If you like piña coladas… 🍹
And other postcards from circus camp.
Hello and welcome back to Five Things I Ate! This week, we go outside of the country, and our comfort zone. Check out past posts here, and please follow my Instagram @fivethingsiate.
Piña coladas at Kite Club Café
5, Cabarete 57000, Dominican Republic
Sometimes when you are feeling lost and confused, the answer is to pour thousands of hours and dollars into therapy and hard conversations and self-advocating. And sometimes, the answer is to fuck off to circus camp, climb up a two-story high rickety staircase in the middle of the rain forest (even though you absolutely have a fear of heights), put both of your hands on the trapeze bar (even though you don’t really trust the harness will hold), and jump. Look, I’m not a licensed healthcare professional, and possibly no one should take advice from me, but I find speaking up for myself a lot easier after I perform some death-defying feats. Which is how I found myself sitting outdoors on a warm and sunny night, drinking lukewarm piña coladas at the Kite Club, and making small talk with strangers I’d never met, the second-scariest thing in the Sophie knowledge base after jumping off a two-story building. I don’t really like piña coladas, but I don’t really like heights, either, so I figured I’d give it a shot since I was on vacation. It turns out I still don’t really like piña coladas or small talk. But flying through the air? I’ll keep that one.
Tahiti smoothie bowl at Vagamundo coffee and waffles
Carretera Principal, Cabarete 57000, Dominican Republic
Smoothie bowls are extremely picturesque, as is this coffee shop. In fact, Vagamundo might be the most beautiful coffee shop in the whole world— the counter opens up to a backyard filled with tables small and large, adorned by trellises of blooming tropical flowers. I’d never had a smoothie / açaí bowl before, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I enjoyed the toppings aspect (the crunchy granola was very good, and I appreciated the flaxseeds and chia seeds after a long 24 hours of travel and pina coladas), but somehow when you put a smoothie in a bowl and eat it with a spoon, iI can’t get over the mental image that I’m eating frozen soup. Still, it was a delicious frozen soup, with a nice gingery kick, that I ordered for breakfast twice in a row.
Frapuccino at Pura Vida Encuentro
Playa El Encuentro, Cabarete 57000, Dominican Republic
On my phone, I keep a running list of my Favorite Things. These are the things that bring me pure joy on an animal level, which I consider essential to my being. Among those things are: Wandering around Chinatown with a good friend and absolutely zero plans for the day. Staying up late lying on a hammock in someone’s backyard with the smell of fire smoke in the air. Full body hugs as the little spoon, where you can feel someone’s arms completely enveloping your whole soul. And the newest addition to the list: Drinking a frappuccino on a bench next to the beach, slathered in two layers of sunscreen, so close to the sea that you can feel the salt spray. In my regular, city rat life, I never drink frappuccinos. This is not because I am afraid of sugar, but because my favorite sugary big-city beverages are complex boba drinks, and I tend to avoid Starbucks. Illicit, off-brand frappuccinos, which I guess are technically a coffee frappe, in the same way that a tissue is not necessarily a Kleenex, are a delight. This one, served in a cute glass mug with a handle, caramel syrup oozing down the frosty insides, finished with a mountain of whipped cream, tasted like coffee ice cream and a vanilla milkshake all in one.
Cuyagua arepa at Pura Vida Encuentro
Playa El Encuentro, Cabarete 57000, Dominican Republic
Arepas are either an exceptionally delicious food, or I’ve Pavlovian-trained myself into associating them with the beach. Either way, they are now one of my very favorite foods. I like to always order the vegetarian option (if it has avocado and cheese, and even better if it has sweet plantains – this one did not), instead of the Reina Pepiada or other meat fillings, so that it’s a perfect light lunch. I don’t think these arepas were quite as good as the ones from Caracas at Rockaway Beach, but maybe my nostalgia and hometown loyalty biases me. It was still, however, a total delight.
Dinner at Blue Moon Indian Restaurant
Casa 29, Cabarete 56000, Dominican Republic
On the penultimate day of my trip, I had dinner at Blue Moon, which I feel like is the ultimate Eat-Pray-Love experience (in an already very Eat-Pray-Love trip). It’s an Indian-Caribbean fusion restaurant at the top of a beautiful (beautiful, beautiful) hill. You sit on the floor in a large circle under a big tent, and adorable, well-loved stray cats and dogs wander the grounds. Feelings were felt and deep conversations (and even a few tears) were had. We also really pissed off the host / server by being about an hour late to the dinner, missing the Instagram-worthy sunset by a few minutes, and crowding the bar, as we were a group of two dozen rowdy circus girls who sneaked two bottles of 100 peso wine onto the taxi. Therefore, your mileage may vary. I thought the food was just okay (but then again, I rarely eat Indian food, unless I find myself in Murray Hill), but the settings were divine. I think Blue Moon is a bit like getting a tarot card reading: You get the experience you’re already looking for.
XOXO,
(Sunburnt) Soph
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