The Cappucino Kid

Puzzled by the ritual of mate? Just not sure about the legality of coca tea? Had your fill of extraordinary malbecs? If you´re in Buenos Aires, you´re in luck. Porteños speak coffee and wouldn´t be caught dead drinking the dreaded Nescafe, let alone something as morally reprehensible as decaf.

They also seem to have a knack for building extravagent surroundings for your daily constitutional. Take for instance the mighty El Ataneo, the operahouse-turned-bookstore that is without peer.

A bookstore to end all bookstores


Refurbished box seats make great places to read

Un cafesito, por favor

Built in 1858, Café Tortoni is another caffeinated institution well worth at least one visit. Artists, authors, and heads of state have all paid Tortoni a visit and its storied walls and amiable mozos (waiters) add flavor to any of the many drinks on offer.

Inside the famed café

The old master himself (a regular)

Another old master; perhaps he's been working there since Borges stopped by

Z with Borges

No, it´s not a privatised club for intellectuals but a state of mind for all those who refuse to submit to the way our world is run. ...

--The Style Council