More on Café Albahaca

The next story in Cafe Chronicles takes place in Café Albahaca is in the Chapinero district of Bogotá and was right around the corner from my apartment. It is an unassuming place under a green awning with a chalkboard sign out front that announces the day’s specials.  It was, without a doubt, the best place to get lunch near my apartment. For around $3, you would get soup, meat, rice, vegetable, potato, dessert, and a drink. It really could not be beaten. Even though it was always crowded, the service was always friendly and quick. albahaca.jpg

Most of the businesses near the restaurant were places that restored furniture. In Colombia, as well as many parts of Latin America, people don’t really throw things away, or if they do, someone is going to try to restore or repurpose them. In this part of the city, there were a number of small shops that were restoring furniture. On occasion, I would peak inside. They were wonderful artists and would almost always be working on a piece that was absolutely beautiful.

The clientele was an interesting mix. You had a combination of people who were working on the furniture, though not many, and there were people in suits that wandered up from 7th avenue and worked in the banks and businesses there. I think that was one of the things I liked about Café Albahaca. There was always a pretty decent cross-section of the Chapinero area there.

In some ways, it always makes me feel like I’m at home when I find places like Albahaca. Even though I don’t live in Bogotá anymore, I still feel as though it is my second home.

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. 2013 Bogota 029

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.

Café La Poesía

Café La Poesía from the short story collection Café Chronicles is the corner of Chile and Bolivar in Buenos Aires. It is, quite frankly, one of my favorite cafés in the world. I think because of the name, I imagine people to be there writing every day, all day. Like other cafés in Buenos Aires, there is never any reason to leave. The wonderful coffee and croissants in the morning. I don’t know, maybe it is sacrilege, but I tend to get croissants with ham and cheese. It makes me happy.bar-poesia

In general, La Poesía is a dark place with beautiful heavy wood all over the café, but there are window seats with plenty of light where I would sit and read or write.  I had the custom of going for a few hours in the morning and then coming back later in the day for an afternoon pick-me-up. I never went there at night, but I probably should have. la poesia

The staff was always attentive yet respectful. Generally, they wouldn’t come over to bother you while you were working but seemed to always check and would quickly appear when needed.

la poesia 2 The short story associated with this café was inspired by the woman sitting at the table in front of me. She had her back to me, but I could see she had words tattooed on her body. The other woman mentioned in the piece was purely fictional. Whenever I think about tattoos, I try to think of something that I would want for the rest of my life. However, I learned at an early age that the only constant in my life was change. Anything I like this week will certainly change before the ink dries. I’m like a regret machine.

Bar-Notable

If I were to open a café, this is exactly the type of place I would want, a laid-back café with great service that is open for coffee early in the morning and open for wine late at night.

You can read the short story written in La Poesía in Café Chronicles, available on Amazon for your Kindle.

Nacional Restaurante in San Telmo from: “Antagonizing the Protagonist”

Nacional Restaurante in San Telmo from Café Chronicles

esta-es-nuestra-terraza

Nacional Restaurante Café on Perú street, just a few steps down from Bar Federal, was not my most frequented café, but it is lovely. Maybe it’s too lovely. When did go there, I sat in the courtyard, where you could always find some shade.

As always, the service was impeccable and the food was very good. If I did eat there, I would go for lunch and get the special. If you really want to understand how people eat, go to a restaurant in any part of the world and just get the special of the day. I think you can learn about tastes, culture, and class structure from the way people eat.

While I was there one morning, reading “El Aire” by Sergio Chejfec, a man walked by that resembled Sergio. I doubt very much it was him, as he was living in New York, but I liked the idea of confronting the author of what is, actually, a beautifully written novella.

It was about a marital rupture, which I thought was a strange way to describe the wife leaving. I won’t go into the novel in any great detail, as that wouldn’t be fair. I would prefer it if you just read it. It is perfectly lovely.

The other piece of the puzzle is that I had recently divorced, but aside from the damage it did to my children and me, the fact that she left turned out to be a relief. My life became considerably more peaceful. I am always amazed, though, at how much divorce affects kids and how much it still affects mine. I don’t know how to best manage that situation and I wish I were better at it. But beyond that, I was truly blissful to be out of that relationship and was not remotely like the protagonist in “El Aire.” In other words, there was no reason to go full Hemingway on poor Sergio.

So, the two key pieces that triggered this story were the fact that I was reading the novel and saw a bald guy walk by. That was all it took to send me on this particular flight of fancy. I did actually see Sergio at a conference a few years later. I thought better of it than to bring up the novel and how he treated the protagonist.

El Jardín

The second story in Café Chronicles was written at El Jardín. El Jardín was one of my favorite places for lunch or a mid-morning snack, or early afternoon beer. I went there quite often, though I have to say that I get a little confused when I look it up online. The thing is, I never went inside, so when I see pictures of the interior, I think this isn’t the right place. el jardin from yelp

El Jardín is located on Perú sandwiched between El Origen, where I would often get breakfast and El Federal, where I would sometimes get dinner. Essentially, it was right around the corner from my apartment.

