It has been a rainy spring. Although the freshness of spring is felt in its back notes, cloudy and misty weather allows me to write one more post I associate with rainy weather. This post is about a photo that I noticed in my archive probably last year and marked to mention in a post. (Photo above: luxuryvacationscostarica.com)

As I looked into the article in the magazine where I saw this photo, I found out that it was taken in a well-known cafe in Costa Rica. I had before written a post about Costa Rica, the land of sandy beaches, surf spots, wild jungles, national parks, rain and cloud forests, eco-lodges, yoga resorts and rich wildlife. For this post which is among my favorite ones, you can click the link “Costa Rica – The Rich Coast“.

(Photos from my former post titled “Costa Rica – The Rich Coast” that I gave a link above)

Costa Rica is also one of the coffee producing countries of the world known for its fine gourmet coffees. Its tropical climate and fertile volcanic soil allow the production of smoother high-quality Arabica beans at high altitudes of fertile volcanic soil. (costaricaexperts.com)

Coffee Plantation in Tarrazú, the most premium coffee producing region located about 70 kilometres south of San José (Photo: jameskaiser.com) / Costa Rican coffee beans are hand-picked to produce gourmet coffee. (Photo: cafebritt.com)

There is a rooted coffee culture in Costa Rica. I have read on the web:
“Long afternoons spent over a cup of coffee in a sunny café are a staple of Costa Rican culture. Coffee shops are an important part of our daily life, places where friends gather to catch up on the neighborhood gossip and people from all walks of life come together… .” (cafebritt.com)
(This quote is from the website of Cafe Britt, a producer of gourmet coffee in Costa Rica whose coffee bags can be found in many restaurants, hotels and cafes, including the beautiful coffee shop in San José which inspired me (by means of a photo taken within the shop) to write this post.)

Now is the place of this photo… A warm and sincere place, which reflects the cosiness of an interior shelter one requires especially on rainy days … The photo here below:

Photo: (Shot by my mobile-phone from Food and Travel, February/March 2019 issue, No.214)

The photo above had been taken inside Alma de Café, located inside “The National Theater of Costa Rica” in San José. Opened in 1897 and modeled after the Paris Opera House, The National Theater is a symbolic building of San José with its beautiful neoclassical architecture.

The gilded national theater of Costa Rica (Photo: By Volta Montana via bogamagazine.es) (I have read that, the national theater was to be funded by a tax on exported coffee but then a general tax was imposed, meaning all Costa Ricans helped to cover its construction costs. (qcostarica.com))

There are statues by Italian and Costa Rican artists at the lobby of the National Theater, famous for its ceiling murals. The ceiling painting seen above named as ‘Allegory of the Coffee and the Bananas‘ is well-known in Costa Rica (Photos: qcostarica.com (left) / ticotimes.net (right))

The auditorium / U.S. President John F. Kennedy at the national theater during his official visit to Costa Rica, March 18, 1963 (Photos: qcostarica.com)

I read in the same article I saw Alma de Café’s photo that Hotel Presidente in San José, a historical hotel with a rooftop bar, was named after by the famous visit by President Kennedy in 1963. It says in the article (Food and Travel, February/March 2019 issue):
“Forget Costa Rica’s glitzy coastal restaurants and make a beeline for the energetic district of Escalante in capital San José – a barrio that has been taken over by a new breed of chefs …”

Mercado Escalante, an open-air market with stalls featuring wood-fired pizzas or Costa Rican tacos, in the district of Escalante, San José (Photo: forbes.com.mx) / ‘Azotea Calle 7‘, the rooftop bar/restaurant of Hotel Presidente, San José (Photo: hotel-presidente.com)

The same article says that San José is not a place of elegant cafe terraces but mostly ‘soda’s, the traditional cheap popular eating places of Costa Rica. The sodas’ little tables and counters are said to serve big bowls of gallo pinto (rice and beans), olla de carne (a pot of stew) or casado (meal using rice, black beans, salad, tortilla and meat). Big cantina-style bars and farmers’ markets are also popular in the city along with newly opened chef locations. (Food and Travel, No.214)

Soda Tapia, a suggested soda in San José. Soda are best places to try Costa Rican local food (Photo: qcostarica.com) / Chef-owner Santiago Fernández of the restaurant Silvestre, serving high-end modern food in a period house in Barrio Amón, very close to Barrio Escalante. (Photo: larepublica.net)

It is said that Barrio Amón is a neighborhood full of late 19th- and early 20th-century houses mostly built for coffee barons (nytimes.com). Former houses of coffee grower high bourgeois families in the Barrio Escalante (district of Escalante) is also mentioned in the article in ‘Food and Travel’ as being turned into new-end chef places. “Silvestre“, “Isolina“, “Rávi Gastropub“, “Park Café“, “Al Mercat“, “La Criollita” and “La Esquina de Buenos Aires” are suggested for their food options and unique styles.

