A Fine Meal at Tiesto's

Months ago Kim Stafford told me that his colleague Joanne Mulcahy was spending the spring semester in Ecuador and that I ought to try to connect with her while I'm here. Well, unfortunately we just missed each other. She and her husband had to fly home the day after we got here. But having spent months in Cuenca she had a lot of helpful suggestions that she emailed to me. One was about her favorite restaurants, Tiesto's and La Maiz. Daniel and I decided to try to have dinner at Tiestos last night. It's just a few blocks from our hostal. We had no idea how popular it is. Turns out, eating there is the rated as the #1 thing to do in Cuenca on lonelyplanet.com.

We really needed a reservation for Saturday night, but they were very accomodating when we got there at 6:30 and let us sit at one end of a table set for 10 with an 8 pm reservation. The owner and chef came out and greeted us and suggested some specialties. They serve a dinner for 4 for around $50. This is considered high-end in Cuenca. They split the cost for two. We ordered a lomo (beef) dish with a mushroom and bacon sauce and splurged on a $25 bottle of Chilean Cabernet. The chef brought the steak to the table with a flourish. It came with traditional Ecuadorian sides and lot of interesting sauces and chutneys to go with. Delicious. I agree that you shouldn't visit Cuenca and not have a meal at Tiesto's. Here is more about Tiesto's. The owner/chef Juan Carlos could be a double for Adam Richman ("Man vs. Food").