A Blue Iguana

I had lunch today at the Blue Iguana, BI, trendy mex in Salt Lake City. This place is located in the heart of this city right across from the Salt Palace. I have to pass the Salt Place to get to the BI. The whole downtown is littered with Vets: left over from the national convention held in SLC this week Remember: Bush was in town? What a trip. The event officially ended today so most of the fading warriors disappeared yesterday leaving only the brave and diehards today.

I dodged these fossils as I made my way to the restaurant—when I left my office searching for lunch today I was not really planning on doing mex and especially the BI, but as I wondered further and further East I finally came to Arrow Press square and decided on giving the place a try. Like I said the place is trendy usually meaning that the facility is in some form of old architecture. As it is BI add the Arrow Press Square seems really old. The Iguana located deep inside this building complex making sort of a maze of stairs and hallways to get to the restaurant. The front door is accessed down a steep setoff stairs leading to the basement level of the buildings. A couple of weeks ago when I was motoring to work in my power wheelchair I noticed a backside to this building I had not noticed before and a feebler sign indicating “Elevator”. I could not see the elevator but knew there must be one. I retraced my steps of last week and found the sign and entered the door it pointer to. I found myself in an interesting lair of hallways—the back of many of the restaurants in this complex and sure enough one of the door was marked Blue Iguana. Actually the door guarded an elevator shaft. I had to actually bring the car up before the door would open. I opened the door when the elevator arrived sure enough it WAS an elevator, an old one but looked sturdy enough. I rolled in and shut the door, punched the button to “1” and promptly dropped an inch but arrived at the floor safe. I opened the door right into the Kitchen. I should not have been surprised but I was. Bags of onions and avocados were everywhere and non English speaking personnel. Steam was rising from the cooking areas and water was running from a pipe just above the floor perpetually keeping the floor wet.

I felt like Alice after she had fallen down the tunnel in her quest for White Rabbit. I slowly inched myself forward. I was not sure I was going to be able to get through ad that was not weird part—what was the weird part was here was this middle ages crip in a huge power inching out of the closet. Nobody seemed to notice. The door closed behind me and I then moved to the sink area trying to get noticed but luck. Waiters were coming in with huge piles of plates and leaving with huge piles of food. Dish washers grabbed the soiled dishes and scraped them clean and began processing. I finally ran into a bottle neck—I could go no further. What looked like the head waiter finally stopped and pointed at me and a couple of the dishwashers and motioned for the washers to push one of the prep tables back against the wall freeing up an inch or so but just enough for me to get by and out of the humidity which was the kitchen. The scene was a dream, not a nightmare but a really strange \dream just the same. Back in the “real world” there was only three or four tables on the main floor, stairs up and stairs accessed the other eating levels. I had to wait a half hour before a table, opened up—needless to say I was slate getting back to the office.

The food was good and adventure had. I cannot wait to drag some of my friends who use wheelchairs there for lunch or diner. It will be highly entertaining – somethings never change