Shopping with Senor Dreamy

A few months ago, I met Melissa Peterson, the editor of Edible Memphis, for coffee. (One of my biggest fans gave me the hook-up.)

Melissa is an extremely easy person to talk to and we spent a good hour getting to know each other. My plan was to pitch a story on drinking tap water rather than purchasing (evil) bottled water. Turns out, it was an easy toss. (See the January issue.)

However, while chatting about some of our favorite places to eat around town, I somehow ended up getting THE BEST WRITING ASSIGNMENT EVER!

Go shopping with Senor Dreamy (of Las Tortugas fame)!

I had four months until my deadline, so naturally I spent three and a half months bragging about my BEST WRITING ASSIGNMENT EVER before actually going shopping with Senor Dreamy.

Let me clear one thing up. There are really two Senor Dreamies at Las Tortugas. Pepe Magallanes and his son, Jonathan. As charasmatic and charming as Pepe is, Jonathan is my Senor Dreamy.

Melissa, who is also Edible's main photographer, and I met Jonathan at 9:00am at the restaurant and then proceeded to go on a two hour shopping trip that spanned four stores, one warehouse, and at least 40 miles. Jonathan was just as enthusiastic about shopping as he is about talking to customers about the delights awaiting them at Las Tortugas. I'm happy to report that I now know the secret to selecting all types of produce thanks to Jonathan's willingness to share his knowledge. (I also learned a few other secrets of his, but you'll have to wait for the magazine to come out in April!)

Melissa and I were both exhausted (and starving) after trying to keep up with Jonathan's fast pace, and we more than happy to take him up on his offer of lunch. Back at the restaurant we were treated to a feast of elote corn, fresh guacamole, chicken tostadas, prime rib tacos, and freshly squeezed limeade. On top of that, we had the pleasure of Pepe's company while we ate. (He told us even more of Jonathan's secrets!)





Everything moved so fast, I had to furiously take notes. (I didn't want to forget the image of Jonathan riding his cart through Costco like a child might or Pepe tearing up when he talked about how awesome his wife is!) It wasn't until we got to the lunch portion of the day that I realized I hadn't taken any shopping pictures!!

Fortunately, Melissa did. But you'll have to wait 'til April!