collide, and sometimes they align. For Mandy Estrella, owner of Mayo Ketchup, the 4-yearold Puerto Rican restaurant in Lafayette Square, it was one and then the other. “We needed a private event (), another Latin American name for mayo ketchup, was chosen because it “tied the countries and our two restaurants together,” she says. Instead of a variety of disparate items, Estrella opted for the most popular Venezuelan and Colombian hand-held items, some served several different ways: (round flour empanadas), (a twice-fried plantain sandwich), (cheesestuffed breadsticks), (folded corn and cheese pancakes), and (stuffed with beef, chicken, pork, or cheese). A sleeper item is the (meat-stuffed sandwiches) from Venezuelan bakery Pan Pa' Ti Artisan Bakery in St. Peters, which also supplies (stuffed doughnuts) and (cheesy cinnamon rolls) on Saturdays. The lunch-only space—with full table and bar service in one room and open seating with counter service in the other—has a far less whimsical vibe than Mayo Ketchup, with abundant greenery and plants (“and maybe a few birds, but not a zoo”). It's a palette that can be amped up to create an elevated party experience in the evening. Estrella hopes she's found a winning formula. “Depending on the customers' needs and the day,” she says, “we're either a catering and events company with a restaurant attached or the other way around.”
