Three days exploring Dominican food culture — the Mercado Modelo, a sancocho lesson, the rum culture at Brugal and Barceló, and the restaurant scene in Piantini and Gazcue that the international food press hasn't discovered yet. Dominican cuisine is one of the underrepresented food cultures in the Americas and this itinerary corrects that.
Mesón de Bari is the most consistently excellent Dominican food restaurant in the Colonial Zone — a century-old building with a garden courtyard, serving the full canon of Dominican cuisine. The sancocho (a seven-meat stew with root vegetables and plantains that is the unofficial national dish) is the anchor. Order it with the rice and beans. Affordable by any standard: full lunch for two runs RD$1,200 (~$20 USD).
The Mercado Modelo on Avenida Mella in the Colonial Zone is the largest craft market in the Dominican Republic — three floors of vendors selling Haitian and Dominican art, amber and larimar jewelry (larimar is a blue volcanic stone found only in the DR), Taíno replica carvings, woodwork, and food stalls on the ground level. The food stalls at the back of the ground floor serve the freshest tostones, chicharrones, and fresh coconut water in the city. Go in the morning when the produce vendors are active.
The Museo de Arte Moderno on Plaza de la Cultura is the best visual art museum in the Caribbean — strong permanent collection of 20th-century Dominican painting and sculpture, and regular international exhibitions. Dominican art developed a distinctive visual language responding to the Taíno, African, and Spanish influences of the island's history. The Cándido Bidó paintings and the work of the generation that emerged under the Trujillo dictatorship are the most important holdings. Free on Tuesdays.
The Piantini and Naco neighborhoods in the modern city have the best restaurant density in Santo Domingo. Il Ritrovo for Italian, Jardin de Jade for Cantonese (legitimately excellent), and Meson de la Cava — a restaurant inside an actual cave 15 meters underground with stalactites and a jazz pianist. All three are within 10 minutes of each other.
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