Teconté
Around the corner from my apartment is a little bakery/restaurant. I discovered it maybe a two weeks after I moved into my apartment and I return at least once a week, sometimes twice. I think it is family run, because some of the kids who wait on me look related. I couldn’t find anything on the internet about this place, but I am sure some of my Santa Cruz people, who read this blog, will tell me more about it.
Teconté is on Avenida Iralá, just two blocks from my street, Monsenior Santistevant. Iralá is part of the First Ring to the South. So this is a busy street. From about 6:00 in the morning till after midnight, I can look out of my window and see the street packed with cars. So they chose a very good location.
I can’t get there in the mornings very often, but the few times I have been able to, there are men and women in suits having coffee and a breakfast bread. It wasn't until just a few days ago that I learned they are not open until 8:00. More often I get there around lunch time when it is really busy. I have been told they serve tea, as in a high tea. A Bolivian tea is exceptional. I hope I get to attend one to share it with you. It is not tea and cookies, but a fantastic afternoon meal.
If they have it, I buy a sonso. It is a very basic recipe, grated yucca and cheese baked in the oven. For something so simple, it is amazingly delicious.
They always have cuñapé, which is a baked cheese bread, another simple delicious recipe. They also have empanadas of at least a dozen types. My two favorites are the rice empanadas, which is just a rice bread, which I thought at first was corn; and a cheese empanada, which has a light crust that puffs up, lightly stuffed with cheese, and topped with powdered sugar.
My usual habit is to buy something to accompany my lunch and also bring something home for breakfast the next morning. I normally spend between $2 and $5. If I spend more, I might bring two lunches and two breakfasts. So it is a cheap addition to my meals.
One thing about these guys that impressed me was the morning I did my walk around the First Ring last August. I started my walk there. As I was buying a cheese empanada, the owner came out with a plate with a roll on it and a cup of coffee. She handed it to a beggar that I regularly see on Avenida Iralá. He is filthy dirty and looks pitiful. She didn’t hand him paper, disposable cup and plate, but the china she uses for customers.
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