Darbster’s is the name of a little vegan restaurant that we first heard about at the dog park. Strangely enough, hearing about it there is fitting; it’s named after the owners’ dog and all dogs are welcome.
We first went there a month ago, for lunch, and sat on the outside deck that overlooked a canal. Naturally, we took Noah, our golden retriever. Our table was the only one without an umbrella and it was uncomfortably hot. We decided our next visit would be in the evening, when it would be cooler.
So this evening we head over there with Noah and all the tables on the outside deck were taken. I went into the covered area to ask a waitress if we could bring Noah inside.“Of course! Dogs are welcome anywhere in the restaurant!”
As I return to the porch to tell Rob, I’m surprised to see him talking to our old friend, Bess De Farber, who lives five hours north of us. She’s with her new partner, Glen, and the two are here for relaxation and fun for Labor Day weekend. The four of us head inside for dinner together. Here’s where the synchros started happening.
Our only other time at this restaurant, which isn’t near our house, we ran into a woman who had taken Rob’s last meditation class, and hadn’t seen her since. We met Bess years ago when she attended Rob’s yoga classes. So, for such a tiny restaurant, which seats less than 50 and is a thirty-minute drive from our house, what are the odds that we would run into someone we know both times we’ve been to this place?
Bess’s daughter, Cassandra, was one of Megan’s teachers in high school, attended the same college that Megan did – New College, in Sarasota. It turns out that Glen’s son, Morgan, also attended New College. The school only has about 800 students and is considered the honor college in Florida’s public university system. Again what are the odds?
While we’re sitting there over dinner, talking about the synchronicity of our kids having attended New College, Bess suddenly mentions a jam she found called Robert Is Here. Rob and I look at each other, both of us thinking the same thing: is she referring to the Robert Is Here story in 7 Secrets of Synchronicity?
This story was one of the first we posted on our blog in February 2009. The gist of it is that we were staying at my agent’s home in the keys and two friends had joined us – both of them named Robert: Robert from Minneapolis, whom we call Rabbit and Robert from Stuart, whom we call Tacayo. Rob opened the fridge to look for some jelly for our English muffins – and found a jar of jam called, Robert Is Here. Well, yes, universe. There were three Roberts.
It turns out that Bess is interested in reading our synchro book, but hasn’t had a chance yet. So she wasn’t referring to anything in the book. She had found the jam somewhere and was using it in creative ways with vegan recipes.
She also told us how the jam got it’s name. When Robert was young, his parents who owned a fruit and vegetable farm in Homestead, Florida sent the boy out to the corner with a box of fruit. He stayed for a few hours, but no one stopped. So the next day his mother decided to make him a sign. Oddly enough, instead of fruit for sale, it read: Robert is Here. Eventually, that became the name of Robert’s own fruit and veggie stand, and the brand name on his home-made jelly.
So, it looks as if Darbster’s is some sort of synchro magnet and the food is fantastic, the prices reasonable. I think we’ll be returning soon!
I bought a book at the Byron Bay Writer’s Festival called “That Movie Book”
by Marc Fennell.
https://shop.abc.net.au/products/that-movie-book-pbk
A book that I never intended to buy and one that I thought I would keep pushing to the bottom of my “to read” pile.I’ve seen about 75% of the movies reviewed in it anyhow,so why would I want to read it?
But meeting Marc and buying his book has led me on to a few sync paths I probably would not have taken otherwise.
Anyway, I thought it was funny that after I had posted my first comment on this post just before going to bed last night (Oz time) I turned the page of where I was up to in Marc’s book and the movie being reviewed was “Wag The Dog”.
I thought how appropriate for this post here considering the meaning of the title of the film.
From Wikipedia ;
“The title of the film comes from an idiomatic English-language expression “the tail wagging the dog”,which is commented at the beginning of the film by a caption that reads:
Why does the dog wag its tail?
Because the dog is smarter than the tail.
If the tail were smarter, it would wag the dog. ”
I was thinking something similar myself while reading this dog story,like how the dogs seem to be wagging the humans here,instead of the other way round.
