coco, panzón and i were recently in guadalajara, mexico, where we visited the children's museum, el trompo mágico (http://tr.im/LVN5), which means "the magic spinning top". we were surprised to see that it was not at all crowded for a saturday and coco fully enjoyed her experience at maroma (summersault), the pavilion dedicated to younger children. she filled her shopping cart with realistic mock fruit and then checked out at the market, carefully placed faux freshly laid eggs in their cartons at the farm, gave medical exams and vaccines to newborn dolls at the clinic, and cooked and served plastic food at the restaurant or fonda. maroma is filled with the delightful drawings of cecilia rébora (http://crebora.blogspot.com/), a brilliant local children's illustrator. i especially liked the fonda's backdrop, a collage-like mural in which a turtle wearing a bow tie is enjoying his dinner. i immediately recognized the background photo as being one of my favorite restaurants in guadalajara (it's actually in the town of zapopan, which was swallowed by the city): la fonda de doña gabina escolástica. a fonda, by definition, is a humble establishment that offers regional food at economical prices. fondas are usually managed by women (doña means lady), as opposed to street food stands, which are typically run by men. doña gabina escolástica's fonda is located near the basílica de zapopan, home of the famous virgen de zapopan, a small wooden statue whose romería is one of the most important pilgrimages in mexico. the fonda's decoration is simple, yet inviting: colorful papel picado (perforated paper), bright printed tablecloths, posters from mexico's golden age of film and lucha libre (mexican wrestling) paraphernalia.
although this fonda is famous for its pozole, which is a flavorful and very satisfying soup, the menu is full of delicious antojitos. my all-time favorite is the tostada de manitas de cerdo, which is pickled pigs feet on a refried bean-smeared tostada covered with shredded cabbage and tomato sauce. it comes in a deboned presentation upon request, but i personally prefer to gnaw on each of the tiny bones and leave them in a neat little pile on my plate.
before christmas, our fruit was homeless. mangos, bananas, pears and kiwis would roll around aimlessly on our counter top before wobbly settling on the drab skin-colored tile surface. fruit is supposed to brighten up a kitchen, but ours was far from looking like a still life, it was just still there.
