Meet Mike. I did. He was lovely. He sells sausages. A lot of them. (OK, if you’ve read my post about Frankfrt airport, you may think that I am obsessed with sausages….I am not. I think).

Mike is from California and about three months ago he opened up La Xarcuteria (charcuterie – branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, primarily pork).

It might sound strange, maybe even slightly gross, but believe me, it’s amazing. It’s part of a new wave of restaurants from other cultures making Bogota more cosmopolitan. You see, Mike’s half Colombian and moved to Colombia to live when his Colombian father retired here. His shop oozes the Californian laid-back chilled vibe on the hectic, crammed busy streets of Carrera 15 (pronounced ‘quinze’). This is a street previously known for its low-end cheap eats, and I’m not sure I want to tell you the story Mike told me about what he found in the shop when he took it over from a deep fried chicken restaurant….Whatever it was, it took him three lorry loads to clear away *insert imagination here*.

Needless to say, the restaurant is now completely gutted out and revamped, and is something you’d expect to find in Soho (London or New York). The benches are raw wood and cool, the walls have that exposed brick look and he casually has three types of wine he’s happy to sell you. Everything is kind of, you know, just cool. And believe me, when you open the glass door, it’s surprising when once again the Carrera quinze smacks you in the face with its old world ways.

I find this story a really interesting one, not only because he’s one of many ‘returning Colombians’ I’ve stumbled across, but he’s also done really well so far without mega bucks marketing and has been written up has the ‘best’ hamburger in town. (Yes he does venture away from pork…). This is shocking for me because El Corrall holds my heart as the best, and believe me, meat here in Colombia is amazing and second to none compared to the UK. It’s just a shame my companion is a vegetarian.

Menu side 1

Menu side 2

You can see more here on his Facebook page.

If you’re in the area, do pop in. He’s also just opened for Sunday brunch. He’s promised me he’ll start selling French press coffee too.

So that’s my Sunday sausage and coffee hangover fuel sorted then; Colombian style.