When we decided to visit Cartagena, there were two excellent reasons for the trip, one was to enjoy the bright, beautiful and warm Caribbean Colombian coast, but equally important was for the food. Cartagena has seen a surge of interesting new eateries opening up around the old city and in neighboring Getsemaní. There’s a level of culinary diversity spreading around the city, partly by local restaurateurs opening up new spaces and chefs from Bogota and Medellin expanding into the city for the first time. Californians Rob Pevitt and Carmen Pevitt, who graduated from culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu of San Francisco, opened the restaurant Carmen in Medellin in 2011 and it quickly became one of the most popular eateries in that city for their fusion of Asian/California/Colombian ingredients and techniques. In early 2013 they opened a second restaurant in Cartagena, on the ground floor of the Anandá Hotel Boutique in the picturesque courtyard. There was a problem with our reservation but they kindly seated us anyway. This was the best food by far that we had in Cartagena. [Read more…]