Category Business & Work

Mercerie High Street Food Converts This Non-Foodie

Not a fan of “fine dining” restaurants, I have prided myself on being a “non-foodie,” annoyed by dishes described as if abstract art, the snotty attitudes of wait staff and the absurdly inflated prices for petite portions. But all my negativity dissolved recently in twice experiencing dinner at Mercerie “High Street Food,” a new slick, modern, trendy eatery in Rome, Italy that would, on the surface, imply all I distain.

Mercerie Rome restaurant Yes, it exudes hipness – a glass wall fronts the pedestrian street facing the ruins of ancient temples at Largo di Torre Argentina, (also a renowned cat sanctuary; cats considered messengers of the gods). The interior is sleek, with colorful cone-shaped padded stools and barrel chairs at a couple of cocktail tables near the door. A chest-high semi-circular corregated-steel bar, with a vast collection of fluted glasses suspended above, forms the focal point for stylish young black-suited professionals to lean against as the pleasant barman’s perpetual moves elevate drink-making to performance art.

Flat screens cycle artistic photos of signature “tapa-like” dishes served on elongated tryptic plates in white porcelain, intended as finger food, ergo the “street food” reference; definitely “high street.” Subtle lighting and perfectly modulated classic jazz and folk music by original artists round out the ambiance, which extends into the “intimate” dining room, where more substantiial menu items are served with with stainless and gold-tipped flatware. Even the kitchen’s frosted glass motion-sensor sliding door exemplifies attention to every cohesive modern detail.

It’s a perfect construct for inflated prices and foo-foo food. But here’s the difference: The food combinations and presentations really are imaginative and delicious, prices are reasonable, the ambiance is relaxing, and the wait staff is friendly, unpretentious, enthusiastic, knowledgeable and multi-lingual.

Igles Corelli and Aysha Griffin
Igles Corelli and a new “Foodie” convert

This combination of ostensibly hip and genuinely welcoming and worthwhile is due to the vision, expertise and personality behind Mercerie, chef Igles Corelli. Although I’d been told on my first visit that the chef was “Michelin-starred,” that meant nothing to me until my second visit when a smiling, bespectacled man gracious opened the front door. “Benvenuto! Welcome!” Signore Corelli himself.

To watch this man move about his latest creation, shaking hands with guests and speaking encouragingly to his staff between moments of relaxation over a drink with a friend, is to witness a relaxed, confident and good manager; a businessman and culinary artist enjoying the fruits of his labor.

Corelli lives up to his reputation not only as a top Italian chef, whose other restaurants have garnered awards and high praise, but as a dedicated teacher. Through professional associations and tutelage at his restaurants, his lifetime in the world of Italian cuisine – his parents owned a trattoria where he started working at age 9 – has influenced the success of a generation of chefs and pioneered nouvelle Italian cuisine.

While the little plates of innovative concoctions (starting at 7€) delight the senses, the generous salads of mixed greens with nuts, seeds, and thin slices of fruit and veggies with a subtly tangy house dressing (10€) are the best I’ve found in Rome.

salad at Mercerie High Street Food, Rome

As I began eating my salad, Corelli came to the table and handed me a gold-plated salad pincher, explaining it is a prototype he plans to add to the unique offerings at Mercerie. Imprinted in the round tip is the Buddhist Soka Gakkai chant, “Nam-myoho-renge-kyo.” “It’s for happiness and peace!” effused Corelli’s charming partner, Helga Buscaroli. Apparently, Corelli had a dream about them.

Richard H. Seager, my Buddhist scholar companion who’d written a definitive book on the sect, “Encountering the Dharma: Daisaku Ikeda, Soka Gakkai, and the Globalization of Buddhist Humanism,” would have been happy to explain more about the chant, which means something akin to “Hail to the glorious Dharma.” But either their English was too limited or the simple idea of happiness and peace was sufficient knowledge.  Best restaurant Rome Mercerie “High Street Food,”

In any case, Corelli is obviously innovating continuously and with the intention of delighting diners with both sensational food and ambiance.

Rome seems the perfect place for conversions, and Mercerie convinced me that “fine dining” may actually be an experience worth pursuing. My foodie friends will be happy to hear I’ve seen the light.

Mercerie High Street Food is located at Via San Nicola De’ Cesarini 4/5, 00186 Roma, Italia. Reservations recommended by phoning +39 340 997 2996, at their Facebook page or @Merceriehighstreetfood. You can read more about Chef Corelli here.

