Our guide in Chile, Mauricio Masserano of Chilean Wine Lovers Tours (Hernando de Aguirre No 128, Providencia – Santiago – Chile – +1714-845-7150 maurice@cwl.cl– www.chileanwinelovers.com), suggested we stay in a boutique hotel just off Providencia Avenue, the main street in Santiago. This hotel, Le Reve is located at Orrego Luco, 023. It is a half block off the main street, and yet far enough to lose the street noises. (www.lereve.cl and tel: 562-2757-6000).
The hotel is small, only four floors with smallish rooms, but ensuite baths for each. We were on floor two and needed to close the bathroom door each night to get darkness as the outside window proved to be a glass door. It was frosted glass, but without curtains. Closing the door proved to be the only solution. The continental breakfast at Le Reve was the standard meats, cheeses, breads and yogurt. Teas came in all flavors including herbals and coffee was available for those with early morning caffeine addictions.
Early on I found a walking route that crossed the river a block from the hotel, going past a sculpture garden, following the road for two blocks and then turning right at a modernistic hotel. Several blocks later I came to the entrance to one of the tunnels leaving Santiago. At this point I turned in the opposite direction towards the tallest building in South America, the 64story Gran Torre also known as the Costanera Center Torre 2. On the first five floors retail stores offer shoppers a wide range of goods that are found throughout Chile and most major cities of the world. Both a grocery store and an arts and crafts store are the largest square footage stores on the entry level. This building anchors the shopping at this end of Providencia and is nestled amongst the other tall buildings in this city.
At the other end of Providencia is the main square and ‘downtown’ area. It was in this area that we found lunch at Ocean Pacific (Avda. Ricardo Cummings 221. Santiago,Chile. Tel: 227700300 – cell 96310750).
Ocean Pacific is up on the second story of a side street off Providencia. As you enter the stairwell you realize you are going someplace different than you expect. Once you turn the corner on the second floor you realize the décor is modern submarine as all of the walls are covered by instrument panels with random lights flashing. In the middle of the floor of one of the multiple dining rooms is a mock-up of a periscope, which we confirmed was not from an actual submarine. In fact, the only actual component from a submarine was a bouy that was used to support an antenna to help locate a downed submarine. But apart from the décor, the food proved to be quite good. Mauricio told us he chose this restaurant as a chef friend had recommended it as the best razor clams source in Santiago. Since our only other reference was in Vina del Mar, we took his word for it. The razor clams were quite good and the entire platter disappeared quickly. The rest of the meal consisted of various fresh fish dishes prepared in small plates to share. We sampled a wide range of dishes each prepared in authentic Chilean sauces. The meal was memorable not in the specifics, but in the aggregate. Soon we were back on the street for the continuation of our tour of Santiago.
After the usual views from the nearby hillsides, samples of two Chilean wines from wineries we were scheduled to visit, a Carmenere from Alchemy, and a Cab Franc from Morande we stopped to view the home of the owner of Costanera Center Torre 2, which resides on a hillside overlooking the building. Thus the owner can see his biggest investment from any window on one side of his home.We drove past several more homes in this neighborhood which clearly showed the disparity of incomes in this country, not unlike any other major city in the US or elsewhere.
After our afternoon tour we had dinner at Bocanariz (JoseVictorino LaStarria, Santiago tel:562-2638-9893). The wine list has been rated by Wine Spectator as one of the best in the world and they list 344 wines that can be purchased by the glass or bottle. On this particular night Mauricio had anticipated flights of different wines to pair with the small plates that dominate this menu. However, our server recommended a Carmenere of which he had just one bottle left. Mauriciowas unfamiliar with this particular wine but upon sampling we determined that it was in fact a very good wine for the food choices we made. Each dish was shared around the table and every dish was greeted with expressions of delight that each was a blend of unexpected flavors set off differently by the wine choice. We left Bocanariz happy we had found this inspired haven of unusual, but excellence in the heart of Santiago.
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