I have these culinary connections with certain cities that provide unique gastro-memories. For example, I was in Guatemala Central America as a graduate student doing archival research and national archives in the Nation’s capital. I spent about seven months living in the capital searching through decades of historical documents. Years later what I found in part informed my book Black Labor in Caribbean Guatemala. I arrived in Guatemala City a week before Christmas in 1997, I can remember it as though it happened yesterday. I found a place to stay, settled in, and starting searching a restaurant. This was back when I was vegan (circa 1985 to 2015). I went to check out a vegetarian restaurant I found in my Lonely Planet guide book named Rey Sol walking distant from my hotel and just across the street from the Archivo Nacional and the Parque Central. Rey Sol had excellent baked goods, a full service menu, and great service. Over the next several months I became regular customer often eating three meals a today there. Most morning I purchased fresh fruit from a street vender in route to Rey Sol where I purchased a delicious and filling cinnamon roll. Whenever I see a great cinnamon roll it takes me back to Guatemala City and Rey Sol.
