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Coffee and Cobblestones

A New Favorite In Barrio Concha Y Toro

By Laura Superneau

If a steaming "cortado" sipped in surroundings of architectural splendor is all you need to keep warm, you may have just found your new winter hangout.

Simply get off the Metro (Line 1) at República, walk east a block on the north side of Alameda, and you'll find a little side street called Concha y Toro, the gateway to the miniscule neighborhood of the same name, which was developed around the year 1915.

Stroll away from Alameda, and you'll feel its commotion drifting off into oblivion. The world starts to spin backwards, faster and faster with each cobblestone.

When you reach the center of it all - a simple fountain crowning a circular plaza where there's usually at least one guy strumming a guitar - linger only briefly. Turn right, look up, and you'll realize the view is better from above.

From Café Tales' pillared balcony, the plaza is yours.

The cozy café sits in what was originally a family home, and later a residence for students. Café Tales opened last September after an eight-month renovation process that left the space worthy of an entire Sunday afternoon.

Its four rooms and long balcony allow for plenty of seating options, from a dining table to a big leather couch. You will find an ample selection of reading material in English and Spanish, plus some books from Lom Ediciones Publishing House for sale at reduced prices.

Café Tales is also Wi-Fi equipped, so bring your laptop and surf to the sounds of cool, modern jazz as long as you like.

On Thursday and Friday evenings, there's a rotating program of live music and concerts, shown on a projector through big speakers. There are also periodic exhibitions of paintings and photography.

The drinks menu is extensive: espressos, lattes, and cappuccinos, as well as a wide selection of flavored syrups, decaffeinated coffee, juices and many teas. All that plus the café's recent addition of coffee drinks made with rum, whisky, or cognac. Edible offerings include a delicious array of ice cream coffees, cakes and sandwiches. There is a good English menu, for those who need it.

Some drinks are a little pricey - $900 Chilean pesos (US$1.50) for a nice, but not spectacular "cortado" (espresso and milk) - but it's definitely a lot cheaper than a plane ticket to Italy.

The addition of Café Tales is part of a slow but steady revamp of the Concha y Toro neighborhood, a five-block area displaying a mish-mash of gothic, renaissance and neoclassical styles.

The idea is to maintain the traditional look and feel of the neighborhood as it becomes a cultural hub, unlike neighboring Barrio Brasil, which some feel has sacrificed its former glory to its growing popularity.

Despite being built in the same period, Barrio Brasil is losing its elegant feel to cheap student hangouts and spare car parts shops. Concha y Toro is successfully resisting that fate.

The neighborhood has another special quality that helps the visitor's mind float off to Europe - its Roman layout (a round plaza with streets radiating off on all sides) sits in stark contrast to the grid pattern used to map out Barrio Brasil and much of Santiago in general.

This little corner of the city offers a brief respite from the incessant hubbub only two blocks away.

Café Tales 39 Concha y Toro, Tel: 672 45 11 Saturday - Wednesday 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. On Thursdays and Fridays, music starts at about 8 pm. www.cafetales.cl

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