Preliminary Writing

     When looking for a restaurant to review, I wanted something new, something that I had never had before in Kalamazoo. This was a problem as one of my favorite pastimes is finding new places to eat. After much pondering and debate, I decided to seek out an "authentic" "Mexican" restaurant. My experience with Mexican food is Chipotle. Chipotle and Qdoba. I don't really have a clear idea of what I'm expecting out of eating at "La Mexicana." My current conception of Mexican food is burritos and quesadillas. I love the burritos I get at Chipotle and I've recently taken to making quesadillas for myself pretty often. Oh yeah, I love chips and salsa as well. I'm sure that these three dishes aren't representative at all of "true" Mexican food. I'm used to sour cream, guacamole, salsa, and ground beef. I really have no idea what kind of a food experience I'm in for.

    I've been conscious for a while that Chipotle, Qdoba, and homemade quesadillas aren't a true indicator of food that someone from Mexico or South American would have grown up with. With that knowledge came a desire to try some "authentic" Mexican cuisine. I feel guilty that I refer to Chipotle as "Mexican" food. Unfortunately, that's really the only experience I have with it growing up in the suburbs of Detroit. I'm always on the lookout for new food experiences and places to eat near my house but the "ethnic" selections are often limited or "Americanized". Will the food be spicy? Will it be strongly spiced? I'm really excited to see what kinds of food are available at the market/restaurant. I'm curious about what meat will be offered. My current conception of "Mexican" meat is ground beef in a homemade Taco but I'm sure there are a much larger variety of meats eaten in Mexico.

    I'm not interested in foods different from what I've grown up with because of their inherent "Otherness" or association with some exotic, foreign experience. I'm more interested because they'll (hopefully) be a delicious change from my usual experience of food on an aesthetic level. I eat "foreign" foods because I like their taste, not because I'm trying to consume some "Otherness" or because I'm seeking a truly authentic experience. I don't think it's really possible to recreate a food experience in the same way as its conducted in it's original setting. There are so many variables that are different in the United States. I don't think that my experience at an "ethnic" restaurant is really based on the decor or the apparent "authenticity" of the venue, but I'll be curious to see whether that really applied at "La Mexicana." The restaurant itself is behind the market and I've heard it described as very humble and non-flashy.

    Well, its almost time for my dinner. I'll be watching out for everything I can at the restaurant; the presentation, atmosphere, and most important, the food. I think that, from what I've heard of "La Mexicana" I'll have a great meal. I love cheap, good holes-in-the-wall.