The historic city, as high as it is, is entrenched in a river basin tucked between towering Andean Mountain peaks and snow-capped volcanoes lying on the eastern slopes of Pichincha, a Strata volcano. The ageless landscape dictates a long and narrow city with an Historic Center that is one of the largest, least altered and best protected in the Americas, not unlike Bordeaux Historic Center in France and the walled city of Antiqua in Guatemala.

In 1978 Quito was honored by UNESCO as the World’s First City for their Cultural Heritage, Traditions and Architecture, and Geographical Beauty, a tribute that also recognized the opportunities Quito provides to experience an historic slice of South America.

A View City Where Nature Speaks

The historic area is crisscrossed with narrow cobble-stone streets covering an impressive 800 acres. From the 15-room Hotel Castillo Vista del Angel high on the eastern flank of Old Town, astonishing 360* views and vivid impressions emerge under the night sky. Countless twinkling stars above are mirrored below as though their twins plunged downward into the valley, landing across the mountainous landscape in a romantic display of Ecuadorian design.

The Quitenos explain, “We compare the weather to politics, unpredictable and tricky. We can have four seasons in one day so a rain coat, sun block, and sun glasses are ideal when you’re out and about. On a clear day we can see 22 volcanoes, but when the afternoon rains arrive it’s time to pop into a cafe for a cup of coffee.”

In the heart of Quito, thousands of houses, and dozens of churches and Cathedrals line Old Town streets just wide enough for a horse-drawn carriage. A maze of white, sky blue, light yellow, and pale peach buildings spread up the sides of the surrounding steep-sided mountains and ancient volcanoes like a mind-boggling jumble of puzzle pieces not yet assembled that challenges visitors to put on their walking shoes and explore.

The streets and narrow sidewalks in Old Town are alive with Quitenos, an engaging blend of students, young nicely dressed business women, families, indigenous groups from the Andes Highlands, Otavalo and Cotacahi, some ingeniously carrying their babies in the traditional backpack, and vendors selling fresh fruit. Yellow cabs weave like crazed ants in search of their Queen through the streets, expertly navigating the five pedestrian-free streets that lace Old Town and connect with legendary Plaza Grande or Independence Square in the heart of the city. The 16^th century square is neatly lined with the Presidential Palace, City Hall, the Cathedral, Archiepiscopal Palace, restaurants, coffee shops, and Café Galeria. The café offers Pacari organic chocolate tastings, not unlike the wine tastings of other regions, where it’s explained that Ecuador’s climate is ideal for producing some of the world’s finest cacao which is shipped in great quantities to Switzerland.

Cathedrals and Churches: An Historic Understanding

Quito’s churches reveal the history of Ecuador and her people preserving the art of the 16^th and 17^th centuries, the architecture, extraordinary wood carvings, rare fine art, and the traditions of the Ecuadorians. Quito has 27 churches in a 33 block area, including La Compania de Jesus, 1605, adjacent to Plaza Grande. The church is considered the crown jewel of the Baroque Period in America with an interior exquisitely covered with 23-karat gold leaf. Nearby, the Cathedral with Rococo, Neo-gothic, Baroque, Moorish and Neo-classic architecture has a dome that can be accessed up a narrow passageway for views of the plaza, and, for those collecting photographs, a special memory.

A guided walking tour leads to San Francisco Market, 1893, offering vegetables, meats, herbs, seasonal fruit from the Andean highlands, roses in abundance, and a food court to experience potato cakes, chicken stew, potato soup, and slow roasted pork topped with fresh juices. Indigenous holistic herb healers encourage an herbal massage and cleansing using leaves, branches, and flowers that leave legs and feet tingling and give instructions not to shower in the evening in order to let the herb treatment settle. Ecuadorian roses are a major export and foremost city adornment leading one local Quiteno to say, “You can buy 25 roses for one dollar so if you’re not a romantic in Quito you have a big problem.”

In this city of neighborhoods, La Ronda is a bit off the tourist trail in the Southern Historic District. It is an artistic and colorful block-long stone-lined alleyway, similar to those in Southern Spain, with flowered iron balconies, restaurants, classic museum-quality wood carvers and small wall to wall boutiques.

Leave The Driving To Your Guide

Sixteen miles south of Plaza Grande is a monument marking the general location of the equator while nearby a Solar Museum with a modern GBS unit calculates the 0 latitude exactly. A location known to Quitenos as “the middle of the world,” the equator is also the origin of the country’s name, in Spanish, Ecuador.

