The Best Ajiaco Santafereño and the Home Recipes That Santa Fe Restaurante Brings to a Global Standard

Walking through Bogotá’s historic center is a return to the point where the country first began telling its own story. Unlike museums and heritage sites that narrate history through architecture or politics, Colombia can also be understood from the table. Santa Fe Restaurante brings the country’s most beloved national dishes into the realm of international cuisine, without losing sight of Colombia’s vast—and still underexplored—gastronomic heritage.

What exists inside this architecturally protected house, in the heart of the city, is closer to a long-term cultural project than a conventional restaurant. It is dedicated to researching and disseminating culinary traditions, from the most widely recognized to those that many Colombians themselves still do not identify as their own. More than thirty years of work come together here: research, technique and a firm belief that Colombian cuisine has the potential to measure up to global standards—and to drive a form of gastronomic tourism that moves beyond clichés.

To prove this, the restaurant’s concept is built around dismantling the false dichotomy between traditional cooking and fine dining. Both registers coexist in a kitchen that preserves recognizable aromas and the original names of certain dishes, while highlighting bearers of tradition and shared culinary imaginaries—bringing them to the diner in an unforced, natural way.

At the same time, culinary techniques are not used as an excuse to “elevate” the familiar, but as tools to control portions, reduce waste, and prepare each dish to order. This sustainable approach is known as slow food. As the name suggests, dishes take time because they need time. Iconic preparations like ajiaco are cooked per order, challenging the popular belief that Colombian cuisine requires cooking in large quantities “so there’s enough left for calentao.” Precision portions are possible without sacrificing depth or flavor.

Here, sustainability is not a buzzword attached to business management: it is applied directly in the kitchen through made-to-order preparation, minimal waste, and controlled sourcing.

A Passion for Finding the Most Authentic Recipes

What truly sets Santa Fe apart from most restaurants labeled as “traditional” is not only its rotating menu, but the method by which that menu is built.

Each dish is the result of in-depth regional research. Periodically, the team selects a region of the country to visit, where they speak with locals and ask about lesser-known preparations—tracing recipes recommended by the people who actually live there, because they are the true custodians of their territory and culinary culture. Once there, they cook together and learn directly from gastronomic tradition bearers: individuals who have passed recipes down from generation to generation.

In many large-city food scenes, reinterpretation ends up erasing origins and creating artificial distance between the diner and the dish. Here, the opposite happens. Recipes are credited and anchored to their regions. The restaurant functions as a living archive—one that also feeds those who arrive in the capital seeking a curated experience of Colombia through food.

Because the menu is itinerant, the restaurant cannot guarantee that a dish will return the following season. Availability depends both on harvest cycles and on the region being highlighted at the time. If you are looking for a specific or emblematic dish, chances are you will find it—but it is not unusual for it to be temporarily unavailable. In any case, the menu always offers enough alternatives that you will never leave disappointed.

The Best Ajiaco Is Made at Home… and Also at Santa Fe

Ajiaco Santafereño is the restaurant’s most emblematic dish—and also its most revealing. Recognized on multiple occasions as the best ajiaco in Bogotá, this version comes from a family recipe passed down from the mother of one of the founders, Santiago Vargas Pieschacón. He is quick to clarify that while the recipe has been carefully reviewed and refined, it is prepared only when ordered, just as it would be at home—as if it were made just for you.

Its success, however, cannot be explained by nostalgia alone. In professional competitions, the kitchen proved that ajiaco can be prepared from scratch, without waste, in under half an hour. The point was never speed, but legitimacy: demonstrating that the recipe was conceived, designed, and executed under high culinary standards. Santa Fe entered these competitions to show that it could serve its dishes under any standard, anywhere in the world.

A Comforting Atmosphere

Santa Fe can rightly be described as one of the most relevant culinary centers in downtown Bogotá, yet its décor subverts first-time expectations. While the slow food philosophy and international culinary ambition might suggest a formal setting, once inside, guests encounter a warm, comfortable atmosphere that evokes the spirit of a Colombian family home.

There is no rush here. Tables are meant to be lingered over. Once again, slow cooking is key. A meal naturally stretches beyond two hours, following a complete sequence: starters, main courses, drinks, desserts, and digestifs.

Portions are carefully calibrated—generous, yet thoughtful. Flavor and substance are delivered without excess. Hospitality and menu intention aim to nourish both body and mind.

For Travelers: Carefully Curated and Preserved Diversity

For international travelers, Santa Fe functions as a gastronomic embassy. It offers something rare: a coherent, guided introduction to Colombia’s regional diversity within a single experience.

This is not about trying everything. It is about context—recommendations built through conversation, storytelling, and trust.

For those with limited time, tasting menus allow for a controlled immersion. For others, the experience unfolds organically, guided by dialogue.

In Closing

Santa Fe Restaurante does not seek to impress with reinterpretations or leave diners uncertain; it aims to make them think differently about the limits of traditional food and to leave with a new understanding of what it means to eat Colombian cuisine.

It treats Colombian cooking as a field worthy of research, time, and planning in order to deliver exceptional dishes—without stripping them of their warmth or memory. Santa Fe proves that international quality is possible through a proposal that remains deeply rooted in its origins.