Cuisine

If you’re looking for the best home cooking, U.S.-style, in Cuenca, check out California Kitchen. Many of those who have say the cooking is not only the best in Cuenca but better than anything they’ve had the States as well. Opened in April by California family George, Carol, Susie and Jim Evans, the Kitchen has quickly...

  Note: this article is a blast from the past! That means you should check the date. Some details may have changed, so you should check their Facebook page for updated info. Link at the end of the article. You’ll get no argument from serious eaters about where to find Cuenca’s best hamburger. It’s at...

Although it’s been open for less than two months, Kookaburra Café on Calle Larga, has established itself as a favorite gathering spot for Cuenca expats, tourists and Cuencanos. A labor of love for Jenny And Chris Bluefields, Australian artists attracted to Cuenca by its rich cultural tradition, Kookaburra (it’s an Australian bird, by the way) is located on...

One of Cuenca’s best kept secrets is the charming little mall known as La Esquina De Las Artes, located at 12 de Abril and Agustin Cueva, across the street from the University of Cuenca theater. A lovingly designed project by Cuenca’s gran dame of the arts, Diana Sojos, this former private home now houses a...

Akelarre (Ah-ka-Lah’-Re): In the Basque region of Spain the name means “meeting of the witches.” In Cuenca, it’s a jewel of a restaurant located in Hotel Inca Real at General Torres 8-40, between Sucre and Simon Bolivar. As you enter the restaurant, just to the left of the hotel entrance, you discover a rich European-Bistro...

By Penny Ripple Looking for a little elegance with a fabulous meal? Cuatro Rios, which opened in the fall in a beautifully restored colonial at 10-44 Padre Aguirre, half a block from Gran Colombia, is defintely worth checking out. You’ll enter through the main door and go up the stairs to the left. The ground floor,...

Tucked away in downtown Paute, Corvel (Simon Bolivar 8-37 y Lumtur) is a charming little restaurant that lives up to its motto, “The art of good service.” Not only does it offer comfortable seating, both indoors and on the terrace and patio areas, but it contains a museum of indiginous crafts and clothing, a billiard...

If you want to be sure the fruits and vegetables you buy are pesticide-free, show up on Sunday mornings, shopping basket in hand, at Cuenca’s Paradise Park. It’s a good idea to get there early. According to vendors, most of the produce is gone by early afternoon. The Cuenca-area Agro-Ecological Producers, a five-year old organization...

This little nook of a restaurant packs a giant south-of-the-broder flavor whallop! Tucked away behind the soccer stadium on Calle Peralta, just off Av. Solano and Av. Remigio Crespo, I had passed Pronto Tacos many times and thought “I wonder if their food is any good.” You see, having been raised in Southern California, so...

If you love Italian food, be sure to put Mediterraneo at 7-64 Honorato Vasquez, between Luis Cordero and Hostel Cafecito on your “to-do” list. The first thing I noticed were the new restaurant’s wall decoration. Rich Tuscan colors and a rogue’s gallery of famous Italians –Marcello Masatriani and Sophia Loren, among others— are sure to...