Caitlin and I headed to one of the largest malls in the city called Alto Las Condes. Chileans do malls similarly to the way we do, but perhaps a little bigger and more upscale. In any event, there was a place called Gatsby's Buffet and Cafe. We're talking a cross pollination of Old Country Buffet, The Cheesecake Factory, and a Chophouse. You could choose your type and cut of meat...then have it grilled in front of you. Full selection of other grilled vegetables and assorted items, pizza, a hot table with various fish, potato, casserole stuff. The other side of the room had different pasta salads, appetizers, sushi, and desert. Desert was the kicker with a full selection of pastries, cakes, fresh fruit, and ice cream. To top that off, there was a standalone crepe station with all the fixings and a well uniformed attendant. As I approached this guy and asked how it all worked, he gave me the classic 16 year old dead stare. Only upon further coaxing did he finally grunt out some basic descriptions of what he could make for me. Wearing a chef coat with the words "Gatsby's Culinary Team" emblazoned on the front, I thought to myself as he prepared my chocolate, raspberry, banana crepe....."Teenage food-service help is the same in every country!"
The Chileans so love their sugar... that we saw a couple at the next table drinking out of HUGE glasses of fruit juice while eating their plate of SIX pieces of cheesecake. Now each piece was easily 2x what you might normally picture The table beyond them had one of those over-sized margarita glasses filled up to the brim with ice cream, toppings, desert sticks and shaved chocolate. It's really a wonder that there aren't more overdoses!
We finished our night in the mall with a 3+ hour adventure(painfully full from dinner) in JUMBO, or what they call a 'Hipermercado. This store is a super walmart on steroids. Not only is it just as large, but the quality is out of this world. From a full butchers shop, cheese emporium, bakery and deli...to the department store sections that included fine tablewares, high end cookery, and sprinting track shoes in the sporting goods department. This place was massive, impressive, and suffocating at the same time. There were people everywhere! At no time were you able to just walk down an isle without doing an imitation of the Olympic slalom.
Burned out, we hopped on a bus headed back home finally collapsed after storing up what looks like provisions for a serious winter here in our small kitchen.
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