelos and Pipila, One block up from the Malecon in a very busy spot. Another friend of the show Marsha Blondin who is a Vallarta resident expat who makes these beautiful pieces of jewelry using old silk scarves. They are beautiful. She sells at the Three Hens and also the Marsol markets, and she has been very instrumental in putting this together so very best luck to both new co-ops. I’ll be visiting both places next month and promise to report back to you about them.

Also our friend Maria Santander at Galeria Coppelia in El Tuito has done a remodel and expansion of the Gallery, so if you’ve never been, you need to go, and if you have already been, you need to go back and say hola, and see what Maria has done there at Galeria Coppelia in El Tuito. So are is alive and well in paradise. Support it!

Anne Marie Weiss Armush’s New Book

A couple of weeks back I had Anne Marie Weiss Armush on the show and we talked about her Vallarta Cinco de Diciembre Neighborhood Abuelos Program. In the interview she mentioned she was writing a book, translating sayings, and she said the proceeds from the sales of the ook would go towards the Abuelos, well the book is here. Let me read… NEW BOOK by Anne Marie Weiss-Armush

HOPE: Voices of Wisdom from MEXICO and the CARIBBEAN

PERFECT for CHRISTMAS GIFTS!

In these 540 quotes from Mexico and the Caribbean, poets, clergymen, journalists, activists, and singer-songwriters reach out to empower and inspire the reader.

Their insights offer solutions to life’s doubts and disillusions while inviting us to explore global preoccupations and consider their relevance to our own lives.

The first of seven books of global quotes, HOPE captures the voices of 148 visionaries like Carlos Fuentes, Emiliano Zapata, and Elena Poniatowska – people who struggled for justice and dignity as they explored the human experience.

$4.99 for the 127 page paperback

$3.99 for the Kindle book

Purchase through Amazon: //www.amazon.com/HOPE-Voices-Wisdom-Mex…/…/ref=sr_1_4….

100% of proceeds to Vallarta Abuelos charity for needy children in Mexico.

I got my copy and it’s very good. I highly recommend it. And don’t forget to check out the Christmas gift giving program she has. I have links to contact Anne Marie and links for the book.

Make Reservations Now for Your Vallarta New Year’s Celebration

If you are in town and are looking for a special Christmas dinner, it’s time to prepare now. Also, if you want that New Year experience on the beach, now’s the time to make your reservations for New Years. It’s a firework fest You mustn’t miss it.

All the restaurants on the beach are doing special menus and events so go to your favorite restaurant’s web page or Facebook page, and see what they are up to.

Bring Your Shoes To Reina’s Bar and Support Cheryl’s Shoebox

Speaking of Christmas giving, don’t forget to bring pairs of shoes…new shoes to The Queen’s Bar, The Reina’s Bar on Lazaro Cardenas across from the taco stands and Guadalajara pharmacy. Well remember Marco has this special Sinderclaus event, Marco is Dutch you know, and this is event where Marco they collect shoes for Cheryl’s Shoebox during Christmas. He still takes them in even after so bring them and drop them off. Now last week I alluded to how in the Netherlands, the Dutch are struggling with this character, Sinterclaus remember? Okay, it has nothing to do with Mexico but what the heck?

Let me read from whychristmas.com, an article online….here goes…

For most children in The Netherlands, the most important day during December is 5th December, when Sinterklaas (St. Nicholas) brings them their presents!

St. Nicholas’ Day is on the 6th December, but in The Netherlands, the major celebrations are held on the 5th December, St. Nicholas’ Eve. The name Santa Claus comes from the name Sinterklaas.

It all starts on the second Saturday of November (the first Saturday after 11th November) when Sinterklaas travels to a city or town in The Netherlands. Dutch tradition says that St. Nicholas lives in Madrid, Spain and every year he chooses a different harbour to arrive in The Netherlands, so as many children as possible get a chance to see him.

