OPINION —
When you were in school, were you a leader or a follower? Unfortunately, in the sixth grade, I was a follower.
Back then, every sixth grader at William L. Radney Elementary School in Alexander City took a music aptitude test in the lunchroom. We listened to various musical tones, and on the test, we marked whether a tone was higher or lower than the previous one.
Apparently, I did well on the test, because the band teacher called my parents to see if I was interested in joining the Alexander City Junior High School band in seventh grade.
I told my parents that I didn’t want to join the band. Why? Because many of my classmates wanted to take Introductory Latin instead. I was an idiot.
Latin, is of course, a dead language; no one in the world uses Latin as a language.
All I can remember from Latin class is that “agricola” means “farmer,”and “Ego amo te,” means,“I love you.” Remembering this tiny bit of Latin hasn’t helped me much in life; however, since English comes from Latin, I can sometimes figure out the meanings of new words more easily.
Learning to play a musical instrument could have helped me with critical thinking skills and math. And boy, did I need help in math.
Amelia, who has been my friend since September of 1968, chose to take band for one reason: to get out of physical education, which was required in Alabama in those days.
When we attended Benjamin Russell High School, Amelia admitted to me that when the band performed at halftime of the football games, she only marched.
She said, “I can’t play my French horn and march at the same time.”
I said, “Amelia, what if all the band members did that? We’d hear no music.”
She really didn’t seem concerned.
However, Amelia and her fellow band mates had to march in the merciless Alabama sun during the summer in order to learn their show for the fall.
That would have been rough. But I digress.
Recently, Mike and I met our good friends Jack and William at the Latin Table for supper. Believe me, Latin Table beat my seventh grade Latin class by a long shot.
Latin Table is located at 2450 Martin Luther King Drive in Auburn. The restaurant opened last October and is locally owned by Elijah Wilson. Latin Table offers authentic dishes from Venezuela and Guatemala and hopes to add Colombian dishes, too. Marialys, our server, was a complete delight, being kind, helpful and patient.
Mike ordered a burrito, which included beef, cheese and onions. William chose three tacos, which included pulled pork and chicken with lettuce and cheese.
Jack selected the pollo asado, which consisted of garlic-lime grilled chicken over rice with black beans, charred corn esquites and fried plantain slices, finished with a bright cilantro lime drizzle. I chose two smashed burger tacos with cheese, lettuce, onion and tomato. I ordered French fries, avocado and queso for my sides.
Oh, my. All of our food was slap your grandma two times good. It was really great to try something new that tasted that good.
Jack was really happy to find black beans that he enjoyed. He said, “This is the first place that makes black beans I can eat. I’m not usually wild about fried plantains, but these are very good.”
Latin Table is a definite do over for us. Trust me, try this restaurant; you will be very glad you did.
Latin Table offers diners a large variety of appetizers, some of which include: tequenos, jalapeno poppers, mini empanadas, sliders and salchipapas. The restaurant also serves handhelds, burgers, hot dogs, bowls and entrees.
Latin Table is open seven days a week. The restaurant is open Sunday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Latin Table makes the grade with an A+ from this retired English teacher. Remember, “Pooh-sized people never lie about food. Enjoy!
Stacey Patton Wallace, who retired from teaching language arts for 30 years, is a professional diner. Her column, “Making the Grade,” will appear every other week in The Observer. Stacey may be reached at retiredlangartsteacher2020@gmail.com.
