Serendipity – “good luck; good fortune; an aptitude for making desirable discoveries by accident.”
I have been furiously contacting tourist bureaus, restaurants and hotels about media comps for my upcoming trip to Europe. Many of my emails are form letters because it simply takes too long to write a custom letter to everyone.
But, in Donostia (San Sebastian) I wrote two personal/custom emails; one to our absolute favorite restaurant in the world (…outside Petaluma, that is) and one to a restaurant we saw last time but didn’t have time to try…and have been following on Facebook ever since. Keeping mind that we are total Basque-ophiles, and lovers of food (there is no better food in the world than in the Basque Country), I wrote both asking if we could dine with them for the purpose of writing about their food. I explained to the first how much we loved their food, and to the second that we have been dying to try their food for quite some time. To both I admitted that whether they offered media comps or not we would still be dining with them; we’d be honored to taste their food, either way.
First and foremost, our favorite restaurant sent a wonderful response telling me how they were touched by my email. (If you’ve read anything of mine you know that I speak from the heart (and the stomach) – so, you can guess what a food, Basque, and Basque food lover like myself might have written.) They will not only host me, but also the other two in my party. They are even going to supply us with our special English speaking liaison who will sit with us and explain everything. They then inquired if I would be interested in accompanying the liaison for another meal at their sister restaurant. I think the exact words were “if you want to.” …seriously??? Yes, we want to!!!
But here is where the serendipity comes into play. Their sister restaurant? …it’s the other restaurant that I wrote the second personal/custom email to!!!
Stay tuned for my account of how this incredible eating experience turns out.