Café Gaúcho in Rio De Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Restaurant

This classic botequin is in downtown Rio de Janeiro. It opens to a busy street corner, making the most of the cityâ??s joyful culture and tropical air. Commuters step off the sidewalk to the cashier, offering a few coins in exchange for a chit, which they then take to the coffee counter. The counter is a circular island where patrons stand, a typical arrangement that is said to have been invented here. A man in a crisp white shirt stands in the center, working a stainless steel contraption of pipes and tanks, one tank for coffee and one for milk, kept warm by a bath of hot water. Cups and saucers steep in the water too, and after he takes the chit, the operator opens a steel door and pulls out a set, placing it, wet, on the stone countertop. Then he fills a stainless steel pitcher with dark, steaming coffee from a tap at the base of the tank, and with a fluid motion, splashes it into the tiny cup for your enjoyment at Café Gaúcho.