A two-hour drive brings travelers to Otavalo’s craft market and Plaza de Ponchos, South America’s largest outdoor market, a vibrant array of Indigenous weavings from scarves, blankets, and ponchos, to embroidered blouses, hammocks, and jewelry. In contrast, Cotacachi, 45 minutes northwest of Otavalo, is known as the city of leather with some 50 shops.

Cotacachi is also a glorious stop for lunch, home to the exquisite 23 room La Mirage Garden Hotel & Spa, a five-star expanse of beauty and elegance. A former hacienda, opened in 1987, La Mirage is the only Relais & Chateaux property in Ecuador with a wall of prestigious awards. Chef Hugo Flores works with the local farmers and creates delightful specialties from the Andean Region. Out on the grounds, eight peacocks take turns staring through the windows at Chef Flores’ shrimp, avocado, and pineapple salad.

The Annual Festival of Light

South America’s premier Light Festival in August draws visitor’s world-wide. Twenty-one buildings are cleverly lit along with a street of multi-hued umbrellas, and a stunning 12-minute presentation depicting the history and life of Ecuador, Quito, and their people, created with dazzling artistic skill similar to the quality of Pixar or Disney. The streets of Old Town are blocked from traffic and an evening under the lights of Quito is exceptional.

Drink only bottled water and Quito’s diverse gastronomy offerings will be a distinctive highlight with recipes to share.

When You Go

The official Ecuadorian currency is the U.S. dollar with small bills and loads of singles essential. Driving in Quito is not recommended; a personal guide is. Marcelo Guerra, born and raised in Quito, speaks fluent English and can arrange a tailor-made itinerary.

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or 011-593 9 8458-7400. Various airlines serve Quito including JetBlue connecting through Fort Lauderdale. The Quitenos recommend visiting from December to April with warmer nights, sunny mornings, and easily avoidable bursts of rain in the afternoon.

For further information, visit Quito Turismo

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The city lies on the lower slopes of the Pichincha Volcano in a narrow Andean valley at an implausible 9,350-feet above sea level, where dynamic and imaginative Quiteno chefs have noticeably advanced the city’s dining prospects. The youthful and flourishing chefs, influenced by ancient preparations and produce grown by local farmers in rich volcanic soil, have also augmented their culinary skills in Europe and elsewhere. Now they are busy creating inspired offerings spawned from the interplay of Incan, Spanish, traditional Ecuadorian, and South American mores. With new restaurants on the rise, Quito’s gastronomic prospects are worthy of exploration.

Epicureans can take pleasure in a traditional Ecuadorian lunch by partaking of one of the legendary variations of Ecuadorian soups. The much-loved potato soup, a Quito specialty often accompanied by fresh avocado slices, cheese, and a sizzling hot sauce, is found on menus throughout the city. Encebollado, regarded as a national dish, is a succulent fish soup prepared, in one rendition, with slabs of fresh tuna, cassava root or yucca, sliced tomatoes, a sprinkling of cilantro, and a variety of spices, with pickled onions. Quito chefs put a spin on their individual sopa or soup adaptations choosing from an array of Andean potatoes, squash, quinoa, and various combinations of fresh seafood, spices, herbs, and exotic fruit.

Gourmands hot on the Quito food trail will encounter Cevichochos, a vegetarian ceviche; Seco de Chive, a tasty goat stew; and Empanadas, a half-moon turnover overflowing with everything from mashed green plantains, cheese, and shrimp, to green peas, raisins, and rice. Classic Ecuadorian cooking is abundant at Mercado Central and the older Mercado San Francisco dating to 1893, located in the indigenous San Roque neighborhood where small stoves are steaming with deep-fried green plantains.

Restaurants included below all stress quality and freshness, and source their produce from local organic farmers. Thankfully, smoking is taboo in Quito restaurants, but bottled water is recommended.

Zasu in the north of Quito, noted by CNN in 2015 as one of the world’s top 15 restaurants, currently remains among Quito’s elite. Quitenos admire the imaginative menu of Executive Chef, Wilson Alpala, 28, who has created a notable table with his Roasted Tomato Soup, Asparagus Risotto, and a Cazuela shaped with prawns, plantain, and peanut ‘salprieta’ assembled in a rich sauce. The elegant and modern two-level room has a 10-page wine list showcasing 1,300 vintages in a large, glassed sphere artistically spiraling upward.