There are a couple of trees out front, and I would sit in the shade of the trees. I enjoyed watching people, reading, and writing from that vantage point. On the corner was a newsstand, and a few doors down was a police station, so the sidewalk never lacked interesting characters. el jardin

The food at El Jardín was always very good, and the service was outstanding. The wait staff would pretty much leave you alone for as long as you wanted to be there but were always attentive when you wanted something. I also think the lunch specials, if I remember correctly, were priced well. I will say that although I spent a great deal of time at El Jardín, I was never there in the evening. In the evening, I would take a few extra steps and make it down to El Federal.  federal

Origen Café in Buenos Aires

The first story included in Café Chronicles was “An Interesting Subject.” It was written at Origen Café on the corner of Perú and Humberto Primo in the San Telmo area of Buenos Aires. There are a couple of things I really liked about this café. The first thing I liked is that it was light and airy. A number of cafés in Buenos Aires are dark. I think that is fine, but for starting the day, I liked the windows in Origen Café. origen cafe

The service at every establishment in Buenos Aires is outstanding, but I really liked the friendliness of the staff at Origen. They were wonderful. The coffee, of course, was outstanding, and I almost always got some sort of breakfast special that included a cappuccino and a croissant of something like that. Breakfast was always light when I was in Argentina.

I also liked being there on the weekends, because of the variety of people you would see both in the café and passing on the street. On Sunday, near the Plaza Dorrego, there is an art fair. I bought a painting the last time I was there. Also, in the Plaza Dorrego, there are often Tango exhibits. Overall, there is a mix of tourists and artists in this neighborhood in Buenos Aires. It may give over to tourists completely one day soon, but for now, I still enjoy it. photo_2432_2.jpg-fdd0ae43-f4e4-11e4-be7b-d3500e263ce1_s0

The Writing of The Café Chronicles

The Café Chronicles are coming out soon, so I thought I would talk a little bit about them. The fact is, they were just plain fun to write, and they were written to be fun to read as well.

The project started at Origen Café, which is located on the corner of Humberto 1º and Perú streets in the San Telmo district of Buenos Aires. I had rented an apartment in the neighborhood, so most mornings, I would go to the Origen to start my day. For this short period of time, I was able to let go of most everything and have what some people might call a vacation. Yes, I was working, but if I do it right, work can look like a vacation.

2015 June July 050

One morning, as I was sitting at a long table, I noticed that someone was looking at me more than usual. I was reading a novel, so it took me a while to notice him, and I didn’t figure out that he was drawing me until the end when he slid the picture over.

We started talking about art and theater. I had asked him if there was anything I should see. He told me that he wasn’t well informed about the current offerings. I sometimes figure that artists, writers, and actors know about the other arts going on in town. I already had some theaters I wanted to visit but was hoping for a diamond in the rough.

When he slid the drawing to me, I did honestly think that it was a gift. I didn’t understand that he was basically doing it on spec, so to speak, until he asked me for money. I don’t remember when I started writing the story. I think I may have waited until he was done, but I did want the drawing, not because I really wanted a drawing of myself, but more as proof of the story.

I had a notepad that I kept in a less than pretentious shoulder bag. I think I got the bag thirty years ago, but I still use it. It carries a notebook, novel, pens, and maybe a few other small things. I started scribbling the story and got the idea to write little stories like this at each of the cafés that I was going to visit. The other thing is that I was alone, and I wanted to have something to do while sitting there.

Early on, I started developing a few rules regarding the stories. There were two in particular. The first rule was that I had to finish each story in one sitting. The idea was not to think too much and let the writing flow. If, for whatever reason, it didn’t come quickly and flow naturally, I didn’t write it. The other rule I followed was that I had to write about the café in some authentic way; it could a physical characteristic of the location, a person I saw, or some activity. For example, when I first wrote about another “me” being at the café, it was because there was another person doing the sort of thing that I would do at cafés.

One of my favorite stories is Rustic Café. I like it because there was an additional rule that fell into place as I started writing it. All of the music that played during the writing of the piece had to be included in the writing of the story in real-time. I would hear a lyric and throw it in. The story follows my imagined story arc of the songs played. If you look up the running times of the songs, you can calculate how long it took me to write the story. I think I got lucky as all of the songs seemed to fit naturally into the story. There are other stories that I like, but that one stands out due to that technical twist.

Some notes on the title. I have gone through several ideas, including “There’s a Gringo in My Café.” I dropped that idea after I started including tales from the US. I also, for a short time, called them “Tinkle Tales: Stories Short enough to pee by,” or something to that effect. They are short, and I thought that was funny. A friend thought I was being dismissive of the stories, so I am going with “Café Chronicles.”

I do hope that you enjoy them.