Writer’s Marketing Workshop in San Miguel de Allende

marketing your book with loveMarketing Your Book With Love –
Sell Your Book And Nurture Your Soul

Tuesday January 12, 2016 • 10am-2:45pm
San Miguel de Allende Biblioteca Sala Quetzel

Click here to Register!

Learn about the Workshop
Read past participants’ comments

Overwhelmed by “the business” of marketing your books? I’ll show you how to replace the fear and drudgery of marketing with a new paradigm that ignites your creativity, uses your style, life experience and passion… and can actually be fun!

In this 4-hour workshop/presentation, you’ll learn:
• The truths and myths about building an author platform.
• What marketing avenues work best for you.
• Why Amazon rankings are key to sales and how to increase yours.
• How, why and where to leverage your time and effort through social, print and broadcast media, joint ventures, PR and other ways you choose to attract your readership, promote and sell your books, and make money.

You’ll leave the workshop with the beginnings of an effective roadmap for your self-nurturing marketing plan,
and the clarity and motivation to follow it.

Whether fiction or non-fiction, in any genre, this workshop will provide real tools and inspiration to bring your voice and heart to successfully parent a healthy, thriving “baby.”

About the presenter:

Aysha Griffin is a business and marketing coach, writer/editor/publisher and former print and broadcast journalist. Known for fusing the artistic, visionary, and practical to empower creative individuals to Inhabit Your Dreams! she has published more than 400 freelance articles in lifestyle, business and travel magazines and 20+ books for clients and herself. A pioneer in desktop publishing, Aysha has owned a marketing/communications agency since 1985, helping hundreds of businesses, non-profits and creatives clarify their vision and achieve their goals. She is author and publisher of Leonardo’s Revenge and Other Stories and the upcoming Marketing Your Book With Love – A Writers’ Guide To Selling Your Books While Nurturing Your Soul.

A resident of San Miguel de Allende for 4 years (formerly from Santa Fe, NM), Aysha has been traveling and working with clients internationally since 2011. She presented this popular workshop for 4 years in a row at the San Miguel Writers’ Conference and elsewhere. Come and discover how you can market your book with love!

Click here to Register Now!

Thank you for sharing this post with your Mexico writer friends and on social media!

Catalonia’s Human Towers

Lessons in teamwork, pride and self-confidence

human tower building, castellers
Castellers de Vilafranca, many-time champions of human tower building competitions in Catalonia.

Imagine tightly wrapping a length of thick black cloth around your middle and then, firmly grounded, entwining arms-to-shoulders with the people next to you so others can scamper up your back. This is how you start to create a human tower or castell. It seems crazy, and yet this is the complex sport, the idea of fun, and the source of personal and civic pride for the castellers of Catalonia.

Of course no one could do it alone, which is the point. It is a team sport that takes skill, cooperation, focus and commitment. A 10-story tower, which I believe is a record height, requires a 1,000 castellers, each holding a specific position. Competitions between teams pack the town plazas of northeast Spain.

Although the tradition began more than 400 years ago near the city of Tarragona, it was not until about 50 years ago its popularity exploded in other parts of Catalonia, and in 2010 castells received UNESCO designation as Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.

You’ve probably seen photos or videos of them – those crazy guys (and gals and children) who climb up each other. But there’s far more to their madness than meets the eye, as I recently learned in a demonstration and workshop for a group of travel bloggers attending the Travel Bloggers Exchange Conference (TBEX) in the popular seaside town of Lloret de Mar.

Understanding castells

castellers, human tower
Members of Castellers de Vilafranca demonstrate their sport.

We gather on the rooftop patio of restaurant/club Atica, with the glittering sapphire of the Mediterranean Ocean defining the beach cove below. On the rocky cliffs of this bit of Costa Brava (the “wild coast”), a stone tower from the 11th century rises from a precipice in the distance, reminding us of the long history of Catalonia. Before us stand two obviously-fit men, a slender young woman and a 10-year-old girl, the daughter of one of the men. The young woman named Neus, who looks like a teenager, tells me she is a 26-year-old architect, has been a casteller since age 10, and loves the “engineering aspects” of human-tower building.

Each is dressed in white pants and a teal shirt, the colors of the prestigious Castellers de Vilafranca, the large and well-respected association of 400+ members committed to preserving and promoting popular Catalan culture. Being a casteller is, for most, a sport in which to participate on weekends, competing against teams from other towns. But for Tony Bach i Lleal of Vilafranca, it is a full-time job.

