The Name Game: la nueva ola vs. olallie

We're coming down to the wire! The poll results so far happily jibe with my thinking. The race is currently boiling down to a choice between keeping olallie or going with Contigo. It's a dead heat.

I see the difference between the two as a question of emphasis. Olallie focuses more on the restaurant's local seasonal perspective, Contigo more on the menu's Iberian inspiration.

Contigo ("with you") is also more overt in its message that dining is about relationships and connection, about sharing a table with friends. Olallie is more subtle in this regard. As one poetic olallie supporter points out, because the berries grow in clusters and each berry is itself an aggregate of many drupelets, olallieberries can be seen as metaphors for togetherness. The Olallistas are fierce in their devotion, aren't they?

Let's be honest here. Olallie is the reigning heavyweight champion. To defeat it is going to require an equally inspired contender. My question is this: of all the possible Spanish and Catalan choices out there, is Contigo the best? Is there another word that better communicates the kind of friendly, bubbly conviviality that I want my restaurant to have, the ambience I find whenever I visit my favorite tapas bars and mom-and-pop storefront restaurants in Barcelona (Cal Pep, Pinotxo, Quimet Quimet, Bar Inopia) and San Sebastián (La Cuchara de San Telmo and Aloña Berri). I think Contigo does a pretty good job of communicating that vibe, but I want to push myself (and you all) to see if there's something even better.

As I've mentioned before, I would prefer to come up with a more poetic metaphor if I could. Or something from a Spanish or Catalan saying. Unfortunately, creating metaphors in languages which are not my own (and in which I am far from proficient) is a difficult task to pull off. It requires a level of subtle understanding of Spanish and Catalan that I don't possess. Cava (the Catalan sparkling wine) would have been perfect if there weren't already a wine bar in San Francisco named Cav. Best of all worlds would be a cute metaphor that conjures up images of Barcelona conviviality in English, but I have yet to hit on one. Something to do with sardines?

What follows is the crème de la crème of my latest brainstorming session. La nueva ola (the new wave) of Spanish contenders. Most of the new ones are in Catalan, as opposed to Contigo which is Spanish. Let me know if you like any of them better than Contigo by voting in both polls. You'll be happy to learn I'm not hiding the results of today's polls!

barri

"Neighborhood" in Catalan. A few of you liked del barri, which is one way of saying "local" in Catalan. This distills it down to its essence. My restaurant aspires to become a gathering spot for the neighborhood.

bocarte

[Edit: I added this one at 3:30] You remember this one? Upon reflection, I remembered the "art of the mouth" captures that sense of conviviality and romance I'm after. Plus, its primary meaning in several of northern Spain's regional dialects is anchovy.

bona vida

La bona vida is "the good life" in Catalan. I added bona (good) to one commenter's excellent suggestion of Vida. The Catalan sense of "the good life" matches our own in English. Donar-se bona vida means to lead a happy life without hard work, problems, or worry. Sounds nice, no? The 2 words are also easy to pronounce and spell, perhaps more so even than Contigo.

botiga

"Store" or "shop" in Catalan . It captures  the simple fact that my restaurant is basically a small urban storefront. In fact, over the past 100 years it has been every kind of storefront business imaginable, from barbershop ("tonsorial parlor" as it was known) to clothing store to fishmonger to computer store. Also easy to pronounce and spell.

Bretxa

[Edit: I added this one at 3:30 pm] Pronounced "bray-cha." Mercado de la Bretxa is the main food market in San Sebastián. I include it due to the similarity in spelling to my name and because it says Spain and market fresh. I haven't included it earlier because I am concerned about pronunciation and spelling issues. Plus, it's not the prettiest sounding word. There are also some sad realities about the current incarnation of the market which I touched upon here. Everything sold at la Bretxa is still impeccably fresh and of the highest quality, though, as you can tell from these various photos.

luna caliente

"Hot moon" in Spanish. Comes from a love sonnet by Pablo Neruda, one of my favorite poets.

mam i teca

Old Catalan slang for "food and drink" (actually "drink and food"). Roughly equivalent to "booze and grub." It's the name of a little tapas bar in the Raval neighborhood of Barcelona. Pronounced mom-ee-tayka.

vinya

"Vineyard" in Catalan. Could also be la vinya. Places the emphasis on the wine program. Wine, both sparkling and still, is the social lubricant that does such a good job of encouraging conviviality. There is also an urban-rustic wine bar/restaurant in Barcelona named La Vinya del Senyor. Easy to pronounce and spell.

