Tabarka - Message from David

Four of us had a mediocre to bad meal at Tabarka yesterday and later when we were getting ready leave David came in and came over to visit. I decided to tell him about our meal, he was very grateful and upset and sent me this message this morning:

"Tabarka Restaurante
Thank you for share with me this really true, and with your help i take a decision, i,m the only cook in tabarka, and my new hours are exactly the same of Tabarka, invited to your friends tomorrow for lunch i,m cooking some special for you , and please tell everybody i,m in Ajijic all the time in the kitchen.
thank you again my friend!!!
David"

So glad he made this decision as I think he is hands down one of the best chefs in the area and certainly THE best with seafood. What a palate that man has!

So,if you've had a not-so-good meal there when someone else was cooking, I urge you to try it again. We sure will!

This is really great news!

Wait....what?

i,m the only cook in tabarka, and my new hours are exactly the same of Tabarka, invited to your friends tomorrow for lunch i,m cooking some special for you , and please tell everybody i,m in Ajijic all the time in the kitchen.

If he's the only cook, doesn't that mean he prepared the "mediocre to bad" meal described by Trailrunner?

Gringal:

I believe that I read on TOB that he had been concentrating on another restaurant in Guadalajara? And paying the penalty for not taking care of business in Ajijic.

I finally found his post on TOB:
"Sorry for slow service, and mistakes. I spend two weeks working in my other brand in Guadalajara. The tapas special concept is slow food, and you need time for it, two hours minimun, you can taste almost our menu, is food idea for party, and big groups, we are the only restaurant in lakeside have that choice and is a hard work for me bring you the best quality and the best price, some of you taste scorpion fish for the first time in Tabarka, and other dishes like mojama(tuna fish cured). This week we have for you grilled octopus, grilled big scallops, fresh sword fish, wild shrimp, marinier clams and roast veal with red wine sauce, and all that you can taste in tapas special , in advanced i and my team will made our best to serve you like you need, and i spend all my time here in ajijic to keep the best custumers and friends i had in my profesional live, sorry too for my english."

No, Gringal, there was some guy cooking yesterday that doesn't know squat about food. I mean, how can you ruin a salad? This guy found several ways.

As CG says, David said he has been trying to work both restaurants and it's just not working. He said he's learned from Tango that in order to be consistent in service and food an owner must be on the premises at all times. He said he is the sole owner of both restaurants. He said he has a friend in Spain who is interested in partnering with him and he will be here soon, this man is also a chef. I asked him which of the restaurants was most successful and he said Ajijic, hence his decision to be in the kitchen all the time in the Ajijic restaurant.
Hope it works, I love his cooking.

Thanks for this Trailrunner. I remember my last experience there and wondering what was going on, etc.

Hoping for the best for The GREAT Tabarka and Chef David.

OH MAN!! Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt! In the 80's I had a sucessful BBQ & catering biz in Ruidoso, NM...decided I should expand back to my old stompin' grounds in Phoenix...TRAGIC ERROR!...you can't be in 2 places at once, and NOBODY cares about your biz as much as you do, especially in the food service where you are dealing with entry-level workers...both locations suffered. I came to the conclusion that unless your biz is large enough to afford a professional manager, you don't own it, it owns YOU...saw the same problem at Bubba's last year. Usually a very dependable source for great Texas brisket, a stoped in for a sammy, Bubba wasn't there, not a gringo in the kitchen, & I got some really tough, dried out meat. I know Bubba would have saved that meat for chopped beef, & never have served it as sliced brisket.

True........when the main cat's away......the mice have a party.

Too bad, too, because if you have the misfortune of your first visit with the lesser "chef", you tend to avoid the place in the future. There goes the rep.