Sinterklass travels with his servants called ‘Zwarte Pieten’ (‘Black Peters’). When Sinterklaas and the Black Peters come ashore from the steam boat, all of the local church bells ring in celebration. Sinterklaas, dressed in his red robes, leads a procession through the town, riding a white horse. Every town in The Netherlands has a few Sinterklaas helpers, dressed the same as Sinterklaas who help give the presents out. (And sometimes you might one see one or more Zwarte Pieten with Sinterklaas!)

Children are told that the Zwarte Pieten keep a record of all the things they have done in the past year in a big book. Good children will get presents from Sinterklaas, but bad children will be put in a sack and the Zwarte Pieten take them to Spain for a year to teach them how to behave!

On the evening that Sinterklaas arrives in The Netherlands, children leave a shoe out by the fireplace or sometimes a windowsill and sing Sinterklaas songs. They hope that Sinterklaas will come during the night with some presents. They also believe that if they leave some hay and carrots in their shoes for Sinterklaas’s horse, they will be left some sweets or small presents. They’re told that, during the night, Sinterklaas rides on the roofs on his horse and that a ‘Zwarte Piet’ will then climb down the chimney (or through a window) and put the presents and/or candy in their shoes.

In many families the children are told that Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet make a weekly visit, so the children leave their shoe by the fireplace or window i.e. every Saturday until the main Sinterklaas party on 5th December.

The evening of December 5th is called St. Nicholas’ Eve ‘Sinterklaasavond’ or ‘Pakjesavond’ (present evening). The children will receive their presents during the evening. There might be a knock at the door and you might find a sack full of presents!

Sinterklaas parties are often held on St. Nicholas’ Eve (5th), where treasure hunt games are played with poems and riddles giving the clues. Children follow the clues to find little presents left by Sinterklaas. Special biscuits and sweets are also eaten at the party. One type of biscuit is called ‘letter blanket’ or ‘banketletter’ (meaning letter cake), which is made from marzipan or pastry. The biscuits are made in the shapes of the first letter of the peoples names who are at the party. Another sweet biscuit that is eaten at the parties are ‘pepernoot’ which are made with cinnamon and spices in the pastry biscuit mix. Here’s a recipe for peppernoot. And Here’s a recipe for kerstkrans, a Dutch Christmas Ring Cake.

On the 6th of December Sinterklaas (the birthday of Sinterklaas) leaves The Netherlands by steamboat via the entrance of the port of Rotterdam (Europe’s largest port) called the Hook of Holland and he travels back to Spain.

Surprise presents are also given on St. Nicholas’ Day. A custom at the Sinterklaas parties, often within classes at schools, is that everyone’s name is put into a hat and everyone picks another person’s name – then they have to make a surprise present for that person. The presents are often things that the person would find useful with their favorite hobby. The presents come with a poem inside that gives a clue to who might have sent the present, but it is all meant to be a mystery! This is a similar custom to a present sending one in Germany.

Christmas celebrations in The Netherlands are separate from the visit of Sinterklaas!

Christmas Day itself is a much quieter day in The Netherlands, with a Church Service and family meal. Sometimes there is a special Christmas Day ‘Sunday School’ in the afternoon at the church, where the Christmas Story and other traditional stories are told. These are often the only presents children will get on Christmas Day because they have already received most of their presents on St. Nicholas Day.

On Christmas Eve night, Dutch Children believe that Santa Claus, (who is also called ‘Christmas man’ / ‘Kerstman’ to avoid confusion with Sinterklaas!) comes from Lapland in Finland to deliver more presents!

Christmas Day is known as ‘Eerste Kerstdag’ (first Christmas day) and the day after Christmas is called ‘Tweede Kerstdag’ (second Christmas day). On the second day people tend to visit their families and big shops are also often open on Tweede Kerstdag. The traditional way to eat with the family is called ‘gourmetten’, which is a little stove that is put on the table and where everyone prepares their own meal while seated.

Many people in The Netherlands also have a Christmas Tree in their houses.

In Dutch Happy/Merry Christmas can be said as ‘Prettige Kerst’ (Happy Christmas), ‘Zalig Kerstfeest’ or ‘Zalig Kerstmis’ (both mean Merry Christmas) or ‘Vrolijk Kerstfeest’ (Cheerful Christmas). In West-Frisian (Frysk) spoken in Friesland/Fryslân)it’s ‘Noflike Krystdagen’ (Comfortable Christmas days); in Bildts spoken in Friesland it’s ‘Noflike Korsttydsdagen’ (Comfortable Christmastide days). Happy/Merry Christmas in lots more languages.