Please vote in both polls! The first allows multiple answers. Note: olallie is not included in these polls as it is already a finalist. These polls are simply to find out if you think there is a better name than Contigo, the current leading contender to potentially dethrone olallie.

Now choose your favorite of these Spanish/Catalan names.

Thanks for continuing to play the Name Game! Tune in tomorrow or Saturday for the final Smackdown: Olallie vs. _________?

Comments

[I-Chant]

I'm a fan of the one-word name, not multiple words. I think contigo conveys most of the meanings that you want and is really unique. "Welcome to contigo" definitely flows well!

[Eddie]

I *hate* contigo. LOVE del barri

contigo just evokes thoughts of a bad mariachi romance song to me.

[june2]

In my experience, the vibe you're looking for has always been generated by the vibe in the kitchen and in management. The name may have some alchemical input, but it will be transcended, for better or worse, by the kitchen vibe - Above All - and secondly by the management.

[kendralis]

As a Spanish speaker and someone who has been to Barcelona, I think names like luna caliente and contigo don't push it far enough around here. So many people know Spanish... I prefer your Catalan suggestions and applaud you for thinking you can go further. You can.

[sam]

where's the "none of the above" option?
where's ollalie?
why can't I vote for "la nueva ola" ?

[brett]

Eddie and kendrallis, it's true that to most San Franciscans many Spanish words evoke images of Mexico and Latin America more than Spain. Obviously I'm not happy to learn that there is a mariachi song titled Contigo, so I'm glad that you pointed it out. I would prefer to go with a Catalan word or, as I said in my post, an English word that evokes Barcelona and the conviviality of my favorite restaurants there.

[brett]

Sam, Olallie is not included in this poll as it is already a finalist!

My intention for these polls is to find out which of these particular Spanish and Catalan names appeal to IPOS readers. I didn't add "none of the above" as an option, because I was concerned that the Olallie supporters would all vote for that option. I'll go ahead and add it.

"La nueva ola" means "the new wave." I don't think that term best reflects my style of cooking.

[EB]

I can't decide between the two. Contigo... I just love the associations. And really what's so bad about a Mariachi song with the same name? As a Mission dweller I love the strolling Mariachi bands. I miss them when I'm not home. And Olallie... seasonal, fun to say, rolling off the tongue.

Too difficult to choose.

[brett]

I've added 2 new options to the list: bocarte and Bretxa.

[SlobDog]

Oh come on people make it exciting "mam i teca". There's something about these one word statements you know? Incanto, okay INCANTO! Like it's in stone being called out from the sky (need to get the "head to tail" some day). The list is endless Boca, Ava, Coi, Delfina, Medicine etc.

Maybe it seems crude when you think of the translation at first but it's like, "I came to this place near the ocean to relax and get some booze and grub and it just happened to be the tastiest booze and grub I've ever had in my life!"

Furthermore, other than being in another tongue the meaning is clear yet emotionally potent. It's not crude because of the foreign tongue but it's also not this continued reliance on esoteric metaphor. Think shabby chic comfort.

Finally, I also like luna caliente. It's not a one word statement either. It may be a metaphor but it's tied to a poem. The "caliente" in the name reminds me of the fire in the kitchen.

Feel free to disagree - they're all great names to me.

[anita]

I really dislike contigo. I like the idea of it, but not the sound, the melody. Barri is lovely -- just what I was trying to suggest in my very first comment (guess it wasn't in my catalan dictionary :) )

[brett]

anita, you mentioned narri as meaning neighborhood in one of your comments. Since there's no such word as narri, I'm guessing your finger slipped and you hit the n when you meant to hit the b key. If I were to go with barri, I would give you credit.

I hear you on contigo. I'm not crazy about the melody either. That's what prompted this post. I think the melody (as perceived by an American ear) is so important when choosing a word from a language other than English.

[Towse]

So many polls, I can't even remember what I voted two seconds ago.

That said, I [heart] Luna Caliente despite its non-Catalan origin. Pablo Neruda. Good. *sigh*

[Christine]

Why not simply "Ola"? Too close to Olallie?