Valpo Eats

I'm sitting here reading the NYT and what do I come across? An article entitled "Tastes of Newly Fashionable Valparaiso Chile"

The restaurants she writes about are:

Poblenou

Pasta e Vino

Cafe Vinilo

La Concepcion

SaborColor

Delicatessen Emporio

Le Filou de Montpellier

We went to Delicatessen Emporio - literally last night and as mentioned in the article we shared the ginger and coconut infused creme brulee. Last week on date night we ended up going to a Thai place, but we first went to Pasta e Vino where they wouldn't seat us (despite an empty restaurant) because we didn't have a reservation- we want to try it before we leave - even with that icy reception. We are friends with Phillipe from Le Filou, he is like a neighbor, we see him almost everyday, Sylvain and Phillipe will share a smoke with our friend Vincent who just left a waiting tables there to become a city tour guide (we hear tips at Le Filou are good right now and this might have been premature- but we both know, when you're done serving, your done serving). Cafe Vinilo is another place we're locals at, we mostly take a coffee or get a glass of wine, but they have really good food too- we've just had the tapas, but they were delicious. All of these places except for Le Filou are overpriced and you won't see many (any?) locals. Our dinner at Delicatessen (where we were the only dinners until just before we left when another couple came in) was around $70, we had dinner (not American portions mind you) a bottle of wine and shared a dessert- needless to say we don't eat out often- we can't afford to. And personally I have a difficult time reconciling the fact I could get a better meal in NYC (the food is good here- a 6 or 7, lets say- but I'm never raving) for the same or a little less- but the truth is, we can't stay in every night, and sometimes you pay for the fact you're getting out and sharing a meal with someone you enjoy spending time with. The problem here lies in the fact that there is no in between- it's either Manhattan prices or McDonalds i.e. completos and a can of Coke.