I have a link to that article in the shownotes..

https://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/holland.shtml

so what do you think the hoopla is all about? What could go wrong in this day and age with dressing up in blackface? Hummm…Justin…..what do you have to say about this? Anyway, for years there has been a push to rid the land of this…well, let’s read from this article from the Guardian September 18th 2019,

Dutch Saint Nicholas parade to replace blackface with ‘sooty faces’

The Zwarte Pieten, or Black Petes, who accompany Sinterklaas have been the subject of protests

After years of debate and at times violent protest, this year’s Christmas-season Saint Nicholas parade in the Netherlands will not feature white people in blackface makeup, the public broadcaster that organises the event has said.

The Zwarte Pieten, or Black Petes, who accompany Sinterklaas in the annual televised parade, which this year takes place in Apeldoorn on 16 November, will instead have sooty faces, the broadcaster said, in what it called “a logical next step”.

Last year, in response to growing protests by anti-racism campaigners, NTR introduced a mix of sooty and blackfacePieten for the parade, saying it “respected both tradition and change” but felt it had to “reflect changes in society”.

Zwarte Piet, Sinterklaas’s helper, has traditionally been portrayed by adults wearing gaudy costumes, large gold earrings, afro-style wigs, red lipstick and full blackface makeup, a characterization critics say is a racist reference to slavery.

Many Dutch, however, strongly defend the traditional Piet, arguing that his face is black only because of soot from the many chimneys he has had to climb down to bring presents to excited children on 5 December.

In recent years, the controversy has drawn protests and counter-protests, sparking vandalism, violence and even convictions for incitement to racial hatred. In 2017, Zwarte Piet defenders blocked a motorway to stop opponents reaching the parade, and last year there were brawls, egg-pelting and arrests in Eindhoven.

“Today is a beautiful, historic day,” said Jerry Afriyie of Kick Out Zwarte Piet, who has been campaigning against Zwarte Piet since 2008. “This is a victory for everyone who strives for an inclusive parade that will delight all children. We want the tradition to continue for thousands of years – but adapted to the times.”

Afriyie pledged to continue the fight against Zwarte Piet in blackface until the figure had disappeared completely. “The national arrival of Sinterklaas is the big one, but there are other, local ones,” he said. “We will fight for change.”

Polls show support for the traditional Piet is strong, but fading: in 2013, 89% of the Dutch favoured blackface, a figure that had fallen to 68% by 2017. More than half of young people between 18 and 25 thought the character’s appearance should change.

In 2015, the Dutch government said it would reflect on the character after a report from the UN committee on the elimination of racial discrimination said its portrayal “reflects negative stereotypes of people of African descent and is experienced by many people of African descent as a vestige of slavery”.

So I Have a link to that Guardian article to this story that has nothing to do with Mexico, nothing to do with Puerto Vallarta…but everything to do with reminding you to buy and bring shoes to Marco at the Reina’s Bar on Lazaro Cardenas in the Romantic zone. Tell Marco that you are dropping the shoes by so the black Petes’ don’t snatch you up and take you to Africa. I wonder what he’d say. Anyhow, that’s my Christmas story for you all…Merry Christmas, let’s get on with the interview…

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/sep/18/netherlands-ban-blackface-makeup-zwarte-piet-black-pete-christmas-parade

Cafe Bohemio Bistro and Bar in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico

There are hundreds of restaurants in Puerto Vallarta. Some are on prominent street corners and fancy well known beach or Malecon locations.  Some you would never find

unless you were told about them, they are tucked away in some of the strangest places sometimes I’m sure you’d agree. Café Bohemio is one of those places. It’s tucked between some well known restaurants. Let’s start from a place we know pretty well. Calle Olas

Altas The street where you will find the famous Andale’s, and let’s walk south, past Calle

