Salvo Patria

Salvo Patria calls itself a neighbourhood bistro with sustainable Colombian cooking, and it is aimed at an unhurried lunch or dinner rather than a special-occasion splurge. The restaurant emphasises local ingredients, small producers and traceability, and it describes its dining room as a space where people can talk without rushing. Its coffee bar grew from the same principles as the kitchen, with good-origin coffee and the same respect for local products.

The menu changes, but dishes featured on the restaurant's website show the range: red snapper cooked over coals with a coastal cassava mash, free-range pork with demi-glace and chimichurri, green chorizo with a cacay-nut mole, sweetcorn agnolotti with ant butter, and Angus brisket cooked for 16 hours with a purée of toasted white corn. Vegetarians have options such as a barley dish cooked like risotto with mushrooms and crisp oyster mushrooms. The signature dessert is the Milhoja de la Patria.

Reservations can be made online through the booking link on the restaurant's website. The site publishes its opening hours as an image, so check them there before setting out. The website also carries posts about special events and promotions, so it is worth a look before you go. Booking is sensible for dinner and weekend lunches, when this part of Chapinero gets busy. The format suits couples, friends and small groups who want to share several plates and stay for coffee afterwards.

Salvo Patria is a good middle ground between the city's traditional lunch places and its tasting-menu restaurants: the ingredients and ideas are just as Colombian, but the setting is relaxed and you choose dishes à la carte. It suits travellers who are staying several days in Bogotá and want a dependable local favourite as well as one or two big nights out.

The bistro is on Carrera 4 Bis at Calle 58 in Chapinero, close to Afluente, Mini-Mal and Humo Negro, and within reach of the cafés and bars of the wider Chapinero district. Taxis and ride-hailing apps are the easiest way to get there. Combine an afternoon visit with coffee at the bar, or start an evening here before moving on to a bar in Chapinero.