LeNell’s of Red Hook has been closed for a few months now. And we have all been eagerly anticipating when Tonya “LaNell” Smothers would be finding another location. Well, she announced last week that she is giving up the real estate hunt and get this: opening a cocktail bed and breakfast in Mexico.

I can’t tell y’all how envious I am of her. I love New York but sometimes this constant Constant of nose to the grindstone gets real old. It has been and will be my goal to set up a small shop in the Caribbean somewhere and just make good eats. Slowly and surely. Under the sun with plenty of time for me to rest my feet and clean my hands in the clear warm water. I hear Caribbean sand and ocean gets rid of the sticky garlic smell my hands are so often plagued with…Here’s a pic from my trip to Esperanza, Vieques, PR.

Congrats to Ms. Smothers. Do you, Girl. We will miss your beautiful bourbons.