On Sunday night we were given tickets to the World Stage at Van Dusen Gardens. It's like a mini folk fest that takes place three nights in a row. We listened to Bossa Nova and Salsa music from Latin America. It was warm with a few soft showers, but we took shelter under one of the large trees bordering the lawn in front of the stage. We had popcorn and ice cream and watched the sun go down over the mountains as the seductive music took hold of our bodies and lifted us up to dance in the wet grass in our bare feet. The Ulster even asked for a CD--he who has the most eclectic taste in music was charmed by the beat.
I went into a reverie--Bunjie's Coffee House in London England. It was a tiny joint in a basement I wandered into by myself when I was on a working holiday in 1989, I and grew to love the place. They always played vintage salsa music with strategically placed grunts. It was like stepping back in time to the 60's and it reminded me of the song "Hernando's Hideaway". I even have the business card somewhere in my files. The iced coffee there was the best I'd ever had--thick and milky like Vietnamese coffee, very potent and not too sweet.
I was going to recommend it to chef Emily Waters who is currently working at the prestigious Nahm restaurant in London, and when I Googled Bunjie's I was shocked to find that it had been the quintessential folkie club in the 60's and musicians like Bob Dylan had played there. It's a legendary place in the rock and folk music history of London and sadly it closed at the end of the 90's. If I ever go back to London I am going to visit the address anyway, which currently houses an African restaurant. Bunjies. I loved you once. Me and Bob in our black turtenecks, drinking iced coffee, and snapping our fingers to the beat of the bongos. So long sweet cavern of bliss.
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