(previous) part of our Tales of the WLBOTT series (next)
WLBOTT is assembling the team to head to Eldorado, TX, to eat at Señor Taipei, the Taiwanese-Mexican fusion restaurant, and watch the Wink versus Eldorado football game. The team consists of Grønk, Kennetta and her brother Stephan, Fred the penitent intern, Sister Magdalena, and Donna Bella-Donna. At noon on Friday, they began loading up the old, rusty white WLBOTT-mobile, a Ford Econoline. Donna joined the group because, just last night, she had a dream/vision/hallucination which she claimed was astral projection involving Loving County.
Sister Magdalena and Donna Bella-Donna often butted heads.
As Donna rambled on a bit too long about her mystical journey to West Texas, Sister Magdalena interrupted, “Donna, stop. Not every dream is a revelation. There is no astral projection. It’s pseudoscience.”
To which Donna replied:
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows.
– 2 Corinthians 12:2
Sister Magdalena hated when people quoted scripture to her. It was always out of context and self-serving. She shot back:
I knew a man Bojangles and he danced for you / In worn out shoes…
– First Jerry Jeff 27:14, 1-2, 47-49
He spoke with tears of 15 years / How his dog and him / They traveled about
The absurdity of the exchange caused both women to stop, and then break out in laughter. They agreed to disagree.
The crew built in a few extra hours to their drive. They wanted to see the public libraries in Burnet, Mason, and Menard. They also visited the Presidio de San Saba, a Spanish fort dating back to 1757. The weather was beautiful
One of the few remaining functional original features of the Ford Econoline was the 8-track player, and they just happened to have an 8-track of Jerry Jeff Walker’s Greatest Hits and Nanci Griffith’s From a Distance. As tradition dictated, they began with Nanci’s Ford Econoline.
“But his big mistake was in buying her that Ford Econoline!” – everybody’s favorite line!
Since driving three and a half hours to see a high school football game is the most Texas thing you can do, they saved Jerry Jeff’s London Homesick Blues until they were entering Eldorado. [ed. note: For our non-Texas visitors, London Homesick Blues is the official national anthem of Texas.]
Perch Periwinkle, our artist-in-residence, was unable to join the group for the trip to Eldorado. She had a prior commitment involving the inspection of linseed oil and hog bristle brushes.
But while waiting for delivery, she collaborated with Elder G to make a collage of Nanci’s Ford Econoline for the travelers.
The WLBOTT crew pulled into the Eldorado High School stadium parking lot around 6:40, bought their tickets, and headed over to the visitors’ bleachers. The visitor crowd was a bit sparse, considering the 197-mile trip from Wink.
Fred was the first to spot Lyra and Lochlan. “Look, the Okra People! The identical twins!”
Fred ran up to them. “Hey, you remember me? We sold you the okra!” The twins were surprised, and it took them a second to place Fred, but then they grew excited. “Sure we remember you,” said Lochlan with a smile. “What are you doing here?”
“We came up here to try this new restaurant, Señor Taipei. Our restaurant manager Kennetta’s been anxious to try it.” The rest of the WLBOTT group caught up with Fred, and introduced themselves to Lyra and Lochlan. The twins invited the group to join them to watch the game.
Grønk and the twins talked about gardening, rain, football. Lyra said, “You’ve got to meet our friend Leo. He’s got a milagro garden in the Loving desert.”
Grønk was curious about life in far West Texas; the twins were curious about WLBOTT. “So you folks have an organic farm?” asked Lochlan.
“Well, we do have a WLBOTT Ag Extension Service. We’re the Waggies. Go Waggies!” answered Grønk. But trying to explain WLBOTT was difficult. Grønk turned toward Sister Magdalena, Kennetta, and Donna Bella-Donna for help.
“We’re a community,” began Sister Magdalena.
“We think new thoughts,” continued Donna Bella-Donna.
“We learn new things, every day,” said Stephan.
“We mend our ways,” said Fred the penitent intern.
“We take care of each other,” concluded Kennetta.
Lyra and Lochlan exchange a glance.
