It wasn’t Punch and Judy, but it might as well have been. A darkened stage with spotlights on spectacular hand puppets atop a set of black velvet, dancing and remonstrating and arguing in cartoonish voices, various props popping in and out of frame assisting the telling of the tale. Not quite as much violence as I remember but I guess times have changed. There were maybe a hundred kids in the audience with an equal number of progenitors watching on, the sounds of joyous screeches and laughter amplifying the puppeterial tomfoolery. The show was the last gasp of La Noche Azul y Blanca (Blue and White Night), which coincides with the national ‘Spain Day’ public holiday. Blue and white are the colours of the Jerez flag. There’d been music and events all over the city for the past few days, a visiting troupe of puppeteers one of the keystone acts.
We were in Plaza del Banco once again, this time at Flamenkana, a north-African restaurant with a Spanish flair that includes regular flamenco performances. For the first time in nearly a year we were meeting our American friend Melanie, who’s now just weeks away from completing renovations on her new house with a permanent move to Jerez on the horizon. She’s here only for a week, for the first time with her partner Sam, who hadn’t yet seen the city.
Naturally, our local friend, architect and relocation professional Marta had become involved along the way. She’s moved mountains managing Melanie’s renovations. It’s a far bigger job than she’d undertaken at our place and thankfully there’s now light at the end of the tunnel.
By Spanish standards we had arrived at the restaurant way too early for our 8.30 reservation (which is to say we arrived at 8.30, amounting to the same thing) so it was a surprise to find Marta already there. Actually, not that big of a surprise. She’s remarkably punctual by Spanish standards, perhaps as a result of living in Switzerland for more than a decade, where if you’re a minute late you get stabbed with an army knife. With Marta was her twin sister Maria, whom we’d met once or twice before but only briefly. They had dinner plans of their own but wanted to catch up with us for a quick drink.
Like Marta, Maria has – as we’d say in Australia – the gift of the gab. They both possess an ability to talk on the inhale as well as the exhale, their quick brains feeding information to the lungs and then the larynx like a speeded-up conveyor belt. It’s a gift that we slow Australians simply don’t possess, so it’s a challenge to keep up; having Marta-times-two at the one table certainly keeps you on your toes.
After a rapid-fire half hour with Marta and Maria it was time for them to head off and for us to get on with our dinner. At about the same time, the puppet show was wrapping up and the audience was dispersing. The plaza was suddenly dead quiet, with only our group of four remaining.
Melanie observed, “It’s a lot quieter now the puppets have left.” I was unclear whether she was referring to Punch and Judy, or to Marta and Maria, but we were now able to give Flamenkana’s menu our full attention.
It was only at this point we learned that Sam leaned a little more towards vegetables, fish and chicken than to red meat so it was a remarkable stroke of luck that we’d settled on Flamenkana. Its north African provenance was about to suit us just giddily. Sure, our go-to dish here is their remarkable lamb tagine, but any opportunity to immerse ourselves in the lighter options was okay by us. In fact, we ordered only a single dish that had any meat at all, the chicken filo pie (it disappeared without a trace within eight seconds of hitting the table but that’s no sleight on the veggie dishes). Deep-fried okra, a plate of hummus and crispy flatbread and another of zaalouk, vegetable cous cous and a chickpea curry filled out the rest of the generous order, and somehow we damn near got through the lot (Jess and I were awarded the doggy bag).
Flamenkana is the answer to the question of where in Jerez a vegetarian might eat world-class food. There are plenty of vegetable options on menus right around the city, but you have to know where to look, and many of them will be deterringly swamped by meaty staples and/or cooked in pork fat. I think Flamenkana would give anyone vegetically inclined – vegans included – a pretty terrific experience, owing to its sheer variety, its location in one of Jerez’s beautiful hidden squares, and its value for money – we ate and drank for four hours and came away only €30 lighter per person.
You can book online and there are English versions of the hefty food and drinks menu. Inside the restaurant is cute and cozy, but unless it’s snowing out it’s far better to sit out in the plaza so arrive on time and take your pick of table. That is, unless there’s a flamenco performance scheduled (hint: find them on Instagram, their only marketing platform). In that case, sit inside and enjoy the conviviality. The show is free when you’re there for dinner. And if you’re lucky you might meet some puppets.
