The last time I visited Mexico City, I dined at Mi Vida, a newish restaurant in La Condesa that had been garnering rave reviews. The chef was a 28-year-old culinary wunderkind named Rafael Sánchez, whose dishes, all the reviewers mentioned, were based on his own life experiences. One menu item that many reviews recommended was a soup called Las Lágrimas de Rafael, The Tears of Rafael.

I was curious about this. How would he translate this metaphor into a soup? So I ordered it.

When the soup arrived, it appeared to be a simple consomé, a somewhat cloudy, clear broth. I took a spoonful. It was the saltiest thing I've ever tasted.

I called the waiter over and told him that I couldn't eat the soup, it was too salty for me. He told me that many people had the same reaction, but when they found out what inspired their bowl of soup they nonetheless ate it in solidarity. I asked him to explain further.

It turns out that this was no metaphor at all. Each bowl of the soup contained some actual tears the chef had shed, the basis for a broth he concocted to match the flavor of the tears. Each bowl was unique because each was based on tears from different sad events in his life, each with a different flavor of sadness. He told me I was especially fortunate, because the bowl of soup I was served was based on the chef's tears when he learned his father was brutally murdered in his own home by armed burglars only weeks before. "Lágrimas muy profundas," the waiter told me, very deep tears.

Once I heard that, I couldn't very well send the soup back, so I started eating it again. After a few more spoonfuls I started getting used to the saltiness. Then I felt a teardrop hit my right cheek. Pretty soon I was bawling like a baby.

The chef came out from the kitchen and sat down at my table, across from me. He was smiling as I was crying. He seemed very pleased by the effect his soup was having on me. Then he broke down and started weeping uncontrollably. The two of us were crying our eyes out, together.

I looked into the chef's eyes and whispered through my tears, "Bravo!"


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