Casteller wrapping a faixa
Tony Bach i Lleal of Vilafranca, a fulltime casteller and facilitator for teaching human towerbuilding

 

Affable and clearly expert at explaining and facilitating the casteller experience, Toni has us begin by partnering to wrap the rolled black sash tightly around our waist and tuck in the end. Called faixa (pronounced “fascia”), sashes vary in length from 6 to 36 feet, depending on the casteller’s position inside the tower, and protects the back while giving climbers something to hold on to.

Next, Toni explains the goal: to successfully build and disassemble a castell without toppling. The assembly is complete once all castellers have climbed into their designated places, and the enxaneta (“enchaneta”, or the child who tops the tower) reaches the top and raises one hand with four fingers erect; a gesture said to symbolize the stripes of the Catalan flag. The enxaneta then climbs down the other side of the castell, after which the remaining levels of castellers descend in highest-to-lowest order until all have reached safety.

When I ask Toni’s colleague if he has any fear about his daughter being an enxaneta, he smiles – no doubt a common question – and  says, “No. It is very safe, and an honor.”

Being part of a human tower

Having baffled this writer with complicated Catalan names for each position on the tower and the tower structures themselves, Toni calls the steps, like in a square dance, for his group of to begin demonstrating the actual methodology of shoulder mounting and dismounting. It is common for castellers to go barefoot to minimize injuring each other as they climb to their position, and for sensitivity when balancing.

castell, human tower
TBEXers learn to be part of a castell

Toni then invites members of the TBEX group to join in. While several are eager to climb, those, like myself, who opt not to give it a go, are positioned to form the pinya, or bottom base of the castell, to sustain its weight and act as a ‘safety net’ if the tower structure collapses, cushioning the fall of people from above. Fortunately, the climbers are agile and the pinva strong.

Clearly, success in completing a castell feels exhilarating, even as an on-the-ground part of the pinva. Understanding and experiencing a castell presents a fine lesson in personal confidence and team building, which Toni’s organization teaches to businesses and groups worldwide. If you ever get a chance to see them in action, do it. You will be amazed. You can contact him via http://castellersdevilafranca.cat/en/

Writers’ Workshop in Santa Fe

marketing your book with loveMarketing Your Book With Love – Sell Your Book While Nurturing Your Soul

Wed. Oct. 22, 10am-1pm

Click here to Register!

Learn about the Workshop
Read past participants’ comments

Overwhelmed by “the business” of marketing your books? I’ll show you how to replace the fear and drudgery of marketing with a new paradigm that ignites your creativity, uses your style, life experience and passion… and can actually be fun!

In this 3-hour workshop/presentation, you’ll learn:
• The truths and myths about building an author platform.
• What works best for you.
• Why Amazon rankings are key to sales and how to increase yours.
• How, why and where to leverage your time and effort through social, print and broadcast media, joint ventures, PR and other ways you choose to attract your readership, promote and sell your books, and make money.

You’ll leave the workshop with the beginnings of an effective roadmap for your self-nurturing marketing plan, and the clarity and motivation to follow it.

Whether fiction or non-fiction, in any genre, this workshop will provide real tools and inspiration to bring your voice and heart to successfully parent a healthy, thriving “baby.”

About the presenter:

Aysha Griffin is a business and marketing coach, writer/editor/publisher and former print and broadcast journalist. Known for fusing the artistic, visionary, and practical to empower creative individuals to Inhabit Your Dreams! she has published more than 400 freelance articles in lifestyle, business and travel magazines and 20+ books for clients and herself. A pioneer in desktop publishing, Aysha has owned a marketing/communications agency since 1985, helping hundreds of businesses, non-profits and creatives clarify their vision and achieve their goals. She is author and publisher of Leonardo’s Revenge and Other Stories and the upcoming Marketing Your Book With Love – A Writers’ Guide To Selling Your Books While Nurturing Your Soul.

A Santa Fe, NM resident for 12 years, Aysha has been traveling and working with clients internationally since 2011. She has presented this popular workshop for 4 years in a row at the San Miguel Writers’ Conference and elsewhere. Come and discover how you can market your book with love!

Click here to Register Now!

Thank you for sharing this post with your New Mexico friends and on social media!

