Bogota is a unique and beautiful city. The mountains covered with forests and scented with eucalyptus pour into the city. At the end of a street you can see a vertical green rise of thousands of feet. The city itself is 8,612 feet above sea level, the third highest capital city in South America after La Paz and Quito. One walks slowly in Bogota. There are virtually no tourists. Its eight million residents bustle and know how to eat and party.
We are very fortunate to have a great graduate there, Daniel Castano. We had dinner with Daniel at a wonderful restaurant Arcanos Mayores which oozed local color. A mother and daughter cooked with flair and real home feeling. The kitchen was the center of the restauant and the tables surrounding it were colorfully tiled. Even the second floor tables were placed on a balcony overlooking the kitchen. Needless to say, this was our kind of place.
As usual we started with the house drinks. We explored the exotic fruits and our favorite cocktail contributor was the lulu fruit. Not sweet, it was full of fresh flavor. To me there was a tinge of grass with a fruit feel in the mouth. They paired this with their local alcohol and some grenadine and marischino cherries. It tastes better than it sounds.
The food products of Columbia are world class. To quote David Arnold our Director of Culinary Tech,(who joined us on his 2nd trip to Columbia), “they have the best eggs in the world!” The chicken was so tasty, I now remember what chicken is supposed to taste like. Aside from this, what they are known for is their meat. Most of the restaurants have the word Carne (meat) in it. We were in gaucho land. And thank god, they are not an overprocessed nation. Local is a way of life here.
