I don't remember the exact day I first stumbled upon Son Latinos. I know it was in 1999, because I had recently moved to Cadiz, Spain to study Spanish(among other things). Son Latinos was a bar located in the Plaza de Mina, everyone's favorite spot to botellon (take a bottle of your own favorite liquor in sit in the park with friends). It must have been the music that called to me. Even now, every time I hear salsa, I can't help but smile and start to move. It was in Son Latinos where I met some wonderful Cubans who introduced me to my favorite (and now signature) drink...the mojito.
Rum, ice, fresh muddled mint leaves, sugar cane, fresh lime juice, and a splash of soda...ahh....just perfectly sweet, minty and refreshing.
Fast forward 10 years to my life in Seattle. Salsa dancing and enjoying a good mojito are still up there on my list of favorite things to, but here it's complicated. For salsa, there is Century Ballroom, Tango, or China Harbor, sometimes there are live bands at Selena's Guadalajara or Babalu (though the mojito I had a Babalu's was THE WORST MOJITO I've ever had in my life...I repeat do not order a mojito a Babalus). But while it's great to have the space of the ballroom or the great bands that show up at Babalu, often the dancing doesn't have that satisfying feeling. I've taken salsa lessons before and I don't have anything against people who take lessons, but where I really learned how to dance is from the cuban sailors at Son Latinos. There was no counting, no talk of rock steps, or debate about whether or not to start on the one or the two. We just danced...no counting, minimal thinking, just me and the music and workin' it out. And it felt good and fun. All too often now, I find myself partnered with people whose lips move as the count every moment or people who don't know the difference between choreography and just dancing. It's annoying and it detracts from the fun. More over, there are very few places you can get a decent mojito in this town. Elliot's Bay makes good drinks...but no dancing. Babalu has good bands, but bad drinks and not a lot of space.
Son Latinos itself wasn't that large of a bar, but what I came to love about it, in addition to the fact that it had that perfect combination of great music, great dancers, and suberb mojitos, is that I felt like family there. Every time I walked in the door I was greeted by name. It wasn't meat-markety or filled with people dancing for sport. Everyone danced with one another and it was just fun.
Last night and for the past few Fridays, I have been hitting up La Casa del Mojitos in the U-district. I first ventured there for ropa vieja...my favorite cuban dish of shredded beef with peppers and onions served with black beans and rice. One of my coworkers took me to lunch there to negotiate a special goodbye breakfast for our graduating students. I immediately felt comfortable. The food was lovely, the mojitos were well made, and when I heard they had live salsa on Friday nights I knew I had to check it out. So I did and I was not disappointed. It's what I've been missing, a place to dance for fun, where the people are friendly, the men are nice without being over solicitous, the music is fabulous, and there's no cover charge. I highly recommend it.
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