One of the best things about this job is that when a new restaurant opens, I get to try it. And I'm not talking about new as in the same old ”I've got the best hot Brown in town.“ I'm talking about new as in restaurants that offer cuisine you've never even considered. Cuisine you wouldn't ever try unless you've traveled the world. Ever heard of Colombian cuisine? I'll admit I'd never thought about it. But that's what Tropikal Mix serves.

It's in a small strip mall in a tiny space that had been a Chinese eatery on Lexington's north side (just across from the Bryan Station Kroger on New Circle Road). Did I say small? The place has only five tables. But its food is unusual and it's good.

I went alone on this review. My dinner date stubbed her toe or something. I started my meal with a lulo fruit smoothie ($2). Lulo fruit is indigenous to Colombia, where it is very popular. It is tart and makes a wonderfully tangy and delicious smoothie.

For an appetizer, I tried the empanadas ($1). These were small cornmeal pies filled with either chicken or beef. I ordered one of each, but ended up with two chicken empanadas. Inside these pies, shredded chicken and spices had been blended with papas criollas, or Colombian golden potatoes. The pies were fried, not baked, and were served with chimichurri sauce, a mixture of parsley, cilantro, garlic, oil and vinegar. The sauce is used throughout South America to liven things up a bit, much like salsa in Mexico. The server, who also was the cook, asked me if I'd like something spicier. I said yes, so he brought out a small cup of what he called salsa. It was more like pico de gallo, drier than what we know as salsa. And with jalapeños and onion, it certainly was hot.

I ordered the pollo asado, or grilled chicken, ($5.99) for an entree. Three sides came with it. The chicken breast had been marinated in a mixture of beer, garlic, cilantro and parsley, and then flattened and grilled. It was delicious and even better with a little more chimichurri sauce. The sides I chose were sweet plantains, arepita (cornbread), and papas criollas. These potatoes, all the size of large marbles, had been roasted and served plain. The flesh of these potatoes was as yellow as an egg yolk. Chimichurri sauce went well with them, too.

There were a couple of interesting selections for dessert. Tres leches, or three-milk, cake looked intriguing. I asked and was told it's made with whole milk, evaporated milk and condensed milk. But the server-chef told me the dessert to order was maduro with cheese ($2.99). He said it is the most popular dessert in Colombia. What he brought me was a sweet plantain topped with what looked like ketchup, but it wasn't. A whole plantain had been split like a banana, covered with mozzarella cheese and baked until the cheese melted slightly. Then it was topped with a sweet red guava paste. Now I know why it's a ­Colombian favorite. It was sweet from the plantain and guava, but not too sweet, and it went perfectly with a good styrofoam cup of Colombian coffee ($1.50).

The only thing I didn't like about the place was that they use plastic — utensils, plates and cups.

Dinner for one, including tax but not tip, was $15.35.

On a lunch outing on Tuesday, I popped in to Tropikal Mix and tried bandejita paisa ($8). It was Colombia's version of the plowman's lunch. The plate was filled with two sausages — chorizo and blood sausage — a dry beef dish, white rice, pinto beans, and fried green and ripe plantains. This was Colombian home cooking. The food is simple and good, but not great. With its low prices, though, Tropikal Mix is certainly worth a visit. That lunch was about $13.

Every now and then a rare play comes along that is like the perfect date – smart, funny, sexy, sophisticated – and maybe a little bit intimidating. Actors’ Guild of Lexington’s latest production, Arcadia, is such a play.

Before you go thinking it is out of your league, think again. Playwright Tom Stoppard’s script is so sweeping in its content, from math and physics to history and poetry to sex and religion; it is bound to strike at least one of your fancies, probably many more. What’s more, its diverse subject matter (life, the universe and everything!), as well as its sharply hewn characters and casually elevated wit, offers endless ways “in” to the production so that all but the very determined naysayer will be easily seduced intellectually, emotionally, and maybe even spiritually.

An all-star local cast breathes life into Stoppard’s richly wrought tale of two families who live in the same stately English manor, Sidley Park, but at different points in history. Half of the play takes place in the 19th century and the other in the late 20th.

The earlier period centers on the relationships among the Coverly family and their several houseguests, including an offstage Lord Byron. Tutored by a friend and former classmate of Byron’s, Septimus Hodge (Adam Luckey), young Thomasina Coverly (Rebecca Pearcy) is a mathematical prodigy, discovering ideas about chaos theory, thermodynamics, and the fate of the universe, among other things, a hundred years before their time.

Thomasina’s work, along with Hodge’s fate, and Bryon’s involvement in the family - including the dynamics of their implied romantic aspirations - lies at the center of a mystery that 20th-century scholars hope to discover by researching the written accounts that remain of Sidley Park. The scholars’ interrelationships, along with those of the Coverly descendants still living at Sidley Park, bear such striking thematic resemblances to their predecessors; it is obvious that their worlds are inextricably linked.

Watching the detailed unfolding of scholarly research doesn’t conjure images of scintillatingly urgent, nail-biting drama, but this production somehow manages to do just that. Stoppard’s signature wit and erudition offers a wryly entertaining way to engage the story’s complex intellectual mysteries and emotional intrigues.

Director Ave Lawyer and the cast deserve praise for a job thoroughly well done.

