South America

I was Kidnapped and Held For Ransom in Peru, Part 2
GUEST POST BY ROBERT LOUTHAN. Read Part 1 right here We left off watching Looney Tunes, which would have been a brilliant closer, except that’s not where the story ended. That same night, the villagers got together and agreed to advance their protest to the next level. I woke the

Organ Grind: A South American Food Journal, Part 11, Buenos Aires is Red Meat + Red Wine in Large Plastic Bottles
San Telmo’s Parrilla de Freddy Buenos Aires, by most accounts, is a city. Those accounts also attach various adjectives to it such as world-class, cosmopolitan, even Argentinian. One of the many criteria that I petulantly demand a city check off its scan-tron test sheet is the presence of a set

The 2025 SF Beer Passport is Here!
Step into a world of adventure with the San Francisco Beer Passport. There’s no better way to explore San Francisco than to literally drink it in. This passport is amazing! Each one contains 28 coupons to buy one beer, get a second beer FREE at 28 of the finest locally

Organ Grind: A South American Food Journal Part 6, Arequipa’s Frontlawn Restaurant
Clockwise from left: heart, corn, rocoto The flower of Peru’s glory is at its highest peak of florid magnificence when the traveler steps outside the bounds of urban settlements. This can be difficult at times; the central yolk of most Peruvian cities is broken here and there and allowed to

Organ Grind: A South American Food Journal Part 4, Beef Heart of Darkness
Grill master working the heat As the latter part of the above title flat-footedly implies, this weeks article has me journeying into savage, humid environs redolent of the morally queasy atmosphere of Joseph Conrad’s most famous novel. Instead of the Belgian Congo, however, I find myself in Peru’s Amazon Basin.

Organ Grind: A South American Food Journal Part 3, Cock Soup at 11,000 Ft
Cusco’s Central Market Large, central markets situated in cities with lax or non-existent health codes always make a strong impression upon the senses of smell and sight, and, if you’re somewhat brave, taste. Peru boasts many markets and most I’ve frequented are loose affairs; no one blinks an eye at

Organ Grind, A South American Food Journal Part 2: The Eerie Charms of Mompox, Colombia.
Mompox, Colombia When traveling in a strange land with only a hazily defined sense of purpose to guide you, you find yourself pointed towards destinations based on some fairly whimsical pretexts. The one which inspired me to make a long, harsh journey over unpaved roads perched in the

Organ Grind: A South American Food Journal, Part 1
Cartagena’s Plaza de Trinidad For the last three years I´ve been scraping tips into a pile large enough to finance a relatively thorough exploration of the lower half of The Americas. For the purpose of this article, I’m primarily intersted in

Brush Up On Your Guitar-Making Skills at Bazaar Cafe
Pretty soon it’ll be too late for New Year’s resolution references (if it isn’t already), so I better use them all up while still appropriate. New Year’s Resolution No. 3: Appear devastatingly attractive to members of the opposite sex. For mating purposes, obvi. This is a purposefully open-ended resolution that