Many many years ago, in the summer of 1974, an American teenage girl living in DF for the summer and wanting to celebrate her birthday in style was told to pick someplace special out of the phone book. She picked La Casserole, mainly because of the adorable logo. Little did she know that her choice would lead to possibly the best meal that she and her family would ever experience together. My family(yep, it was me) was not known for enjoying fine cuisine. We had made a habit of eating out at the local Chinese food place in our hometown, until we all got sick. We made frequent taco runs to an adjoining town for great tacos. My mother was famous for finding new and creative ways to burn dishes. I actually felt relieved when I was assigned dinner-making duty at age 11; TV dinners were a cut above our normal fare. We’d had some incredible foods on trips to Mexico: ham Serrano, fresh bolillos right out of the oven, flavorful and rich mole Poblano in the town of Puebla where it was invented, pozole. But my birthday meal of the summer of seventy-four lives on in our family’s mythology as the best meal ever. We showed up right before 2 pm, not knowing that the restaurant closed between lunch and dinner. We were told they would stay open a little late just for us. So, we virtually had the place to ourselves. The staff(all distinguished looking men in white jackets) displayed utmost courtesy and tact. I realized for the first time that dining could be an art form. My father ordered the basics: some sort of steak, peas, the rest is blurry. It’s the peas we all remember the most, for some reason. We had never eaten peas like these. Perfectly cooked, coated in the most delicious butter, and seasoned to perfection, we couldn’t get enough. And a general sense of perfection and awe accompanied us home. We have no fotos. So, this review will have to do. Happily, thanks to the internet, I have learned that it looks like La Casserole is still there.(And it’s on Open Table.) A dream, a memory, it set the fine dining standard for me and my family. Muchas gracias, La Casserole. Buen provecho.
