Café Masa

The fifth story in Café Chronicles was written in Café Masa. Café Masa in the G-Zone or Gourmet Zone of Bogotá. It was a place I frequented during my nearly month-long stay back in June of 2014. I was staying at an Air Bnb in upper Chapinero and had a room as opposed to the whole place, so I ate out most meals, and this place was close to my apartment.

Since this is my first story set in Colombia, let me say a few words about the country. I had lived there in the mid-1990s and had gone back in the summer of 2013. The country had changed a great deal in that time. The people were still as wonderful as ever, but there was a change. The country had gone through a bit of a rebirth. As far as I’m concerned, Colombia is the jewel of South America.

Bogotá had also changed quite a bit. When I was there in the 90s, it was hard to find much international cuisine. This had changed, and there was culinary rebirth going on as well. The Gourmet Zone was a big part of that change, but you could see it everywhere.

I liked Café Masa because ninety percent of the seating was outside. It was, as were all of the places in the G-zone, a little more expensive, but I would normally just get coffee and a croissant or something like that. By this time, I had started taking pictures of the cafés so I could remember what they looked like. I’ve always been terrible about keeping a diary or anything like that, and as I get older, I wish I could remember better some of my early travel experiences. I guess now I am doing that through the Café Chronicles.

The thing about Café Masa is that I always felt a little under-dressed when I was there. Most of the clientele were young and wealthy, and people tended to dress up a little more generally speaking. I am more comfortable in jeans, and whatever free t-shirt happens to be on hand. Yes, more often than not, I am dressed like a stereotypical gringo. Though in Bogotá, I would often wear a long sleeve sweater or shirt as it was generally pretty cool in the mornings, and it doesn’t often get that much more than 70. Bogotá is perpetually in springtime, cool and rainy all of the time. Still, I always felt a bit under-dressed, which is what inspired the story. I hope you enjoy it.