Ser y Estar!

Question

Hola,Can you explain why the translations are "Eran tan refrescas" and "...estaba deliciosa." They are both describing the food so I would have thought that they would both been the same - i.e. using ser.Hope you can clarify.RegardsJohn

Accepted Answer

Hola John,
Both sentences are describing food, that's right. However, in the second sentence: 
La comida estaba deliciosa.
we are using estar because the speaker is expressing what the food was like at the time of trying it, and that is a specific use of estar, not ser. We could have used ser as well:
La comida era deliciosa.
But using ser here it conveys that the food was "generally" delicious. It is not referring to how tasty the food was when they tried it. 
Imagine you are recommending a restaurant to a friend because you think it is really good; you could say to your friend:

Tienes que ir a ese restaurante. La comida es buenísima. 
(You must go to that restaurant. Their food is delicious.)

And then your friend goes to that restaurant and at the moment of trying the first dish, he says to his girlfriend:

La comida está buenísima, ¿verdad?
(The food is really tasty, isn't it?)

This last sentence is using estar (not ser) because he is tasting the food at that moment, and he is saying what he thinks about it then.
I hope this helps,
Saludos
Inma