AY! CARAMBA CAFES
In Harwich and Falmouth
Primetime Cape Cod
May 2007 By: Becky Sue Epstein
Is it my imagination, or is there a secret connection between documentary filmmakers and restaurants on Cape Cod ? This the second time in a week I've encountered it (for my second column in a row).
Born at the tail end of the baby boom, Judy Blatchford, now co-owner of Ay! Caramba Cafes, bought a house and moved to the Cape from the Boston area in 1992. She then spent the summer traveling around the States on a motorcycle, and came home with a “what should I do with the rest of my life?” crisis.
“What have I always been passionate about?” she asked herself. “And I said ‘the new,'” she recalls.
She got a job as a television news coordinator in Boston , but soon found the news had become so entertainment oriented she moved to Los Angeles and tried out production work in the entertainment business there. That didn't exactly feel right.
“Then I decided I love stories.” She continues.
She found research work at a company that produced shows for her favorite channels, A&E and The History Channel. Blatchford worked her way up to producer, eventually moving to New York City and working for a variety of companies.
In New York , Blatchford happened to meet a woman who told her about an extraordinary elementary school teacher she'd once had, named Mr. Cullum. During the late 1950s and 1960s, Cullum and his unconventional teaching methods inspired his young students so much they never forgot him. All the students kept in touch, Blatchford was amazed to discover. She staged a reunion and they all showed up. This became part of “Independent Lens, A Touch of Greatness,” the documentary she shot about Cullum from 1998 to 2000. It was eventually aired on PBS and nominated for an Emmy in 2005.
But by that time, Blatchford had moved back to Cape Cod and was involved in the restaurant business with Ira (short for Irasema) Mendoza . The two women had met while Blatchford was working the Los Angeles area. Ira was already in the food industry, managing food service at the Pasadena Convention Center . She and her brother Ralph had been dreaming of running their own place, and Ira says Judy persuaded her she would love Cape Cod , so they came east. The time was right for Ira's dream to come true.
Blatchford and Mendoza decided to fill a gap on the Cape, and build on Mendoza 's heritage with a Mexican restaurant. While Blatchford commuted to work in New York City , Ira and Ralph opened Ay! Caramba in Harwich in 2000. The next year, New your city companies were starting to lay people off, so Blatchford decided it was time to come home full time. She moved back to her house in West Harwich where she helps out with the restaurant, though she modestly claims, “Ira is truly the heart and soul of this place. She really gives it the tome. The recipes are hers. I just do things to fill in the holes.”
When the budding restaurateurs wanted to expand, they looked to the Upper Cape, and opened the Falmouth location of Ay! Caramba a year ago, in April 2006. Mendoza believed that “people who come over the bridge want Mexican [food]” and so far, she's been proven right. People also appreciate the authentic recipes, and the casual atmosphere. Though both locations also have tequila bars, Mendoza maintains, “Our clientele are baby boomers with sophisticated palates, and they appreciate the freshness.”
Mendoza grew up with this food. Her mother was a singer – and the inspiration for the restaurant's logo. Her aunt was the chef of the extended family. Mendoza, who did not grow up cooking, worked in restaurant management for 20 years, though not in the kitchen. But along the way, she decided to teach herself what it was like to cook in and manage a restaurant kitchen.
At Ay! Caramba, Mendoza tells me “A lot of these recipes are just the traditional dishes of Mexico .” Though she uses foods from different areas, she says, “My major influences are in northern Mexico because that's where my family is from.” With dishes ranging from moles to ceviches, there are always daily specials – along with the more familiar enchiladas, tostadas and chile rellenos, her featured salsa called Pico de Gallo, is made fresh at each location.
Blatchford and Mendoza travel to Mexico almost every year, and they bring back new recipes as well as décor items for the restaurants. Blatchford says Mendoza 's brother Ralph “has an unbelievable sense of putting things together” and the three have created an informal, bright, and visually appealing atmosphere for their restaurants. In Falmouth , for instance, the interior has a stimulating variety of designs and even a mural painted on the wall, folkloric fabric covering the banquette cushions, and festival masks hanging along the soffit above.
Finally, I had to ask what the words Ay! Caramba mean – though I'd heard them on countless TV shows and movies. The best translation is “Good Heavens!” This is a traditional cry you might hear during Mexican Cinco de Mayo celebrations. And both Ay! Caramba locations will have plenty going on, not only on the fifth of May but all during this month, and into the summer.
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