So maybe there’s a good name for a second restaurant,or for anyone looking to start up a similar doggie restaurant, “Wag The Dog” .-)
OK, next life, I’ll have a restaurant called wag the dog!
neat doggie story – stories! love the description of the restaurant – and the jam thing! neat!
And it’s animal friendly! My kind of place.
Dogs, dogs, dogs…where would we be without them? I would be one lost soul without my Sunshine! Her name fits her perfectly. She is a bright, wonderful Light in my life moment-to-moment, 24/7. And lest we leave out the kitty folks, they, too are Lights in our lives, and our animal companions are such fun! It’s great to read about the animals being carried to hospitals and nursing homes to inter-act with patients. They have astonishing healing powers, these creatures. It’s been proven that merely petting and stroking a pet will lower blood pressure and ease pain. Is that a gift, or what!
Interesting also that many of your synchros start at the dog park. Stories like this are great – and meaningful. Like the sound of the restaurant, especially as it’s vegetarian.
Dogs, dogs, dogs. What can I say?? 🙂
What a neat post! Several years ago, the editor of our newspaper magazine phoned me and asked me if I would do a haunting for a young couple who lived in Old Town here. I agreed. She told me nothing whatsoever about the couple except their address, which is what I prefer, and I called the wife and made the appt for one night the following week. I carried my paraphernalia….Polaroid, tape recorder, etc. Turned out the couple owned a tiny outdoor restaurant on the main Old Town shopping street, and had named the restaurant after their beloved dog, Champ. The restaurant was called “Champ’s”, I knew none of this going in. Only found out after I finished working. As I did my thing in their little apartment, seeking the source of the haunting, the little puppy they had suddenly began to fly through the air. Without going into all the details, this “puppy stuff” was one of the reasons they’d called the COMPASS editor as a means of locating a genuine ghost hunter. What I initially discovered, psychically, was that their beloved Golden, Champ, had fallen out of their high window onto the street below and died. I saw Champ clearly. He was still in the apt, and he was very jealous of the little puppy they had gotten. They called for a ghost hunter because “something” was hurting their puppy and causing all kinds of ruckus in their apt. They believed they had a “human” ghost. Who wouldn’t think that, right? But no,it was their deceased Champ. (They had no children. Champ was their baby.) I got some photos of his image, as well as seeing him psychically, and also got a couple of clear EVPs of his growling. In life, he was a typical Golden, laid-back, friendly, wonderful, In death, he stayed around and terrorized their new puppy. Well, they wanted to get rid of the new puppy then and “keep” the spirit of Champ with them. I explained to them that Champ needed to go on across the Rainbow Bridge to the beautiful space where our animals go to wait for us, and ultimately they agreed to allow me to call in the folks who come to take our precious animal companions there, if the animal is “reluctant” for one reason or another. Champ went, they kept the puppy, no more haunting issues. Happy ending. Anyhow, this post reminds me of that experience. And how great for you guys and for Noah, that he can go with you to such a lovely and unusual place! And the synchronicities, wow! We totally cater to the stores and restaurants and motels that allow canines. Sunshine can go anywhere, of course, so long as I put her service dog ID halter on her. But for ALL animal lovers, being able to take them along is a joy. And for the feline lovers among us, the stores that allow kitties is a great thing, too! Speaking of that, in Walmart the other day I saw an elderly woman with her Siamese adult kitty in her large purse. No employee said anything to her. The cat was quite content, its big blue eyes watching everyone and everything. Her name was Cleopatra, and she liked strangers! Weird, for a Siamese! But wonderful.
A puppy haunting! If darbster is haunting the restaurant, I suspect he’s quite happy there.
I was looking at the dog picture gallery on the Darbster website
https://www.darbster.com/photo_detail_2009.php?Photo_CategoryID=1
and saw a dog named Darby.
Is this the dog the restaurant is named after,being maybe a nick-name for Darby?
I’m not sure. The dog has passed on, but next time we go there, I’ll ask.