Eat List: Bogotá, Colombia

Nuevo Colombian bistros, Afro-Colombian, regional cuisine, tasting menus, specialty coffee & more.

Humo Negro, a Colombian izakaya. Photo: Nicholas Gill.

Bogotá has one of Latin America’s more intimidating dining scenes to explore. There are seemingly thousands of beautifully designed restaurants scattered all over town. With the city’s heavy traffic, just getting from one to the next in a reasonable amount of time seems impossible. And, like the crazy, chaotic city itself, Bogotá’s culinary scene is full of contradictions. The best restaurants are not always the over-hyped fine dining spots, though sometimes they are. They aren’t always the latest, trendy gastropub, though sometimes they are. They aren’t always the beloved classic spot, though sometimes they are. Still, Bogotá is the beating heart of Colombian gastronomy, the place where the full scope of ingredients from points as distant as the Pacific Coast, the Amazon jungle, the Caribbean and the Guajira desert all come together and explode in a brilliant, magical display that is simultaneously expanding inward and outward with each passing day. Here are my recommendations for navigating the wonders of Bogotá’s food scene: