INT. CONFERENCE ROOM IN THE HEADQUARTERS OF MISSION TORTILLAS – DAY
FADE IN ON:
The CEO and DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS ANALYTICS sit at the head of a meeting of the BOARD OF DIRECTORS.
CEO: You have the sales figures prepared?
DBA: Of course.
CEO: Another quarter of dominant profits, I assume. Our national obsession with quesadillas only grows.
DBA: Actually Sir, revenues are, uh, trending down.
CEO: WHAT?
DBA: There’s no easy way to say this, Sir, but, people no longer need the bottom tortilla.
CEO: WHAT?
DBA: They’re just, like, putting the cheese directly on the griddle.
CEO: I DON’T BELIEVE YOU.
DBA: I wish I was lying, Sir.
CEO: ARE YOU TELLING ME PEOPLE WILL ONLY NEED ONE TORTILLA PER QUESADILLA?
DBA: We made some charts and they predict a 50% decrease in revenue.
CEO: SOMEBODY GET ME MY STRESS BLANKET!
An intern materializes from behind the door and hands CEO a massive flour tortilla—easily four feet in diameter. CEO throws himself on the floor and slowly wraps himself up in a tight, comforting burrito.
DBA: Sir…
CEO: You know what I thought would put us out of business? Pita bread. Sourdough. Hot dog buns… [chuckles bitterly] …I feared losing market share to every type of bread there is. What a fool I was. In the end, we are destroyed by cheese alone.
The director of business analytics turns to face the table. Board members stare. Blank.
DBA: Alright then, let’s review the minutes from last month’s meeting…
FADE TO BLACK.
We are living in a golden age of griddled cheese. Something about that feels right to me. Only in the 21stcentury would we have the audacity to say, “To heck with it all, I’m putting the cheese right on the pan.”
We are shedding the bottom tortilla, and I’m not sure we will ever look back.
Manfred’s certainly isn’t. The food-truck-style operation is tucked one door down from Woodland Empire brewing on Front street, and it is churning out edgy meals at an impressive pace.
When I visited Manfred’s last week, I enjoyed the Tacodilla—an open face quesadilla wrapped around carne asada, topped with cabbage, avocado crema, and lime-pickled onions. I was very pleased with the amount of seasoned grease that accumulated at the bottom of this super taco. There was enough to make me happy, but not enough to make me feel bad about myself.
Is the Tacodilla better than the gringa style taco at Calle 75? Maybe not, but you can never, ever have enough griddled cheese.
Manfred’s serves the divey-yet-artsy sort of food that thrives in our up and coming downtown scene. I look forward to exploring the rest of the menu.
Eating With Henry 