‘Isolina‘ in Escalante barrio, San José / Owners of ‘Isolina’ (Photos: larepublica.net)

The vegetarian ‘Rávi Gastropub‘ (Photo: wescover.com) and Argentinian steak house and bar ‘La Esquina de Buenos Aires‘ both in Escalante barrio of San José (Photo: qcostarica.com)

Alma de Café is one of the few elegant cafes in the city. Its beautiful neoclassical architecture is in harmony with the National Theater it is located in. Its ceilings are also decorated like the ones in the theater.

The marble floors, long draped curtains, antique chandeliers and ceiling murals and the sculptures near the windows of the cafe create a romantic and a cosy atmosphere. I also liked the wood carved coffee stand of the cafe. A chic and a warm place for coffee gatherings …

Four photos above: Alma de Café (cafebritt.com)

The coffee shop is specialized in Costa Rican coffee with an extensive coffee menu and a lunch menu serving a wide selection of crepes, salads, sandwiches as well as wines. It is said to offer the best of the national cuisine including fresh breads and handmade pastries. Their speciality desserts include pecan pie, carrot cake and 4 layer chocolate cake. (teatronacional.go.cr, cafebritt.com)

Coffee and sweets at Alma de Café (Photos: cafebritt.com)

I also noted “Cafeoteca”, a cute cafe which has a wide variety of coffees, and “Café Miel Costa Rica”, a small cafe famous for its ‘empanadas‘, a pastry that is filled with cheese, meat, vegetables, or eggs with rice and beans. (theculturetrip.com)

“Cafeoteca” in San José, that serves coffee from different coffee-growing regions in Costa Rica using multiple brewing methods. (Photo: spurge.com)

Empanadas (Photo: ticotimes.net) (All over Latin America, empanadas (turnovers) are eaten for breakfast, lunch, dinner or as a snack.) / Tempting Sweets at “Cafe Miel Costa Rica” (Photo: tripadvisor.in)

Coming back to Alma de Café …

Alma de Café, through the gates at The National Theater’s Entrance Hall (Photo: lateja.cr)

A view from inside Alma de Café (Photo: cawseys.com.au)

The elegant coffee shop in which the photo that I mentioned at the beginning and that inspired me to write this post was taken …

I liked the photo not only for the cosy elegant interior it is taken in but also for the sense that it very well reflects the “pure vida” lifestyle, that is all over Costa Rica. ‘Pura Vida‘, which I had also mentioned in my former post “Costa Rica – The Rich Coast“, is the famous salutation and the philosophy of life of the Costa Ricans meaning ‘pure life’ – signifying living a slow, relaxed and a happy life. Pura vida is also about celebrating life and being aware of the moment.

I share the photo again below:

Having coffee at Alma de Café (Photo: (Shot by my mobile-phone from Food and Travel magazine, No.214)

In the photo, people, probably friends, are sitting around a cafe table drinking coffee and chatting – the moment is reflected so well in the photo that you feel that they do enjoy their coffee and the nice chat, thinking nothing else and living the pura vida. The elegance and arts evident in the place where they chat, such as the chic curtain by their side or the beautiful female figure statue witnessing their chat, makes the moment even more beautiful. When I looked at the photo, I personally wanted to have coffee there and to join in that intimate conversation…

(Photo: lateja.cr)

I think it would be nice to try a gallo pinto or casado at a soda or a gastropub or watch over the neighborhoods of San José from the historic ‘Hotel Presidente’s rooftop bar having a drink, and drink a good coffee at the elegant cosy ‘Alma de Café’.

You can of course also, in a warm-weather mood, opt for the jolly coastal bars or the eco-lodges that I had mentioned in my former Costa Rica post, but the weather is still cool and rainy over here. Perfect to have coffee and chat with friends in a cosy cafe – where the warmth and elegance accompany a good coffee and a sincere talk …

Pura Vida!