Long Lunches are Essential for Good Mental Health

People over time have developed a need for shelter. Weird, I know. Why on earth would we ever want to put a roof over our heads. Further more these roofs are not just there when we sleep! We go inside to work, to learn, to cook and eat, and to live. This is all fine and good, but just because we go around spending so much time inside and being thankful for the roofs over our heads doesn't mean that we can forget about the outside, and how beautiful it can be all on its own.



I admit that I don't get outside in the fresh air often enough. I do occasionally have to leave my bubble of 'inside' though, to go to an appointment in the middle of the day for example. If that day happens to be one of the first and few sunny days of spring, and the cherry blossoms just happen to be in bloom, I might decide to walk to my appointment.



Of course, if taking the long way back to the office happens to walk me right by a little Mexican/El Salvadoran restaurant from which I have been meaning to procure an oft talked about but never experienced Plantain Burrito, I might just have to take the wide arch back and grab a bite for lunch.

Cuco's in the Lower Haight is not actually very far from my office, but its far enough that I never went from work to Cuco's. This was a dumb move on my part, I didn't know what I was missing. Cuco's the type of hole in the wall place you would completely pass by if you weren't looking for it, but you should definitely be looking for it. Completely unassuming and not much more than a doorway from the outside, it also happens to be situated right next door to a rather unpleasantly scented carniceria. The two are not related. Thank goodness.



The plantain burrito at Cuco's may just be the best thing I have ever eaten. And I am including in that consideration things which are made with bacon. The perfect balance of chewy/sweet/soft plantains, salty/melty/gooey cheese, nutty rice, earthy black beans, and a pretty darn good salsa (light on tomatoes, heavy on onion and REALLY heavy on the jalapeno) - words cannot describe.



The only thing is though, that I am not sure that I can ever eat another one. See, the burrito was SOOO good that I know that the next time I have one there is no way it can ever be as good as the first time. This was the ultimate burrito experience, and everything else can only be second best.

I suppose I will just have to hold on to the memory of my first Cuco's plantain burrito and savor the sweet sweet taste of that first perfect bite on a sunshiny day in San Francisco. It's depressing really. Maybe a plantain burrito from Cuco's would make me feel better.