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A Natural Wonder All Its Own
Santiago, Chile, isn’t merely a stepping-stone on the way to a grander adventure. The capital city is the best-kept secret in South America. We think you should stay there for a while. By Larry Olmsted. Photographs by Sean McCormick.
The first time I went to Chile, I made a terrible mistake: I spent far too little time in the country’s wonderful capital. Santiago serves as the jumping-off point for adventures to scores of destinations — Patagonia, Easter Island, vineyards, and beach resorts among them — and, like many first-time visitors to the city, I was there only because it was on my way to somewhere else. I used Santiago as a base for reaching the nearby Andes, where I found deep snow and the best summer skiing in the world. However, that small taste of Santiago was enough to lure me back and kick off a never-ending love affair with the city. With each return trip, Santiago’s cosmopolitan charms seduce me more, and between visits, I regale friends and family with tales of bargain-priced gourmet meals, trendy bars, local crafts, and tantalizing day trips. ¶ My wife, Allison, having long heard my accolades of the city, finally agreed to accompany me, and we decided to visit at the end of October (late springtime in Santiago). So, as the temperatures dropped below freezing and the first snow fell in our Vermont hometown, we reveled in the Santiago sun, savoring the temperate climate that the city enjoys year-round. Having Allison with me gave me a sufficient excuse, though I didn’t really need one, to take a tourist’s tour of the city, which gave me the perfect opportunity to see Santiago as if for the first time.
If Buenos Aires is the Paris of South America, then Santiago is the continent’s San Francisco. At every turn, there’s fresh seafood and gourmet cuisine. And like the Bay Area, Santiago enjoys a perennial mild climate; sits close to the coast, mountains, and valleys; and is ringed with vineyards, beaches, and ski resorts. It’s also hilly. There’s a funicular that you can take up to the city’s largest park, the Parque Metropolitano, which overlooks the city, and an aerial gondola that goes from one side of the park to the other, offering surreal views of the landscape. Santiago is a city rich in culture and tradition, but, thanks to a Chilean economy that has been booming for two decades, it’s also a city on the move. It has become a haven for a new and growing class of young professionals who fill the city with a dynamic energy. The vibrancy of the atmosphere is palpable, and I immediately notice that what were holes in the ground during my last trip are now dozens of new luxury apartment buildings dotting the wealthy neighborhoods of Providencia, Las Condes, and El Golf.
If You Go
| SLEEP
Grand Hyatt
Kennedy Avenue No. 4601
011-56-2-950-1234,
(888) 591-1234
www.hyatt.com
InterContinental
Avenue Vitacura 2885
011-56-2-394-2000,
(888) 424-6835
www.intercontinental.com
Ritz-Carlton
Calle El Alcalde No. 15
011-56-2-470-8500,
(800) 542-8680
www.ritzcarlton.com
EAT
Akarana
Reyes Lavalle 3310
011-56-2-231-9667
Como Agua Para Chocolate
Constitucíon 88
(Bellavista)
011-56-2-777-8740
Donde Augusto
Mercado Central, Main Foyer
011-56-2-821-2678
www.dondeaugusto.cl
Etniko
Constitucíon 172
(Bellavista)
011-56-2-732-0119
Zully
Plaza Concha y Toro 34
011-56-2-696-1378
SHOP
Centro de Exposiciones Arte Indígena
Alameda 499
011-56-2-664-1352
Pueblito Los Dominicos
Avenue Apoquindo 9085
011-56-2-201-9749
www.pueblitolosdominicos.com
SEE
Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino
Bandera 361
011-56-2-688-7348
www.precolombino.cl
Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes
José Miguel de la Barra Street at Ismael Valdés Vergara Street
011-56-2-633-4472
www.mnba.cl |
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Much of the city’s essence is evidenced in its imposing skyline. Alongside the many new residential towers are equally impressive high-rise hotels — many of which are recent additions, like the only Ritz-Carlton on the continent and a W that’s currently under construction. The preexisting Grand Hyatt and InterContinental have just undergone massive renovations. Gleaming steel, glass, and brick office towers, many new and architecturally significant, dominate the downtown, which bears the logos of the world’s most famous banks and insurance companies. These businesses are falling over one another in their quest to make Santiago their South American base of operation. It is easy to understand why Santiago is a city that has fully arrived yet continues to boom: Local employees and foreign expats can stroll the streets in safety; inexpensive taxis are readily available; and restaurant, bar, and nightlife options are numerous and increasing all the time.
