Walking the streets of downtown Buenos Aires I notice that there are more coffee shops than gas stations. I've also concluded that cafes are strategically positioned on corners so that people coming from all directions can walk right in for a refill, a rest, but mostly for what I think of as a graceful pause to the day. The art of coffee drinking at all hours of the day is highly practiced and comes from the European tradition established in the early twentieth century when portenos (people from the port city of Buenos Aires) were looking to pattern themselves after the French.
At first it was confusing as to what to ask for and what I would get. I looked around to see people sipping small black coffees in demi-tasse cups while others were having cafe cortado in a slightly larger cup with frothed milk. A cafe grande or cafe americano comes in what I consider a regular sized cup and capuccinos are served in elegant tall glass cups with chocolate sprinkled on top. It is all expresso, no matter what you order. No drip coffee pots sitting on warmers losing their freshness as we have in the U.S. It is all made fresh to order with the expresso coffee machine. A waiter, dressed in black pants, neat white shirt with a tie, takes your order. Within minutes you have your cafecito along with condiments and a tiny glass of agua con gas( sparkling water).
If you are in a more elegant cafe such as the one I was in the other day at the Museum of Decorative Arts you also get a small cookie or biscotti to accompany your coffee. If you are in a regular cafe on any street in downtown B.A. you can also indulge in one or two fresh media lunas, which is Spanish means half moons. We call them croissants but the Argentine ones taste as if they just came out of the oven, puffy and fresh. The waiter may ask you if you want them con manteca which I have learned means the sweeter ones. It is hard to say no to media lunas.
People of all ages frequent coffee shops. I see many older people and lots of women stopping mid morning for a break and a coffee. Men gather in coffee shops and later in the day you see people of all ages having their merienda or late afternoon snack when we Americans might be heading home for supper. It is part of a way of life. I like the way people take time for this ritual in their daily lives.
No one walks down the street drinking out of styrofoam cups nor do they sit at their desks sipping coffee from the office coffee pot. If you are at work and want a coffee you call the nearest Cafe on corner and a waiter will deliver one to you in a real cup on a tray! He will come back later to collect the dirty dishes. It is not unusual to see trays going down the street with fresh cafecitos especially in the mornings.
There is an art to a slower pace of life and taking time in your day to stop for a coffee is a good example. The Europeans have done it for centuries and the Argentines have simply followed suit.
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