BY SANDRA A. BERRY
The Cabo Grill Shop was the perfect spot to celebrate International Women’s Month on March 9. Forty-five members of Los Cabos Tomatoes, the ladies’ social and networking organization, attended. The theme for this year’s celebration was “Embrace Gender Equality”. Everyone has a story to tell, especially those women who have been in business, or worked for a living, regarding equality or more specifically, inequality.
The Cabo Grill Shop is a fairly new restaurant in one of those hard-to-find places, but worth the hunt. Located on the extended dirt road up beside Costco in Cabo San Lucas, across the road from Plaza Novva, Cabo Grill is an oasis. Once through the wooden gate opening into the open-air space, you are met with a park-like setting, reminiscent of the days when we went on family picnics. Wooden picnic tables adorn the artificial green grass, which does not look artificial. In fact, it is a sight for sore eyes and easy to walk on, surrounded by a walkway and small pebbled rocks. There is even an unobtrusive play area for kids under large shade trees. Umbrellas and canvas shade awnings kept the sun at bay.
Miguel Leon is the owner/chef of Cabo Grill Shop. He also owns the Spoon Food Shop, a bakery-coffee shop, where his famous apple and pecan pies are baked. It’s located across the road in Plaza Novva. Miguel opened the restaurant a couple of years ago during the pandemic and has wowed his patrons with fresh, innovative dishes using unusual spices. Open for breakfast at 8 a.m., the restaurant closes at approximately 1 p.m., then reopens at 2:30 p.m. for lunch and dinner. Closed on Tuesday. Call 624-100-1652 for reservations.
The lovely luncheon consisted of Cabo Grill Salad: mixed greens with seasonal fruit, roasted coconut, lemon & raspberry vinaigrette; Choice of grilled French-cut chicken breast with Thai sauce, mashed spring potatoes with cauliflower, roasted beet, grilled carrot, and lemon vinaigrette; or grilled catch-of-the day: fish marinated with African spices, pure ginger & carrot, confited carrot, grilled Swiss chard, lemon vinaigrette, basil oil or Pulled Pork Sandwich with grain mustard, homemade BBQ sauce, spring coleslaw, homemade pickles; or cauliflower steak: half cauliflower marinated with African spices, pure ginger & carrot, confited carrot, grilled Swiss chard, lemon vinaigrette, basil oil; and for dessert: chocolate brownie with caramel sauce and homemade vanilla ice cream.
Julie Anderson took the microphone and welcomed the members and introduced the following guests who were Judy Sykes from Honolulu, Hawaii; Carol Franklin from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and Jari Allen from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The speaker for the Network Spotlight was new member Magdalena Tecles, “a visionary, a multilingual leader, a business strategist, a tech speaker, an author, who has her Master’s Degree.” Her expertise is sharing with other women how to be happy even when grieving. She is originally from Spain and has inspired thousands of people on both sides of the Atlantic. She has a story to tell. When she was 30 years old, she gave birth to a son, fathered by a man who gave no support for the pregnancy, birth, or for the child. He kidnapped her son at age three. She was devastated. At first, she wore only black clothes, no makeup, and was completely lost. “When the winter of your life happens, people don’t want to hear it over and over again.” With the support of her sister, member Lydia Tecles, and her family, she started writing about her experience and how to overcome grief. She took the initials of her son’s name, Leon, and created a lifeline: L for Love of self, others; E for Empowerment: share knowledge; O for Offer. Everyone has something to offer. Her offer was to write books and she has over 20 best-selling books. And, finally, N for Normalize the new you. Magdalena is an excellent speaker and very personable. It is difficult to believe she can move on with her life but is doing so in trying to help others who have experienced grief, whether from the loss of a spouse, parent, or by divorce, or even the loss of a pet. She is hoping by becoming so visible on the Internet that her son will one day be found. He just turned 10 years old. Magdalena can be reached at info@teclessisters.com.
Los Cabos Tomatoes was formed in 1991 and has over 700 members. For information, contact loscabostomatoes@gmail.com.