7 Top Free eBook Sites

Who can argue with Free? If you are not familiar with the concept of free downloadable books, I thought you’d appreciate knowing that there are scores, perhaps hundreds, of websites where you can download free ebooks. I mean, really and truly for free. The scope of information and genres is, well, endless. While I’m only presenting seven, to get you started, for a list of 50 sites, click on the photo.

You can also upload and share any books, documents, reports, poems, etc. that you have created. I’d love to hear your experience with downloading or uploading free ebooks, and other resources you would like to share.

In addition to these seven sites, I have included, below, a lovely bit of prose about autumn (both the season and the time in our lives) from one of my favorite sites, Scribd.

Scribd is an online document sharing site which supports Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF and other formats. You can download a document or embed it in your blog or web page.

Free-eBooks is an online source for free ebook downloads, ebook resources and ebook authors. Besides free ebooks, you also download free magazines or submit your own ebook. You need to become a Free-EBooks.Net member to access their library. Registration is free.

ManyBooks provides free ebooks for your PDA, iPod or eBook Reader. You can browse for a ebook through the most popular titles, recommendations or recent reviews for visitors. There are more than 20,000 eBooks available – all free!

The Online Books Page lists more than 30,000 free books on the Web.

Planet eBook offers free classic literature to download and share.

BookYards, “library to the world,” offers free books, education materials, information, and content.

FreeBookSpot is an online source of thousands of free ebooks downloads in 96 categories such as scientific, engineering, programming, fiction and many others. No registration required to download free e-books.

Fall

Hijacked Blog

There are many kinds of violation and, in every case, the person violated rightly feels all sorts of emotions, including anger, fear, frustration, shame and powerlessness. Such was the case when I discovered that this very website had been broken into by some unknown persons who uploaded more than 60 posts.

Luckily, they were benign articles but, nonetheless, they were posted by impostors who hacked into my administrative panel and gained access. It’s kind of like your house being broken into – maybe the perpetrators didn’t take anything of value, but the fact they were able to enter uninvited shines a blaring light on your vulnerability.

After realizing I could not access my admin panel because my user name and password had been changed, I tried to contact WordPress for help, which was useless since all I could find were forums, and nothing that answered my question: “What do you do when your blog is hijacked?” Then I sent an email request for help to my host server, knowing they are closed Sundays, but could probably help in some way.  Finally I googled “my wordpress blog was stolen, what can I do?” The first piece of advice from the WordPress Codex: “Stay calm.”

Indeed, good advice. By thinking it through, I was able to request a reset of my password, sign back in and delete the bogus “administrators” who decided they needed to post on my site.

If they had just asked, I likely would have welcomed their contributions. That’s the thing about thieves… there’s a thrill in “getting away with” something, and it usually has nothing to do with need. It’s sociopathic behavior and, as such, disrespects the rights of others.

The Importance of Neighborhood Watch

I might not have realized this invasion, or hacking had taken place were it not for the watchful eye of friend and fellow blogger, Maia Duerr of the excellent Liberated Life Project. Maia thoughtfully sent me an email questioning the posts as not being mine.

We need to watch out for our neighbors and friends, in cyberspace as well as in “real life”. If you receive an email from someone you know that has a suspicious link, don’t open it and do contact them. If you notice odd entries on a blog to which you subscribe, let the author or webmaster know. In any case, monitor your online activities, change your passwords often and, if you discover your security has been violated, stay calm.

We live in a world where social contracts are being broken, “authorities” are not trustworthy, and criminals of all kinds proceed boldly without chance of prosecution. Therefore, as decent, conscious people, we can express our care and compassion by watching out for one another.

Social Media Does Not Equate To Sales

For the past few years, we’ve been inundated with the idea that businesses must use social media to drive sales.

The purported logic is that social networks are an effective and necessary avenue for reaching out to customers. The more you reach out, the more money you will make. However, USA Today says a new study shows that social media has no real effect at all.

The study, a collaboration between Forrester Research and GSI Commerce, analyzed data captured from online retailers between November 12 and December 20, 2010. The research shows that social media rarely leads directly to purchases online — data indicates that less than 2% of orders were the result of shoppers coming from a social network. The report found email and search advertising were much more effective vehicles for turning browsers into buyers.

You can request a free copy of the report, titled “The Purchase Path Of Online
Buyers”. Its focus is on driving online retail “holiday shoppers”. The premise, which seems to bear out in the report’s findings, is that people are on Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. for many reasons that supersede buying. It’s not merely a case of going where your buyers are, but where they go to buy; and social media is proving not to be that place.

