If the Michelin inspectors were to visit Colombia’s capital, they would find their hands full. Bogotá’s restaurant scene is one of the great secrets of South America. Had we stayed for a full week, dining in a different restaurant each meal, we wouldn’t have had time to try all the places that looked enticing. These three are my favorites of those we did visit:
Of the seven restaurants founded by brothers Jorge and Mark Rausch, Criterión is the most famous and the most formal. Located in Zona G, the “gourmet” district near the Charleston Casa Medina hotel, it serves Colombian interpretations of French and Spanish recipes. A perfectly cooked scallop came with creamy corn velouté, chorizo and fresh corn studded with Serrano ham, a triumph of sweet and savory flavors. The shrimp in foie gras sauce with asparagus and smoked mashed potatoes also delighted. A well-dressed crowd fills a dining room done in silver and deep purple. After eating here, I wished that we had visited Marea by Rausch in Cartagena, a seafood restaurant with fine views of the old quarter from an unlikely location in the convention center.
Calle 69A 5-75. Tel. (57) 1-310-1377.
Chef Rafael Osterling’s original restaurant is in Lima. This branch in Bogotá’s Zona G is set within a sleek, masculine space of glass, concrete and iron. Osterling’s team prepares contemporary Peruvian/Mediterranean cuisine for a stylish, mostly local crowd (the menu is in Spanish only). I started with meaty “Galician-style grilled octopus” accompanied by hummus, goat cheese and local potatoes. And after all the seafood I’d consumed over the course of the trip, I couldn’t resist the Stracotto, an Italian-influenced dish of 48-hour pot roast with a confit of carrots and wild mushrooms. The service was slow and occasionally inattentive, but I still won’t hesitate to return to Rafael next time I’m in Bogotá or Lima.
Calle 70 4-63. Tel. (57) 1-255-4138.
Bogotá has only a handful of upscale Colombian restaurants, and this is arguably the best. Situated in the Centro Internacional — a business district between Zona G and La Candelaria — it was the first of three critically acclaimed establishments opened by chef Leonor Espinosa. We ordered the nine-course “clasico” tasting menu. Courses ranged from a spicy ceviche of tilapia to a delectable carimañola (Colombian-style empanada) stuffed with smoked rabbit to “black beef” with hominy, almonds and coconut rice. Some octopus tentacles came a bit overcooked, as did a fillet of whitefish wrapped in banana leaf, but overall, the meal was extremely satisfying. After dinner, energetic sorts might head next door to El Bembe, a Cuban club featuring live salsa music.
Calle 27B 6-75. Tel. (57) 1-286-7091.
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