Chefs at Plaza Grande Hotel, in an historic, restored Spanish colonial mansion on the edge of Independence Square in the heart of Old Town, offer cooking classes on a lower floor. Assistant Chef, Christian Pillajo, age 25, meticulously demonstrates the classic Ecuadorian ceviche topped with toasted corn, and dessert is a taste of strawberry ice cream made in a large copper pan on a thick bed of ice. Pillajo said, “Cooking is the basis of life for me. I experiment at home with different flavors, spices and herbs, and I also love chocolate because we have the best chocolate in the world.”

Restaurante Santa Rosa Historica: Three spirited brothers in an historic 1845 building, working with hops, malts, and Andean grains have fashioned, American Style craft beers and ales on tap which flourish nicely with 28-year old Chef Sebastian Moscoso’s inspired menu of salmon, marinated with honey and ginger sauce, grilled in a banana leaf, and served with yucca croquettes and vegetables, or a well-chosen deep fried Ecuadorian shrimp dish together with a spicy house sauce and French fries.

La Mirage Garden Hotel & Spa: The two-hour drive from Quito to the town of Cotacachi and the La Mirage Garden Hotel, a former hacienda, converted to an award-winning restaurant and 23-suite hotel, is an admirable culinary journey. Attracting celebrities world-wide with a lavish and stylish hacienda-style dining ambience, the overwhelming essence of the property is one of elegance and romance.

Chef Flores, clocking in at La Mirage for some 25-year, s delivers straight forward cooking with a traditional, indigenous potato soup with fresh farm cheese. Other specialties are also from the Andean Highlands such as morsels of seasoned pork, potato dumplings filled with farm cheese, and an avocado Empanada with toasted corn.

Neuma: Chef Alejandro Chamorro who worked at NOMA, a two-Michelin-Star restaurant in Copenhagen, and at the famed Astrid and Gaston Restaurant in Lima, has journeyed back to the roots of Inca and Andean cooking. Chamorro’s farm to table insights and distinct cooking style can pull diners from their comfort zone with new tastes. With soft background jazz heard on the sound system, and Chamorro toiling in the open kitchen, his small bites unfold temptingly: first, a portion of watermelon with a mint leaf; then, a cube of tender pork with Andean root and sauces; next, a soup prepared in the traditional style of the region layered with milk foam and a cheese truffle served in a capachino cup. A petite portion of lamb with fermented corn, with touches of cauliflower, light cream and kale tucked into in a small square cube, enhance the ongoing wonder of Chamorro’s cooking skills.

Quitu: Chef Sebastian Perez and his vigilant staff have designed Quitu around traditional 100 % organic Ecuadorian ingredients with three prix fixe tasting selections in a colorful room with a welcoming wood burning stove tucked between tables. Starters are a selection of freshly baked bread made in house with six flavored butters and herbs. A sea bass marinated in banana passion fruit together with roasted corn, peppered and smoked, is prepared to be shared family style, while course-after-course are served on small heavy stones and crude wood platters of various shapes. The array of new tastes derives from ancient cooking practices using Maiz Morado, a dark Kulli corn originating in the Andes Highlands, and Mashua, a South American edible plant. Quitu does not offer sodas. Filtered water and a small wine list are available.

Pizzamama in La Ronda, Quito’s striking block-long, pedestrian-only enclave of craftsmen, artists and boutiques, is a small multi-hued, café, bakery and pizza room on Morales Street. The name is a clever reference to the indigenous Quichua Pachamama Motherland. With 10 tables, and a non-pretentious, relaxing ambience, Pizzamama offers Ecuadorian beer on tap, wine, and a delightful hot bun with figs.

At Saguamby, it seems as if you are sitting on the crown of Quito. Nestled atop Hotel Castillo Vista del Angel with an unparalleled 360-degree view of the city, the restaurant is home to Chef, Mijael Proano, 25, who cooks with long-established Ecuadorian products. Proano’s fresh sea bass with garlic, herbs and spices is admired by both Quitenos and visitors alike.

WHEN YOU GO

Visit Quito

Bi-lingual Tour Guide, Marcelo Guerra, born and raised in Quito, is a great asset for those with time restraints.

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