By Margot Thomas

OVER 50 lovers of Indian cuisine turned up on Tuesday August 14  to enjoy a Taste of India Celebration  organized by the CanadaPLUS Club at Panama’s latest fine dining acquisition, the Avatar restaurant  on Via Argentina,  .

It was also an opportunity to meet the men behind  the new venture, Canadian citizens  Avtar Kala and Sanjay Seghal.

Smiling faces a plenty as guests pleasurably ate their way through eight varied offerings with conventional Indian flavors and the  additional spice of enjoyable conversation with background music provided by guitarist  John Carney The feast,l which satisfied even stoutest of appetiites was  followed by an introduction and sampling  of the only “real”chocolate made in Panama from Panama grown Cacao, by Yoshiris Pena  founder of Oro Moreno.

A intensive course in Spanish was provided as a door prize by EPA.

COMING EVENTS Next up for CanadaPLUS are two health insurance receptions in Boquete on August 25 and 26, and a Canadian Thanksgiving  Celebration with some  unique twists at the Mirimar Intercontinental on Saturday October 10.

The event will  include an auction to raise funds for the staging of  the Club’s major annual charity fund raising event, Carols By Candlelight, Luces De Navidad on the Cinta Costera.

In November the Club will host a Welcome Back Snowbirds reception for those moving to Panama to avoid the winter chills.

The CanadaPLUS Club reflects the cultural and  multi national citizen mosaic of Canada, with members from 25 countries  including Canada, and organizes cultural and social events throughout the year.

For more information on memberhip or  any of the events, to be added to their mailing list or  to become a committee  member   to help the planning of any, or all  of the events, write to clubcanadaplus@gmail.com or call 225-3860 or 6619-6890