Things That Make You Forget

Believe it or not, I found places in Curitiba that made me all about forget my longing for Starbucks and local coffee hangouts from home. Well, with the tiny exception of to-go cups, I guess.

I stumbled upon many places that I could spend hours in reading, eating and drinking coffee. Oh, they had free wifi too. Bring on the laptop!

To prevent a ridiculously long post, I’ve narrowed it down to two favorites.

This is an amazing little French bakery that was suggested to us. The croissants were more authentic than anything I have had in Brazil before. I have yet to go to France, but they were very similar to the ones I’ve had in other European cities.

Something interesting we haven’t seen before was that they brought the coffee to the table in mini-carafes. It was almost like getting free refills. Here is our spread with the little coffee carafe.

You might be wondering what that delicious looking, powdered-sugar thing is. That, my friend, is my absolute favorite pastry and I found in it Brazil - the almond croissant!

I can’t say it beat the best I’ve had at Anker in Vienna, but it was darn close to the Mozart Croissant there. It was almost as good as the one I get back home at a local bakery as well.

If the place had been closer to the hotel I would have walked there every day we were in Curitiba. It is probably a good thing it wasn’t. I don’t think those buttery, sweet, almond beauties are meant to be at the base of my food guide pyramid.

Late in the trip I also received a tip for a local café near our hotel. We get lots of tips from my husband’s coworkers, by the way.

I walked into to Lucca and could have fallen over. I know, that is dramatic, but you just can’t understand until spend months away from comfortable, cozy coffee shops. I like the cafes in Brazil, but many of them are more like cafeterias than an oasis for relaxation and reading.

Lucca was completely different.

It was three stories of modern coffee shop with an industrial, yet comfortable feel. There were tables inside and out. I was amazed to see couches and relaxing loungers for reading. There was even a little bookstore inside. This is what I have missed!!

To top it off they sold their own coffee beans. I opened the first page of the menu and almost squealed with excitement. They had cafe lattes and cappuccinos – the real kind.

What I mean by the real kind is that this was the best of two worlds – rich Brazilian coffee prepared in the traditional Italian ways. The cappuccino wasn’t sweetened with cocoa powder or topped with whipped cream. The coffee art was a nice touch too.

I noticed on the walls that they were voted Best in Curitiba from 04-07 and the menu boasted awards for several blends of their coffee.

Starbucks, what Starbucks? I can barely remember it after my trip to Curitiba.

In fact, I hear they are putting one in the city at some point. With the exception of the occasional to-go cup, I feel if I lived here I would probably frequent these local places more often.

Shocking, I know.