Argana

Lucky for us, the Argana was celebrating its anniversary. Because of this we were seated in the only table on the bottom floor, next to a buffet and the bar. We discovered it was the anniversary when the owner walked in and announced it, after proclaiming, “I’m so drunk. I’ve been drinking since 10 a.m.” He was a charming middle-age Moroccan man, who took a fondness to our table, especially me. His interest in me was so apparent that Kelly and Alison both gave their names as “Rebecca”, and we became Rebecca cubed for the night.

The food was amazing. Thick stews and light appetizers. We had a dish that was just mushrooms with lemon sauce, and it was so well-prepared that this was enough. Ok, I know nothing about food, as I’m sure is apparent, but it was a nice change for me. (One good about China is that, being baller here, we can afford lavish meals at fancy restaurants, as soon as we can get ourselves there…)

The owner brought us extra dishes and continually filled up our wine glasses beyond the bottle we had ordered. He talked to us about opening the restaurant, keeping his Grandfather’s tradition, and about Morocco. At the end of the meal, he actually brought in a magician, instructing him, “Do tricks for Rebecca!” I’ve never had magic tricks done just for me, so I really enjoyed the unexpected surprise. I picked a card and then he put it back in the deck. Then gave me another card that was not my card and I put it under my hand on the table. He did all kids of moving around and then eventually put the deck on top of my hand, and when I looked at the card of the table, it was my card!

For the next trick, he asked me to sign a card with a permanent marker. Then he shuffled the deck so that some of the cards were face up, and others were face down. Somehow, when he hit it though, they were all face down, except for my signed card, which was face up! (I’m sure it is much lamer just to hear about this without seeing it, but part of the madness for me was thinking, this is my Sunday night dinner? Where am I?)

When I left, I asked my owner friend, “Can I have a business card?”
“You can have my life” he replied.