Wednesday 24 October 2012

For the Love of Mexican Food, Merengue & Shot Girls!


You see we got this idea, born out of our passion for food really, & also that we wanted to create something ourselves & put our stamp on it, plus have a bit of fun along the way too, and yes pay the gas bill.

I'm Diane & my other half is Mark we are both chefs (in a former life) & the food industry has led us into lots of exiting areas over the past decade or so, and up a few garden paths too!

My love of Mexican food has never faltered, from the first time I experienced it in a lovely place at one end of Liverpool's Hope Street and used to catch the 6.48 to Lime Street to pay homage at least once a month.

Then came my regular girlie weekends to the Big Smoke, any excuse & we were down there to soak up the atmosphere and all too exciting vibe for country bumpkins like us who were generally cocooned in the sleepy & very often cold & windy villages of the North West of England. On one of our early trips we came across a Mexican restaurant which was fabulous, vibrant music, vibrant colours great service & food did not disappoint as well as the promotion girls who had shot glasses in their bullet belts draped across their tiny frames, every time you ordered a shot for a fiver ( yes a a fiver in 1983 was holy smokin!) she would shout 'ARIBA ''at the top of her voice & fire a gun ( anything went in the 80's!) sheer madness!

Then the strangest event took place at around 11.30ish, The tables were dragged to one side , the plates cleared the Ariba girls turned into cocktail waitresses , the DJ seemed to immortalise - probably out of some trap door or something! And then the doors sprung open & in came what seemed like around 250 people! (Ok the Margaritas were probably talking by then!) .

What then took place till the early hours was nothing short of 'Merengue Madness', a full blown salsa party erupted! & no one gave a damn as long as you were smiling, moving (or swaying) & having fun! It was crazy! We made it back there a few times on our girlie escapades it never disappointed in food, drink & god damn borderline crazy atmosphere. It still makes me smile when I think about it! & that’s where my passion for all things Mexicana began.

We want to create something as memorable as those aforementioned places , so hang on to your hat & come along for the ride - 'Margo and Rita' is born, we will be serving Burritos & Rice Balls from 'Rita' our 1960's Classic H Van, to start with in the North, but Rita will always travel if she needs to. She will be sexy & fun, slightly tongue in cheekyness but will draw you in with her intrigue & the smell & sight of damn good food.