The biggest effect of social media outreach, in terms of purchases from it, seems to be news about short-term deals. In that case, 5% to 7% of purchases are influenced by social media activity, states the report.

But the report admits that since most retailers only track where the sale comes from, it’s impossible to say how many “views” or exposures a buyer had – and where – prior to making the purchase. It does not and cannot track the influence on a purchase that might have come from social media conversations, endorsements, buzz, etc.

While there is probably a lot of truth and value to this study for large retailers, I suspect that social media is – and will continue to be – extremely important for small business (both products and services) – in terms of building relationships and reputation.

The key to leveraging social media, as I see it, is judiciously participating in your networks and “adding value” in terms of intelligent information and problem solving, thus establishing you/your business as a reliable source and provider. While this may not result in immediate sales, hopefully it will support and enhance your other marketing efforts.

If anyone would like to fund me to conduct a study on social media’s impact for small business, let me know. Meanwhile, I’d love to hear your experiences — have you gotten new clients/customers/sales from your networking efforts?

Business Lessons from a Standing Ovation

Photograph: Jens N Rgaard Larsen/AFP/Getty Images

Last night, I attended a Gary Burton/Chick Corea concert at Santa Fe’s Lensic Theater. For these two jazz legends it was the last night of a grueling global tour, although there was no evidence of burn-out or boredom.

As professionals, they gave their fans a polished and passionate performance, connecting with the audience through brief anecdotes, thanking us for being there, and playing their music with exuberance as if it were the first, and not the umpteenth, time. They were present.

At the end of two long sets, the audience responded with a rousing standing ovation and the players graciously returned to the stage for an encore.

There are two thoughts I want share from this experience:

1. The audience had already shown appreciation for the players by virtue of having purchased tickets. Money is a standard form of appreciation for something received. The performers showed appreciation for the audience by showing up, starting on time and putting on a professional show.

Nothing more was required of audience or performers. Therefore, the enthusiasm of the audience and gracious response of the performers were “icing on the cake” for both. Being extra-appreciated, as a consumer and/or provider, costs nothing extra and leaves everyone with positive feelings.

2. Standing ovations are a cultural phenomenon associated with the U.S., and seen as crass by other cultures. I am told that in Japan an impressed audience will clap incessantly, even through an encore, but they do not stand; and certainly do not whistle or whoop. As a performer (or business provider), it is critical to understand and communicate with your audience (or market) on their terms.

Nothing feels so fine as a standing ovation, or the equivalent. In my businesses, I have experienced the equivalent when a client has thanked me with a gift, referred an associate or become a friend. I hope I have expressed my appreciation in similar ways, and I hope that you, reading this, know I am grateful for your time and participation in this blog!

How have you experienced a “standing ovation” in your business, or given one to someone in theirs? Please comment below.

How To Make Money Online

from Flickr Creative Commons

Maybe you’re a lot smarter than me and I should be embarrassed to admit this, but I’ve spent many, many hours in the past year online attending webinars and teleseminars, and downloading and reading free eBooks  offered by dozens of “gurus” who promised to help me make a fortune online.

I wanted to understand how to use social media – Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, ad words, WordPress – and the tricks for integrating and making my efforts “go viral”. I wanted to make my countless hours at the computer – writing blogs, emailing, updating profiles, commenting on sites, tweeting – pay off… in real dollars.

I’d like to tell you what I’ve learned: Many of these guys (and most are of the male persuasion) use exactly the same formula that they will teach you to replicate, for a price. You begin by using a “landing page” on your blog or website to get people to give you their name and email address (“your mailing list is your gold!” they say) by offering free sound advice, via an eBook, podcast or video. You don’t even have to create the material yourself, they say, as there’s so much “good stuff” on the internet already, you can just recycle it.

Their point is, once you start building your email list, you “add value” to “build relationships” by setting up automated drip marketing campaigns to keep making new offers your list recipients cannot refuse. Every time they open an email from you (simple, unformatted, compelling) you get them to read/listen/watch your next offering that builds your credibility as “an expert”. As you do this, over and over, you add teasers to keep them “wanting more”, with bonuses for sharing your links. You hold free webinars and teleseminars with invaluable information (“I can’t believe how many people we have on the call – thanks!”). Not only must they believe you are a popular expert, but you must convince them that, as someone who knows what he’s doing and has already made a fortune online, you sincerely care about their success.

