This is the classic restaurant of Bogota gastronomy that will be closed for good in the coming days

It is sad to say goodbye to the La Normanda steakhouse located in the center of the capital, a place that became one of the most representative of the historic streets of Bogotá.

Throughout 53 years of operation, since 1968, La Normanda steakhouse represented a lot in Bogota's gastronomy, so it is understandable the sad one reflected in the gaze of Mercedes Juya Patiño, who played the role of cashier for 24 years and is now annoyed by seeing how her work, which was often her home, closes definitely.

“What am I going to do now? ... Where am I going to catch? ... Who is going to give me a job with this crisis?” , Mercedes Juya Patiño lamented, knowing that it would be one of the many members of the country's unemployment figures, although according to the newspaper El Tiempo, due to the decline in sales and the low profitability generated by the blows of the pandemic, it meant the imminent end of the La Normand a steakhouse.

Currently Mercedes, together with her co-worker Gloria Alexandra Rivera, arrive daily at the premises to accompany her boss Rafael Cárdenas during the last days of dispossession, these days the remembered 'volleys' on duty where they prepared countless dishes to the diners of the capital city center, now the last ones are finished off articles from La Normanda to interested spectators and passers-by interested.

Refrigerators, cutlery sets, knives, baskets and different things are on display to top it off, all accompanied by absolute silence produced by the nostalgia of the departure and the previous sale of the sound of La Normanda.

The restaurant only remains to dismantle the bars of the bar, while grills, cupboards, stoves and so on have already been removed from the place that so often served diners.

About the closure of the restaurant, Rafael Cárdenas indicated that it occurred due to the sequel of the pandemic, but also several situations such as the growing insecurity in the center and the transfer of its regular customers: “The furore of La Normanda reached its peak until the beginning of 2000. From then on his descent began. Several factors influenced. The center was no longer the same, insecurity increased, and our copious clientele was diminishing. I am talking about many diners from companies close to our restaurants, such as Telecom, Caracol Radio, Sutatenza, Inravisión, RTI, Estudios Gravi, Bavaria, among others, who moved to different parts of the city,” he told the newspaper El Tiempo.

The closing of the restaurant is not only seen as if the service of a simple restaurant ceases to function, diners and inhabitants of the area regret the fact, stating that it is a part of Bogotá's gastronomy and history that will go into oblivion.

“The closing of La Normanda is a duel for all of us who have frequented it for years... We spend a large part of our lives here. At eight o'clock in the morning, one was already tasting the first coffee. It was the best place to chat, to fix the country, as we said, or to eat tasty. Of my favorite dishes, chicken in the basket. Its end is very sad, but that is life... what are we going to do to it,” Jairo Medina, 73 years old, told El Tiempo, who identified himself as the oldest diner in La Normanda and as one of those who will miss the place the most.

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