December! It’s Cabaret time!

willkommen, bienvenue, welcome!

Things are most certainly improving on the Costa de Sol! The pre-Christmas time entertainment traditionally includes going to the theatre, having a meal at a good restaurant and then possibly move on to a bar to round off the night on as happy a note as possible.

Although we do not have any real theatres to speak of here on the Costa, there are more restaurants and bars than we can ever hope for, it is of no surprise therefore that “Cabaret” style restaurants and even bars are becoming so popular.

Whereas it may be a lot easier to decide what show to see and what restaurant to visit after the show, it gets a little bit trickier when the two are combined. You don’t want your meal spoiled by a poor act or a good evening spoilt by some underdone chicken and a poor service.

In our last month’s edition we introduced Stephen Lloyd-Morgan as our “Real Person” of the month so we just had to go and see him in action, which took place at “Il Vigneto Restaurant” in Duquesa Hills, behind Los Hidalgos. We had done well to book, it was a full house!

That’s probably because when something is good, people seem to know about it and for a very good evening costing just €50 (plus drinks), you can start counting on me as a follower.

Whilst sipping the welcome drink and being shown where our table was, we even met some very good friends of ours who apparently are “hooked” on Stephen and will go everywhere he performs.

The 3 course meal, offered a choice of 3 starters, 3 main courses and two desserts. I thought it was a really nice touch to find our names and a red carnation pinned to the menu reserving our table.

We started with the red peppers stuffed with salmon, cheese and tarragon which, as well as being well presented, tasted pretty good and we followed with a grilled steak served with French fries and vegetables. Not as plain as it sounds, there was a choice of sauces (pepper, blue cheese, etc) to accompany the meat and, what is important, we were asked how we liked the meat cooked (rare, medium, well done). The Fruit Kebab with burnt cream was a very refreshing and pleasant final touch to the meal. Oh! I must not forget the wine, I chose a Spanish Chardonnay that went down a treat.

Stephen does not leave any stones unturned, so to speak, his repertoire is extensive and varied with the object of pleasing all tastes in music. He varies from pop to rock and musical theatre to opera; he can do so with great ease and having been trained for Opera at the Welsh College of Music & Drama, as well as Musical Theatre at the Mountview Academy of Performing Arts in London, not only does he sing well but he is also an entertainer.

His experience as a cabaret performer for some years in the UK is quite evident when, before you know it, everyone at your table begins to feel part of a much larger group comprising everyone else in the restaurant. The intensity of that atmosphere builds up to such an extent that some diners spontaneously stand up and dance to some of his songs. Others cannot resist going as far as joining Stephen and inviting him to dance.

A truly dedicated young man, who spares no energy in using all of his abilities and talent to entertain everyone present, something he achieves with great ease.

I liked the fact that his partner and manager, Nick Holland, is selective about the venues where he chooses to perform. In the course of this month Stephen will be appearing again at “Il Vigneto” as well as “The Birdcage Cabaret Restaurant” in San Pedro and “Schooners” Restaurant Bar. The New Year’s Party on 31st of December looks quite appealing.