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102
JUNE 2012
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HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
THREE PERFECT DAYS
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QUITO
DAY TWO
| For breakfast, you walk across the plaza to
Tianguez Café
, a fair-trade cra s
storeandrestaurant tucked into thecatacombsbeneaththe IglesiadeSanFrancisco,where
youexplorea labyrinthof narrowhallways linedwithhandmademasks andfigurines. You
buy a tiny bird carved out of “vegetable ivory,” which is made from the nut of the tagua
palm tree, and then se le down for a plate of veggie empanaditas and amug of coca leaf
tea. The la er, a gringo favorite, is known to ward off altitude sickness. While it works its
magic, you hail a taxi and venture north.
You let yourself out at the flagship location of
Olga Fisch Folklore
, a shop selling tapes-
tries, sculptures, wall art, clothing and jewelry by local artists. Fisch, a Hungarian who
immigratedhere in 1939, sawgreat value inEcuador’s richheritageof cra s andbecame the
country’s first andmost influential art promoter. Her granddaughter, Margara Anhalzer,
who runs the place, invites you upstairs to check out the privatemuseum, where a small
but extensive collectionof pre-Columbianartifacts andpost-colonial art testifies toFisch’s
love for her adopted country.
You wend your way several blocks to
Galería Ecuador Gourmet
for yet another well-
curatedcollection—this time, of locallyproducedcoffee, chocolate, liquor, sauces andother
tempting food items. You pick up some bars of dark chocolate as, er, souvenirs. Right as
you start tearing open a wrapper, you realize it’s lunchtime.
Luckily, just steps away is the Mediterranean-fusion eatery
La Boca del
Lobo
. Filled with chrome and neon and pumping dance music, it’s the polar
opposite of the other restau-
rants you’ve been to so far. In
fact, if it weren’t for the floor-
to-ceilingwindowswitha view
of Foch Plaza, you’d think you
were inMiami at 3 a.m. But it’s
the a ernoon, so, despite the
extensive and imaginative
cocktail list, you responsibly
order “Zucchini Lamborgini”
(sliced zucchini and artichoke
dip) and “Moussaka Kan”
(moussakamadewitheggplant
tempura). Then you call for a
mojito anyway.
Next, you grab a taxi to
Capilla del Hombre
to take in
the powerfully severe work
of Ecuadorian artist Oswaldo
Guayasamín. A contemporary
of Diego Rivera and a keen
scholar of South American
history, Guayasamín made
paintings that were o en epic
in subject and scale. He was
particularly concerned with
the plight of the continent’s
indigenouspeople,whichmade
him a national hero before he
passed away in 1999. You take
your timeexploring thecavern-
ous space, andare transfixedby
Toro yCondor
, amassivemural
depicting a pre-Columbian
Peruvian ritual in which a
condor was lashed to the back of a bull.
You have reservations at the upscale
Zazu
, which was the first of a veritable
invasion of Peruvian-themed restaurants
inQuito. Youorder chef Rafael Perez’s pork
confit taquitos, followed by a mammoth
seafoodplate featuring grilledgrouper. You
may have skipped the beef dish, but there
is something unmistakably condor-like in
how you go about a acking the seafood.
Per your waiter’s recommendation,
you take a quick taxi ride to Guápulo, a
hip neighborhood and street-art mecca
perched on a hillside on the eastern edge
of town. You duck into
Ananké
, a bar and
pizzeriawith a ramshackle bohemianvibe
and oversize, colorful works by local pho-
tographers. Couples canoodle
in darkened corners; obscure
electronicmusic pipes through
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BROAD STROKES
Capilla del
Hombre, home to artist Oswaldo
Guayasamín’s giant murals, with
Toro y Condor
in the background