We're about to leave on a big spanish world tour. Lots of folks have been asking me if I'm going to be excited to get to eat more food like Chipotle's all the time since "all of the Spanish speaking world makes food that tastes like Chipotle, right?" And others have wondered if I will miss Chipotle since even in mexican-restaurant-rich Denver I skip past other restaurants in favor of Chipotle.

The truth is a mix of both. The places we're going (Spain, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, and Uruguay) have rich culinary traditions, but they tend to be quite different from the typical "Mexican Grill" style and certainly are different from the Chipotle Mexican Grill style of food.

One thing that's making me feel good is that I've collected Chipotle copycat recipes. I've tested those and, at least the Chipotle style barbacoa beef recipe. At least in Argentina (where we'll be spending most of our time) the beef is world famous, so we should be able to find the necessary spices and make our own versions of the meals.

I imagine that I will miss the speed of service and the cleanliness of the restaurants. And certainly I'll miss the funny signs that Chipotle uses, I'll miss those.

Fortunately, the new experiences will be quite exciting and will distract me from the pain of missing Chipotle. And even better, it's only 9 months until I'll be back in the U.S. experiencing new Chipotle restaurants.

Chipotle Stock

I have also heard that due to the impending falloff of my frequent consumption of chipotle burritos that perhaps the chipotle stock (cmg) might take a drop. I don't think I eat that much, but I do appreciate that their stock is at quite a high price ;)

Anyway, while I'm gone, I invite you to register login (with open id even) and record your meals!