Charles Dews -- World News Trust
July 28, 2009 -- Sometimes doing what´s right is not so easy.
After those of us in the Las Rosas Collective discussed and decided, unanimously, to change our menu to all vegetarian, it arose that some in the collective had felt coerced into making that decision. It is always a problem when one person, me, for example, seems to have more decision-making power than the others, who are sometimes too timid to speak up with their objections. I do not mean to have that kind of power, not by any stretch, but because I am seen as the chef/creator of the Red Star Café, the others felt they had to follow my lead. I am more interested in democracy than I am in "political correctness."
So, after some serious criticism/self-criticism and a lot of constructive kvetching by our regular customers, who love their chorizo, the group decided to go back to preparing and serving some small amount of meat.
Despite the fact we are no longer vegetarian, we are all still solidly behind the idea that our menu will offer the healthiest possible fare, to say nothing of delicious. We will still prepare everything from scratch and handle all our food with loving care and our preparation will involve the highest cleanliness standards possible, as always. During our "flirtation" with vegetarianism we have all learned a lot, including that veggies can be as delightful and satisfying as main courses as courses that include a meat entree. I got to experiment with a lot of French/Mediterranean veggie dishes, and everyone has responded eagerly to them. So our wonderful sides will roll on. And we will always be on the lookout for new and different ones. And you can still order a whole plate of veggie sides, if you want to exclude meat from your diet.
Those sides have included everything from leek and potato au gratin to tian de courgettes et tomates (a fabulous zucchini and tomato casserole topped with extra virgin olive oil and a mix of grated gruyere and parmesan cheese) to the simply delicious garlic tomatoes and asparagus in a vinaigrette sauce.
In addition to our great food, we are in the process of mounting a new art exhibit featuring local artist Jon Skaglund's beautiful canvases in a show named "Eronga Works." The show will be on August 15 at 4 pm, but you will hear much more about it in the coming weeks.
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Writer, editor, and restaurateur Charles Dews makes his home in the beautiful village of Erongarícuaro in the wild state of Michoacán on the shores of Lake Pátzcuaro. He and David Everett, his partner of 33 years and adopted Mexican family--Juan, María, and 5-year-old Fer, as well as five leftist cats--Sol, Luna, Spooky, Rosa Luxemburg, and Leon Trotsky--and two bolshiviki German shepherds--Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera live in an ancient house on the village´s sun-drenched plaza.
Dews obtained his licenciado in liberal arts from The University of Texas at Austin, with majors in history, Spanish, and English. He got his real education at Austin Community College in photography and graphic design.
He has written about living in the Mexico City and in the República Mexicana for online publication Mr.News.Mx, worked as editor of Atención San Miguel and ¡Qué milagro es Michoacán! Dews has also written regularly for El Antiquario, and he and David Everett copyedited and wrote for the US national slick magazine Latino Leaders, as well as for Oil&Gas Middle East. Dews also writes for and proofreads for the daily online newspaper World Socialist Web Site.
Past U.S. publication includes The Animals Agenda, the Austin Chronicle, El Universal, PAWS Action Newsletter, Texas Triangle, Seattle Gay News, and Dews´s poetry has been collected along with that of Seattle poet Pat Andrus in a tape entitled Beangan, the New Branch.
His writing in The Loom, a publication of the Seattle Catholic Archdiocese´s AIDS Ministry (Dews worked as editor), has been collected into a chapbook entitled People Living With AIDS: A Closer Look.
Dews´s photos have appeared inside and on the covers of various wide-circulation publications, as well as in cafés, and galleries in both the United States and Mexico.
The Red Star Café is a project of Las Rosas Collective in Erongarícuaro. It is a successful venture into the culinary arts with a wide local and international following. The cuisine has been dubbed by Dews as Mediterranean-Mexican Fusion.