How do you choose which restaurant to frequent? Don Day’s Wife and I have what we call the big four wants. Very, very few restaurants fulfill all four of them. Some we regular go to only hit the mark with one or two of our measurement standards. And sometimes that’s enough. Then, once in a very long while, a restaurant hits the bull’s eye with all four arrows.

So what exactly are those big four wants? Here they are in order of importance.

4. The atmosphere.

We might be perching on wobbly plastic stools at a far-from-Centro taco stand. We might be lounging on down-filled silk cushions in an 18th Century courtyard. The place might be classy. It might just be cheerful. But a restaurant must have a certain character, an aura, a verve, a style, a personality. It’s mostly a visual thing. But music can sometimes make up for what’s missing to the eye.

3. The attitude.

We want more than efficient service when we go to a restaurant. We want to be treated, not like customers, but like guests. We want to feel that the staff is there, not just to physically deliver food and drink, but to deliver a warm, pleasurable and memorable experience. 

2. The value.

Don Day’s Wife and I go to restaurants not because we are hungry. We go for the pleasures of a dining experience. Generally speaking, we’d rather enjoy those moments on three occasions at a $500 per person restaurant than once at a $1500. Which doesn’t mean we don’t ever go to big ticket eateries but, when we pay three times as much for lunch or dinner, we expect considerably more pleasure than what we expect for a third of that price.

1. The menu.

I am a lucky man. Don Day’s Wife finds great joy from cooking and I am the fortunate recipient of her enthusiasm and talents. Via her cuisine, I travel to Italy, France, Spain and Greece…to China, Japan, Korea and Thailand, almost each and every week. So, when we go out to eat, we want to go to those places less-travelled, to savor dishes that are seldom or never eaten at home. Of course, those dishes not only have to be different and, perhaps, daring, they also have to be executed extremely well.

The one with 1, 2, 3 and 4.

It was only co-incidence that had taken us there. When we arrived at our originally planned destination, the restaurant wasn’t “ready for us”. Despite it being an hour after the official opening time, they were still cleaning. We stood outside for a while, the smell of Fabuloso wafting through the open door.

Think fast, Don Day.

“I think I know another restaurant that’s very close and is open for lunch on Tuesday. Let’s hop in this cab.”

“No, I can’t remember the name of the restaurant…I’m old…but I remember where it is and I remember it’s good.”

“I know it looks dark and empty but just stay in the cab and let me look.”

“The door’s unlocked. There’s a couple of customers. There’s staff. They’re open. Let’s celebrate.”

Yes, we were celebrating. It was the sixth anniversary of the night that our friends Mark and Monique met. I was hoping the restaurant would be as special as their relationship. It didn’t let us down. 

The restaurant is called Bocaciega. It arrived in San Miguel a little over a year ago, the first fine dining venture for the owners of La Chope and the almost impossible to get in to Tostevere.

A charming woman met us at the door. I asked if we could have the best table, the one beside the “babbling brook”. She seated us there.

I don’t think there’s a better looking restaurant in San Miguel than Bocaciega. It’s classy but casual. It’s cozy but cool. It’s chic but comfortable. I can’t imagine anyone not liking the smart, sophisticated and very tasteful decor.

The menu is…well…hard to put a label on. Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, North African? Maybe international is the best word. Whatever name you put on it, what you get is a wide array of dishes, many of which you will not find in any other San Miguel restaurant and most of which we never eat at home.

My one complaint about the menu and about the only complaint I have of Bocaciega is the menu is quite pretentious. Mark and Monique and Don Day’s Wife and I are (even though I don’t really like the word) what I’ll call foodies. But I don’t think the foodiest of foodies would get four out of four if you asked them to tell you what malfoof, kippeh, fattoush and lubina are, all four of which are dishes on Bocaciega’s menu.

I’ve even been bothered by the obscurity of the name (blind mouth?) and logo of the restaurant. It was only when I emailed Toño Aranda, one of Bocaciega’s owners that I learned:

It’s because we wanted a name that didn’t push us to a traditional Mediterranean food or concept. Bocaciega in Spanish would be understood as “Blindmouth”. For us, this name helps us to say to everyone, “Do not expect traditional”. If your mouth is blind, it would be easily opened to new ideas, easy to accept new proposals.

The nice thing about dining with foodies is they like to graze, they like to sample, they like to share. Mark and Monique are no different. We chose four dishes and asked the server to place them, one at a time in the center of the table.

Before those dishes, a complimentary basket of perfect pita and a dip of beet, tzatziki and roasted pumpkin seeds arrived.

Bocaciega’s chef, José Bazan once said to me, “It is almost as important to cook for the eyes as it is for the mouth” and the complimentary appetizer set the stage. Everything that came after it was also “suitable for framing”.

What Bocaciega’s menu calls kippeh is what I call kibbeh. It’s Syria’s national dish and you’ll find it in cafes throughout the Middle East. Traditionally, these mini footballs are composed of ground meat, bulgar wheat, onions and spices. Bocaciega pairs them beautifully with two different sauces, pistachios, passion fruit, crispy greens and microgreens.

Bocaciego’s calamari plate is just as complicated and, once again, everything works in harmony. The batter is light, fluffy and not at all greasy. It covers the squid and sticks of zucchini while okra and roasted yellow peppers decorate the side.

I will always allow a kitchen one mistake and Bocaciego’s was the roasted cauliflower. Visually, it was just as striking as the rest of their creations. Unfortunately, the vegetable was cooked barely past raw and was totally unchewable.

Redemption though came in the next course. Octopus is one of the very best ways to judge the talents of a kitchen and the right amount of chew and the right amount of char are not easy for chefs to master. Bocaciega aced them.

We were full. Very full. Yet, not counting drinks, we’d spent just $1280 or $320 a person. Very little I thought considering the innovative menu, impeccable service and delightful surroundings.

But this was an anniversary, a celebration, and Mexican celebrations always end with a postre. There were three on the menu. We would try to choose one. We couldn’t. We chose two. The turrón chocolate mousse was an imaginative treatment of Spanish nougat that would have  been a great dessert even if it consisted of only the sides that surrounded it.

Ordering baklava is always a tricky proposition. So many are so sickly sweet that Don Day’s Wife won’t even try them. She thought Bocaciega’s baklava was perfection.

So, yes, a couple of problems. The obscurities on the menu desperately need clarification. And there was no excuse for the undercooked cauliflower. But overall, Bocaciega is one of the very, very few San Miguel restaurants to score a four out of four on what are those most important wants whenever we dine out.

Bocaciega is located at Quebrada #18A in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. The restaurant is open from 1:00 to 10:00 pm, Monday through Saturday; 1:00 to 9:00 pm, Sunday.