The first time I went to Santiago on a business trip, my colleagues took me to Cafe Haiti. I was unpleasantly jet lagged and pleasantly culture shocked, and I had no idea why we were making a special trip for coffee. Cafe Haiti was apparently one of the first coffee shops where the waitresses were the star of the show and were dressed in the most incredibly short uniforms. If the caffeine didn't wake me up, the women serving it did. The coffee was really good and much stronger than anything I was used to in the US. I was told that quite a few imitators had cropped up after I left and there was some sort of a competition in the uniforms of the various baristas. Not all of the new coffee shops were supposed to be as classy as Cafe Haiti, which somehow combined skin, humor, and taste in a way that I don't think would have worked at home in the US.
A few years later, some of my Chilean friends came to the United States and I took them to Maine for fresh lobster. I hope they enjoyed the lobster as much as I enjoyed Cafe Haiti. I give Cafe Haiti four stars because it was such a wonderful introduction to a country that I miss very much. read more