Cafe Praia da Vitoria
After college I worked briefly in the Azores as a shipwright for a Dutch national (mad man) who was building the largest Piver designed, ketch-rigged trimaran in the world. I used to spend my time after work in an old café in downtown Praia da Vitoria. For a few escudos I could buy a big café com lait and basically sit there all afternoon sketching the farmers and fishermen who wandered in after their workday. The proprietor was a very quiet, stern older man who pulled glass after glass of café for the men with the minimum amount of movement behind the bar.
Although the cabinets lining the walls of the café were stocked with beautiful full bottles of porto, I can’t seem to recall anyone beside myself ever asking to drink it.
I’m sure it’s all changed now.
posted by Champurrado at 12:29 PM
3 Comments:
I'm hungrily awaiting a post on what you made for Thanksgiving!
I made a maple-pecan cheesecake with dark chocolate drizzled on top and then took it to family for the event.
They didn't cook to my satisfaction so I might actually have to redo thanksgiving at some subsequent time (between now and xmas).
I can't recall ever drinking a port wine, or any of the other fortified wines such as madeira or sherry. So what did the locals drink? (Porto is a port wine, right?)
Wouldn't it be great if it was still the same? One thing I've learned to appreciate about the south is that the world here changes at a pace that allows me time to savor things I love before it evolves into something else.
The first integrated restaurant (a corner Grill) remained much the same here for over 40 years. It was passed on from one liberal bohemian to another and even as it changed to a vegetarian menu it still served Virginia Ham in the mornings for all the workers that came into the Farmer's Market next door at 7am.
It finally closed its doors a few years ago but had been on the market long enough (five years?) for a collective of european bohemian wannabe's to discover it (all techie's at a local chip plant) to turn it into an upscape european bistro with a library of free newsprint from all over the globe available every am and many of the same items from its Grill days on the menu. Its not the same as it was but at least its not another Starbucks.
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