But the skyline also tells another story — the tale of Chile’s incredible natural wonders, the reasons many visitors come here in the first place. Though a multitude of luxury skyscrapers have gone up, the view from almost anywhere in the city is still dominated by mountains. Immediately to the east lie the majestic Andes. Snowcapped even in summer and reaching heights of more than 20,000 feet, they frame the modern buildings with their ancient ice and snowfields. Another mountain range, the Cordillera de la Costa, runs between the city and the Pacific Ocean, encasing some of the world’s most renowned wine-making regions, including the Maipo and Casablanca valleys. Even better, this breathtaking geography is incredibly close to the city. In fact, you can take half- and full-day guided wine tours of both valleys, and the closest ski resort, Farellones, is about 20 miles from downtown.
SOME OF MY fondest memories of travel include eating; those of my time in Santiago, with its ultrafresh seafood, ample produce, and countless types of empanadas, are no exception. Having wowed my wife with tales of impossibly inexpensive meals of traditional parrilladas, gluttonous barbecue feasts of grilled meats washed down with large quantities of good local red wines (for less than $10), and fine dining on such local luxuries as Patagonian king crab and a vast array of seafood at prices not found in the States (we’re talking less than $30 per person), I was under immediate pressure to validate my boasts. Fortunately, because Chile is in the same time zone as Chicago, the country rarely produces jet lag in visitors, so it’s easy to do a big night out the first evening in town. Shortly after checking in at the Ritz-Carlton, we head to Akarana, one of my favorite (and one of the most exclusive) eateries in Santiago. We struggle to spend $60 on a lavish dinner for two that includes wine. Simply put, Santiago is the most reasonably priced first-world capital you’ll ever visit, and that’s not true just for the food — the city’s Ritz-Carlton is rumored to be the luxury chain’s least expensive hotel in the world, with room rates dipping below $400. Bargain prices may not be the reason to visit Santiago, but they certainly make your visit more rewarding.
The next morning, we hit the ground running — and what better place to start than at the Mercado Central, the heart of Santiago, both in vibrancy and location? The building itself is an elaborate fabrication of cast iron. It was designed and built for a national exposition in 1872, and ever since then, it has served as the capital’s main seafood market. (In a country with more than 2,000 miles of coastline and in which no one lives more than 200 miles from the ocean, seafood is a big part of life.) Vendors hawk an incalculable assortment of sea creatures from stalls in corridors that surround a central plaza filled with restaurants showcasing, predictably, seafood. Late risers may want to begin their journey through downtown with lunch here, while early birds may prefer to end here. Either way, eating lunch at this central market is a must; it’s one of the few places in the nation, outside of Patagonia, where you can sample the Patagonian king crab, a delicacy that’s not only rare but also truly delicious — and endlessly entertaining. We choose to dine at Donde Augusto because it was there that I had eaten one of the most memorable meals of my life. (I even showed my wife pictures of that fabled crab lunch in anticipation of this visit.) A person sitting down to a plate of Patagonian king crab for the first time has little chance of finding the crab’s ample meat without help. At Donde Augusto, all the heavy lifting is done artfully for you. An expert waiter dons gloves, picks up shears and knives, and proceeds to theatrically dissect the vastly complicated crab, which has a leg span of about two feet. Unfortunately, when I order the crab, the waiter informs me that they have run out. Seeing the crestfallen looks on our faces, though, he takes pity on us and quickly dispatches an assistant to the market to obtain one from a crab stall.
