I never expected to find a great restaurant in Valparaiso. In fact, I never expected, during my few days in Chile before and after visiting Easter Island, to even find time to leave Santiago and visit Valparaiso. But then Karla Lodis, one of the guides I hired to help me navigate the Chilean food scene, suggested a day trip, and she managed to make it sound so tempting I thought, Valparaiso it is!

We took off early in the morning, stopping along the way for a breakfast of pork sandwiches and hardboiled eggs at Lo Vásquez market. Once in Valparaiso, we wandered the city’s hills, which were filled with colorful street art (a sample of which you can see above), toured Pablo Neruda’s home, rode in one of the famous funiculars, cruised the harbor, and more.

We packed a lot into our one day there, and I hope I’ll be forgiven for feeling that the highlight was lunch at Espiritu Santo. It’s not a restaurant I came across during the culinary research I did for our trip, but Carlos Reyes, one of our food guides, listed it as one of the 10 best restaurants in Chile in his book on the country’s 100 best restaurants.

And now that I’ve had a chance to eat there, I can only say … I agree! (more…)