Valparaiso Customs House was created in 1820, an important port building that promoted local economy. To this day it remains the oldest institutional construction in the port city, and that is why the area has been known as "La Aduana" since that time.
Steps away from that emblematic building there is an elegant cafeteria that, in addition to offering an extensive menu, is located inside a heritage building. We are talking about Cafe Aduana. Susana Contreras, its owner, welcomes us in her beautiful premises to tell us a little about the history of her business.
- Susana, tell us how did Cafe Aduana come about?
"My daughter, who is an architect, presented us with the project of some lofts that had been renovated and together with my husband we bought one of those apartments, and below us, there was Cafe Blanco, which closed, so it caught our attention and I bought it. At first the place was going to be called Café 25 because of the numbering of the street but then I liked Cafe Aduana, I found that it sounded better, besides it is located in the customs area".
- The cafe is located in the historic center of the city, what does it mean for you to have the cafe here?
"It is a challenge to have this cafe in this sector, we decided to settle here, precisely because of the importance of this area and because we saw the need, here there are many fishmongers, seafood stalls but there is no place where people can come to talk quietly, to eat a nice pastry, to have a coffee, a beer, a pizza, to eat a dessert, a delicious cake because there is nothing like it around, besides when my husband was a child he always came on vacation to Valparaíso and his grandparents were porteños, so he always liked this city to live and to start a business".
- What is so special about Cafe Aduana? Why should it be visited by porteños and tourists?
"Cafe Aduana is a cafe that is inside a heritage building, people do not imagine the importance of having a coffee in a sector with so much history, it is also a very nice place, nice, clean and very original, everyone takes pictures when they enter the cafeteria, there is good service and quality, also the space is created for meetings, events and receptions. Along with this we have local and handmade pastries and we have a menu that is very interesting, because we have creams that nobody else has, our chef makes them, he prepares natural creams from different vegetables, then we have a menu that consists of a cream, a natural juice and many salads, so here you can eat tasty, healthy but very abundant, that is our characteristic, the natural".
- Valparaíso has been affected by the port revolt, then by the social outbreak and finally by the pandemic. How did you reinvent yourselves and how has Phase 4 benefited you?
"The cafe has been open for three years, but in reality, a year or a year and a half, in the pandemic we were closed for 9 months and since December last year we started with deliveries, however in phase 4 the reception has been super good, very good, at first it was difficult because we had to do a lot of delivery and it was a little difficult, but since June people began to come, limits on number of people gathering in one place were increased, then, much more people began to come".
Cafe Aduana is open from Monday to Friday from 09.00 to 18.30 hours and from November it will be open until 21.00 hours.
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