“So, are you the leader?” Lyra asked Grønk. That elicited a howl of laughter from the WLBOTTers. “Jefe Grønk, jefe Grønk,” chanted Stephan and Fred. For some reason Sister Magdalena thought this was particularly hilarious, and doubled over with laughter. Grønk, slightly offended, said, “Well, it’s not that funny!”
They explained the Mayordomo de Semana system to the twins – authority and non-authority; power and powerlessness, tolerance except for intolerance. The twins caught on and liked the idea.
Kennetta explained WLBOTT’s diner, the Ladle & Lube. Lochlan liked the duality that permeated WLBOTT. “So I can eat lunch and get my tractor repaired?” asked an enthusiastic Lochlan.
Kennetta said, “In pursuit of culinary adventures, we are actually here to visit Señor Taipei, the Taiwanese-Mexican fusion restaurant, and it was a lucky happenstance that Wink was playing tonight. We’d heard about you visiting the farmers’ market, and hoped we’d run into you.”
The game was a blowout, with Wink extending their undefeated season.
However, the Eldorado marching band, though few in number, did a great job at halftime.
Facing a long drive home, the twins reluctantly declined the invitation to join the WLBOTTers at Señor Taipei. But before parting, they exchanged email addresses and promised to visit each other.
Señor Taipei
After the game ended, the WLBOTTers climbed back into the Econoline, waited for the parking lot traffic to thin (this took about 45 seconds) and drove the short distance to Señor Taipei. They were met by Joaquín Watts, the restaurant’s owner. Kennetta mentioned that she managed the Ladle & Lube. Joaquín wasn’t familiar with the restaurant, but the challenges of running a restaurant gave them a lot to talk about. Joaquín gave Kennetta a tour of the kitchen, and they shared their woes of the deep fryer.
“You know, Kennetta,” Joaquín said, “I’ve discovered that the secret to running a successful restaurant is to keep the customers happy, the employees paid, and the health inspector mildly confused.” Then he became reflective. “I used to work for a company that cooked the books. Now I work in a kitchen that cooks everything else.”
One of the highlights was the Mariachi fusion band – Los Shanghai Sombreros.
The instruments being played from left to right are:
- Guitarrón (大型墨西哥吉他), meaning “big Mexican guitar”
- Pipa (琵琶): It is a four-stringed, pear-shaped plucked Chinese lute with a history spanning over two millennia.
- Erhu (二胡): Often called the “Chinese violin,” it is a two-stringed bowed instrument with a small soundbox traditionally covered in snakeskin, played with a bow laced between the strings.
- Guzheng (古筝): Played by the musician seated center. It is a traditional plucked zither featuring movable bridges and 21 (or more) strings mounted over a resonant wooden body.
- Sheng (笙): Played by the musician standing back-right. It is an ancient mouth-blown polyphonic reed instrument made of vertical bamboo pipes bundled into a windchest.
- Bogu / Cha (钹 / 镲): Played by the musician on the far right. These are traditional Chinese brass cymbals, commonly used in folk ensembles and Peking opera for bright, rhythmic accents.
The Menu
Botanas
Tortilla Egg Drop Soup
Guaca-Mole Dumplings
Jalapeño Popper Potstickers
Nacho Average Wontons
La Comida
The Egg Roll Burrito
Sweet and Sour Fajitas
Chimichanga Chang
Sesame Chicken Fried Chicken
The Great Wall of Enchiladas
Peking Armadillo
Kung Pao Cabrito
Tacos al Wuhan
Chairman Mao’s Mole[1]
Lo Mein on the Range: Stir-fried noodles with smoked brisket, onions, and poblano peppers.
[1] Double entendre
Mole (pronounced mole-a) is a delicious and spicy Mexican sauce made from peanuts and chilies.
Mole photo credits:
By AlejandroLinaresGarcia – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=7668267
By Elelicht – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22713691
By Gatorfan252525 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=196617808
According to the menu:
Chairman Mao’s Mole
Our revolutionary house specialty. A rich, complex sauce containing 27 secret ingredients. Anyone attempting to discover the recipe will be denounced as a counterrevolutionary.
And, naturally, the kitchen operates under a Five-Spice Plan.
The dish is best shared collectively, although the bill is strictly individual.
[ed. note: being a responsible Main Stream Media outlet, WLBOTT has covered Mao’s Mole in a previous BLOTT.]