Francisca Rodriguez, that’s the street that leads down to the pier, and the next street

south of that is Calle Rodolfo Gomez. Turn right towards the ocean, and there’s an Italian restaurant called La Piazzetta, and next door to them, in an outdoor covered patio area right on Rodolfo Gomez, behind a wrought iron railing is Café Bohemio. And next door to them is the Hotel San Marino which is on the ocean. So, if you were walking on the

boardwalk coming from the ocean side of things, just as another reference, you go from the pier and head south to where the San Marino Hotel and Si Senor Restaurant are, and head up the street, Rodolfo Gomez and there you and next door to the Hotel you will find Café Bohemio. As another point of reference, Derby City Burgers, if you know where their new location is, just happens to be just behind Café Bohemio  in their own covered outdoor patio area as well, kind of tucked in and hidden as well.

Okay now you know exactly where this place is. Now let’s talk about the vibe. Lots of pedestrian traffic to observe while dining, Tree covered, shaded, very….bohemian feel to

it really… well, I got a couple of emails from listeners over the years suggesting I go to one of their favorite restaurants to interview one of their favorite people, Sol Rose. Each of

them told me how Sol was a one of a kind restaurateur, a chef, an impeccable host and an entertainer all at the same time. Each said almost the same things about his food too,

large portions, home cooking and reasonably priced. And you know what, I love it when you give me good advice. I never would have found this gem without your help so let’s go right now to Calle Rodolfo Gomez 127, in the romantic zone of Puerto Vallarta, and let’s meet the head chef and owner of Cafe Bohemia, Sol Rose, at the Bo!

Contact Information For Cafe Bohemio, Puerto Vallarta

• Address: Calle Rodolfo Gomez 127 Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
• Phone Number: +52 322 134 2436
• Website: https://cafebohemiopv.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soldepv/?epa=SEARCH_BOX

 

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Okay, thank you Sol. What a great guy. What a story. Sol’s a talented chef and an entertainer as well. It’s cool the way he let’s the staff take over during the off season. Very interesting. Anyway, the food is great, the drinks are strong and the man in charge is a colorful dude. You got to meet Sol and check out his place, Café Bohemio.

Okay that should do it for this week.

Next week, stay tuned for more on the ground reports from Puerto Vallarta Mexico, with travel tips, great restaurant and excursion ideas and more.  Until then, remember, this is

an interactive show where I depend on your questions and suggestions about all things Puerto Vallarta. If you think of something I should be talking about, please reach out to me by clicking on the Contact us tab and sending us your message.

And remember, if you are considering booking any type of tour while you are in Puerto Vallarta, you must go to Vallartainfo.com, JR’s website and reserve your tour through him, right from his website. Remember the value for value proposition. His experience

and on the ground knowledge of everything Puerto Vallarta in exchange for your making a purchase of a tour that you would do anyway, you’re just doing it through him as a way

of saying thank you. It costs no more than if you were to use someone else so do it. Really. And when you do take one of these tours, email me about your experiences. Maybe you can come on-board and share with others what you liked or didn’t like about the tour. Again, contact me by clicking on the Contact us tab and sending off a message. Don’t forget his maps, his DIY tours and his revitalized Happy Hour Board. I have links to all of those in the show notes.

And once again, if you like this podcast, please take the time and subscribe and give me a good review on iTunes if you would. That way we can get the word out to more and more people about the magic of this place. Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Remember I made it easy for you to do just that with each episode I create. But if you haven’t been to my website, you really need to have a look there.  I have the links to the places we talk about, interesting pictures and the more all right there in my blog-posts and show-notes for each episode of the show so check them out for sure if you haven’t already all-right? All right.

Okay, thanks so much to Sol Rose from Café Bohemio. Put Café Bohemio on your list the next time you visit paradise and want to try something a little different.  Remember I have pictures and links and a map in the shownotes if my careful description I gave

earlier didn’t work for you okay? Okay, and thanks to all of you for listening all the way through this episode of the Puerto Vallarta Travel Show. This is Barry Kessler signing off with a wish for you all to slow down, be kind and live the Vallarta lifestyle. Nos Vemos amigos!

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