ACPM: An Intro Into the Bogota Restaurant Scene

When I lived in Atlanta, I didn't realize that I was spoiled with the variety and quality of restaurants. After a couple of excursions into the Bogota restaurant scene, I was sorely disappointed in the food available in the city. Though I have heard good things (mostly from Colombians, instead of foreigners), good restaurants are few and far between. For this reason, I am writing about my hits and misses in the Bogota food scene.

Some background info on me is that I enjoy spicy food with a wide variety of tastes. For example, Mexican and Indian food are my favorite and probably the hardest to find in Bogota. I haven't been able to find a decent taco or Mexican restaurant so far. I have tried La Taqueria, Casa Mexicana, El Carnal (probably the worst), and El Museo De Tequila. They all suck, half of them don't even have hardshell tacos, and the cheese dip is like Cheeze-Wiz. I mean, how hard is it to mess up a taco? Apparently, I have seen the worsts forms of the concept “taco”.

The problem is that Colombians have very little knowledge of food outside of Colombia. For them, variety means chicken or beef. This is were the concept of ACPM comes in: Arroz, Carne, Papa, and Maiz. The staples of Colombian cuisine. ACPM means that about 90% of Colombian meals are made up of the same four ingredients. I didn't begin to realize the full impact of ACPM until I stated going out for lunch with my coworkers. All of a sudden I was eating one form of ACMP or another every day for lunch and I was like “hold up”. I can't eat the same thing every day!

The reason why is because even though we would go to different restaurant, we would always order the daily lunch special (Almuero Corriente or Almuero Executivo) because it was the cheapest. It cost about $3 U.S., but it is anything but special because you basically have only two options: chicken or beef. Though it includes a drink (lemonaide or juice), dessert, and soup; it still consists of the basic four ingredients of ACPM. Anyways, at one point I pointed out that there was no variety in our lunch selections and my coworkers responded, “What do you mean, you can choose chicken or beef?!?!”.

Mochila: A Tradition of Colombian Manpurses

Why don't men in America use purses? They are practical and men carry just as much as women. It must have something to do with looking unmanly, but in Colombia, men have purses and they still look tough. I will try to explain why.

The Colombian manpurse probably doesn't seem strange here because the country has a long tradition of manpurses (mochilas). Not only that, but also a lot of men use them so it's not like one guy is the odd man out. They also can be stylish as there are many varieties of colors, patterns, and materials; but mainly the traditional version is made out of wool by the ancient Ayuko tribe. These pictures show the trend then and today.

“Made by the Arhuaco tribe of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta, high in the mountains of northern Colombia, these hand-woven bags (mochilas) are a spiritual-artisan tradition that goes back well over a thousand years. In order to escape persecution and preserve their traditional way of life, the Arhuaco, Kogi, and other native peoples of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta took refuge in the remote areas of this mountain region.” (http://www.horizonherbs.com/mochilas.html)

The tradition still lives today due to the fact that these native tribes still live in Colombia today as they did since 1,000 A.D. After, the past five centuries, they still trade their artesanias (folk art) and have contact with modern Colombia. You can even take hiking tours through the Sierra Nevada to visit their villages and ancient ruins. In other words, the Colombian manpurse represents a modern fashion trend and a tradition of respect for native people of Colombia. I definitely recommend getting one on your next trip to Colombia. To learn more about the history of the mochila or buy one, visit http://www.horizonherbs.com/mochilas.html.

El Rebusque: A Colombian Business Model

Colombians have a lot of reputations, but this one is specific to how they run business and make money. In Bogota, one of the first things you will notice is the massive amount of people selling random things on the street. Towels, glasses, belts, food, cell phone minutes, and phone chargers can easily be found on most street corners. They definitely don't have government regulation involved or the need for a permit to sell things on the street like in Atlanta.

The next thing you will notice is that most of the street vendors are not necessarily poor. In Atlanta, selling things on the street is looked down upon as it usually means you are homeless or poor. However in Colombia, middle-class people and college students will often take second jobs selling random stuff to make extra money. This is called El Rebusque, meaning “another way to find money”. It basically encompasses the reputation that Colombians are good business people and like making money. For the most part, I would say it is true as everyone seems to have a personal business on the side.

El Rebusque is taken a step further when it comes to running an actual business. In Colombia, businesses make the most out of make extra money by being more than one business. In other words, they will combine a variety of services, depending on the time of day. You'll see what I mean the next time you go to a “Cafe/Bar/Restaurant/Hair Salon” -- during the day it is a salon and cafe, but at night its a bar and restaurant so that they can keep bringing in business all day. There actually is a “Cafe/Bar/Art Gallery/Hair Salon” named La Peluqueria so you can check out for yourself and see how this business model works. It seems to be very effective and profitable.

Another example of El Rebuseque is people selling stuff at work to coworkers. I worked in corporate America for several years before coming to work in Bogota and I have never seen people being allowed to sell stuff at work. While working at the UPS corporate headquarters in Atlanta (hell on earth), they had a strict policy against it. Here, there is no policy and it just seems to be another form of making money on the side. At my office, there is a guy that sells homemade sushi and desserts. Not only does he sell these desserts, he makes special announcements on discount pricing, has his business incorporates, and spends at least 25% of his day promoting his products at work. After lunch, it usually takes 20 minutes for people in the office to decide which dessert they are going to buy today. This happens every day and it's like working on a street corner.