AFTER LEAVING THE market, we loop through the city’s cultural center, a series of pedestrian-only shopping streets in a zone that encompasses most of Santiago’s museums and historic sites. We stop along the way at Plaza de la Constitución, where the Palacio de la Moneda (the presidential palace) sits and where every other day, elaborately uniformed soldiers conduct a changing-of-the-guard ceremony at 10 a.m. Two important museums sit close by: the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, a small art museum whose collection is less impressive than its structure, which is a detailed copy of Paris’s Petit Palais; and the Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombino, whose nondescript building holds one of the world’s most important displays of art and artifacts. After taking in these sights, we head to Santa Lucía Hill. It is, perhaps, the most interesting attraction downtown. The hill was the birthplace of Santiago, and a wealthy family built a small but stunning park upon it. There are elaborate walkways, gardens, viewpoints, a castle of sorts, and an acropolis — all of which make visiting the landmark well worth the steep (but short) climb. At the foot of the hill sits the Centro de Exposiciones de Arte Indígena, a permanent open-air crafts market where vendors do a brisk business in woolens, especially alpaca; silver; and lapis lazuli. Chile is one of only a handful of countries that produce the blue stone. A cab driver recommends this market to us on our third day of exploring, insisting that the locals shop at it rather than at the better known and more touristed Pueblito Los Dominicos, on the western edge of the city. He is right — prices are lower here, and the selection is ample. What’s nice about the markets in Santiago is that they aren’t cramped and the vendors aren’t pushy. They ask if you need help and then happily stand by while you look around. They even take it gracefully if you leave without buying. There is a limited amount of bargaining, not nearly the extent you’d find in many other countries. For comparison purposes, we decide to go ahead and visit Pueblito Los Dominicos, a complex that was built to resemble a traditional walled village and which has courtyards, restaurants, and artisanal shops. The latter are housed in individual thatched-roof structures. While it is definitely more touristy, it remains a must-see for first-time Santiago visitors, and it’s where Allison makes her first purchases.
AS I’VE MENTIONED, some of my fondest memories of traveling are centered around dining, and in Santiago, some of the best food is found in the Bellavista neighborhood, where the options are limitless. There’s the popular Como Agua Para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate), which serves up a hybrid Chilean-Mexican cuisine, and Etniko, a trendy Chilean-Japanese fusion restaurant that is located on the restaurant street Constitucíon and which is one of my favorite restaurants in the city. It’s known for its enormous platters of meltingly fresh sushi and sashimi, and after midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, it turns into a nightclub. We decide to head there one evening for dinner and are again pleasantly shocked at the tiny bill. On the long and well-thought-out wine list, the most expensive bottle of white wine is $29; quality choices begin at about 10 bucks. A block away from the neighborhood, my wife discovers Patio Bellavista, an open-air shopping-and-dining plaza that features boutique stores and a mix of restaurants. It’s reminiscent of South Street Seaport, Faneuil Hall, and Inner Harbor, only it’s on a smaller scale. I have a feeling we will be returning to this spot.
A few nights later, in the nine-to-five business district, which formerly had no fine dining whatsoever, we discover Zully, one of the hottest restaurants in the city. It was opened by an adventurous expat American software engineer who is also an avid amateur chef. Assigned to Santiago for business, he fell in love with the city, sold all his stock options in his company, and used the money to painstakingly restore the historic mansion that Zully now calls home. Each of the many small rooms is decorated with a different flair and offers a blend of modern art and historic fixtures. The food, an Asian-Chilean-French mix, is some of the best in the capital. After dinner, we spend a full hour just exploring the restaurant, which is in the process of adding a hip bar and a billiard lounge on its top floor.
ABOUT 2,600 MILES long (roughly the width of the United States) and razor thin (just 50 miles wide in many areas), Chile is sandwiched almost entirely between the Pacific Ocean and the Andes. It shares a mountainous border with Argentina and spans every imaginable climatic zone — it reaches the edge of Antarctica and has glaciers in the south, which are balanced by the arid desert sand dunes in the north. Smack-dab in the middle of Chile, both north to south and east to west, sits Santiago — which makes this city much more than just the capital. It is very much the heart, the epicenter, of one of the most unique countries on earth.
LARRY OLMSTED is a contributing editor to half a dozen publications, including Cigar Aficionado, Lexus Magazine, and Elite Traveler.
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