At certain points in this “relationship” you offer your “followers” a product for a few bucks. Those who are willing to buy this may be good candidates to larger-ticket items, like various levels of your exclusive “guaranteed success” program. “For just $19.95 a month you get ____, BUT if you’re really serious about making money online, you’ll give your self the gift and benefit of the whole program for just $995.” You also create scarcity – “only a few seats remaining” or “act now and you’ll also get…” Sounds like late-night TV ads for Ginzu knives, eh?

But the fact is, Ginzu knives, Popeil’s Pocket Fisherman and the current equivalents – like “make six-figures a year online” salesmen – sell millions and make their inventors and marketers a lot of money. People, in general, are trusting and gullible. We want to believe there are replicable formulas and simple programs we can use, and gurus we can follow. However, if you were like many of these guys, you’d already possess certain traits and resources: you’d be a super salesman, with a technical team and sharp marketing/manipulation skills. You’d have strategic alliances with some of the Big Players so you could use their email lists, and you’d eat, sleep and breath your sales program 24/7.

We know that the way these rah-rah Tony Robbins clones have made a fortune (if they are to be believed) is by selling their programs to people who are often desperate to get some cash flowing in now, and lack the technical expertise and financial resources – not to mention personality – to replicate the program…even after they bought, listened to and followed to a T, the 64 CDs, 36 workbooks and attended the “life-changing Live Event” on the other side of the country.

I’m not saying there isn’t much to learn when it comes to internet-based business, and those who offer excellent training programs. My concerns are the time and money you (or I) have to devote to this sort training, and whether it is in keeping with who you are, what you want to share in the world, how you can “monetize” your efforts with integrity, and whether these formulaic routes will actually “build relationships” and accomplish your goals.

If you want to create passive income or build/increase your business from your online efforts, here are a few things I’ve learned:
• Have a plan. Be clear about the services and/or products you’re offering and why.
• Be genuine. Make it easy for people to contact/communicate with you and buy from you.
• Know you can’t do it all alone. You need tech support and expertise. Don’t be afraid to outsource, and learn how to do that well and cost-effectively.
• Get a mentor or coach, join a Master Mind group, or have a buddy to whom you’re accountable for implementing your plan.
• Don’t be a sucker. If, after doing your due diligence, you buy a “how to” program, use it. Work it.
• Focus on just one project at a time. If you are using a WordPress blog, for example, become expert at that before moving on.
• Learn what efforts get you the most mileage and don’t waste time with the thousands of other “good ideas” or directions you could go in.
• Since “relationships are everything,” decide who you want to be in relationship with, and what you can offer them of true value.
• Be patient and realistic, not just about your own learning curve but about building your reputation and network.

I’d appreciate if you would share this article, if you feel it’s worth sharing, and leave your comments. Oh, and feel free to contact me if I can be of service to you. Thank you!

Mis Tiendas (My Stores)

Americans (i.e., U.S. citizens, to distinguish between other residents of North and South America) have long bemoaned the disappearance of “Mom and Pop” shops – those locally-owned stores from a now long bygone era. Even author John Steinbeck, in “Travels With Charley,” chronicling his last tour around the United States in 1968, railed against the proliferation of corporate franchises and the loss of regionalism.

Today we accept, and many feel secure in, the sameness from town to town of familiar places: fast-food joints, chains of restaurants and bars, big-box stores, franchise services of all kinds. But here in Mexico, despite the fairly-recent infiltration of supermarkets, department stores and the likes of Office Depot and Mailboxes Etc., towns and big-city neighborhoods are still largely served by hard-working local entrepreneurs; shop owners in hole-in-the-wall stores or even on the street.

Here are a few I’ve enjoyed patronizing in San Miguel de Allende:

Miguel makes beautiful journals and notebooks he sells outside the Mercado.
This no-name restaurant, at the corner of Calzada de la Luz and Calzada de la Aurora, delights me with excellent pollo quesadillas. For 25 pesos (about $2) I get a great chicken sandwich on a toasted wheat roll, with avocados, tomatoes, onion and lettuce piled high inside. Yum.
Something you'd never see at a U.S. gas station: a mescal tasting! "Full Service" takes on meaning we've never dreamed of! Drink and drive ...what the heck!
Philpe, the proud manager of La Europea, offers a wide variety (and best prices) of wines, tequilas, liquors, beers, snacks and condiments. A large humidor displays Mexican and Cuban cigars. It is a chain of 13 Mexican stores.