So advanced is the material that even the slightest lack of depth in preparation would make the whole experience seem like a sophomoric joke. While each character seems passionately and convincingly possessed by her own individual ideas, it is the cast’s collective sense of timing and carefully delivered interactions that make the play a whole, unified experience rather than a series of dangling, separate parts.

For instance, the two “worlds” of the play beautifully converge and overlap toward the end in elegantly staged choreography that underscores the play’s overarching continuity. And although it runs a little on the long side (three hours), the pacing feels even, satisfying, and natural, so that we feel we are watching real, dynamic human lives, not just a list of dry ideas.

The number of talented cast members are too great to account for individually, but one enjoyable hallmark of this show is its debut of imported actress Rebecca Pearcy, whose Thomasina is refreshingly animate, earnest, and bright. One gets the sense that her infectious enthusiasm exists off stage as well as on (for more on that, check out her blog at www.actorsguildoflexington.org). And naturally, she wins the prize for best British accent seeing as she is, well, British.

This show is also the first and possibly only known production that employs the talents of a live tortoise. While he is rumored to be something of a backstage diva, his onstage antics, which include crawling and chewing on paper, are not to be missed.

All in all, this show’s fertile material and top-notch performances provide a memorable evening of entertainment, intellectual acuity, and meaningful romance. So rich is its offerings that you could attend every performance and discover new, wildly sophisticated, almost mind-blowing ideas and implications.

In fact, it even comes with instructions in the form of a study guide in the playbill, and a glossary and packet of supplemental materials awaits you in the lobby should you decide to delve deeper into the play’s expansive litany of themes.

Regardless, you will probably leave the play at least 10 IQ points smarter than when you entered. If you see it many times, you may become a genius. And if you want to impress a date with your wit and intelligence, this is the show for you.

Yes, Virginia, there really are vicious, ugly giants who will eat you in your sleep.

The latest production at Lexington Children's Theatre reveals this unfortunate truth, but not without offering a super-size solution revealed in the play's title, The BFG (Big Friendly Giant).

The story centers on Sophie (Brianna Mayo), a young British orphan who spies a giant (Kristen Smiley, as the BFG) lurking outside her bedroom window one evening. Knowing he has been spotted, the giant whisks Sophie away to his secret lair in the Land of Giants. But instead of eating her (as other giants would), he befriends her, delighting her with his funny tales and his goofy, peculiar way of speaking ”giant.“ He even shows her how he is a ”dreamblower,“ a giant who collects dreams in colorful jars and later blows them into the minds of sleeping children so that they will be happy. Unfortunately for the BFG, his benevolent ways earn him lots of scorn from the other, mean, child-eating giants, and he is routinely picked on and bullied.

When the pair learn that the other ­giants plan to target the children of England as their next meals, they concoct a far-fetched plan to save the day. This plan involves dream potions, a visit to the queen of England's bedroom, and vanquishing a dreary orphanage, among other things.

Based on the book by Roald Dahl and adapted for the stage by David Wood, The BFG is a goofy, giant tale of how unlikely friendships and the right mix of dreams and determination can defeat even the nastiest of monsters.

Likewise, director Jeremy Kisling's larger-than-life show has just the right mix of squeal-in-the-dark terror tempered with big old goofy silliness. The result is a fun romp that occasionally teeters on the edge of over-ambition.

This giant ambition works most of the time. For instance, lighting designer Adam Spencer gets to go nuts (in a good way) with wildly dramatic effects that delighted the young audience when I saw the show. They relished the chance to scream and squirm during the moody, strobe-lit sequences when the monstrous giants were ”hunting“ children just like them.

Such squeals of terror (the kind you make on a roller coaster) were replaced with generous ”oohs“ and ”ahhs“ over the beautifully rendered ”dream-catching“ sequence, which incorporated a black light and a chandelier of sparkles to ­create an enchanting, surreal ­effect. Plus, the lucky kids who happened to wear white scored some extra-cool points with their peers by briefly glowing in the dark.

I would be remiss not to mention that in the performance I attended, the children might have gotten the biggest kick out of a big friendly set piece that made an unexpectedly smashing entrance toward the end of the play. Let's just say that the Union Jack fell in dramatic fashion, but it was quickly recovered and restored by some royally classy, quick-thinking young actors. What can you say — it's live theater!

Despite the occasional glitch, the show relies on a good deal of technical wizardry, including Lindsay Schmeling's monster-size costumes. Kisling also employs innovative techniques to emphasis the vast difference in scale between Sophie and the BFG, including the use of a doll to represent Sophie at times, or a giant, moving cutout silhouette to represent the BFG.

Still, the most challenging and rewarding aspect of this show is its mastery of playful language. The BFG, and all the other giants, it seems, have a delightfully absurd, peculiar way of talking that includes a vocabulary of almost entirely made-up or mispronounced words. The giants like to eat ”human beans,“ although the BFG subsists on the disgusting ”snozcumbers,“ which he washes down with a fizzy drink called ”frobscottle.“ Unlike humans, giants enjoy the melodious digestive effects of this drink — the, um, explosive fun of ”whizpopping.“ Sometimes it is hard to follow the language of the play, and other times, the meanings of words are hilariously obvious based on their sounds alone.

All in all, this show offers a giant dose of fun.