Santiago's very own revolving restaurant.

There is something very modernist about the whole revolving restaurant thing: a 60s/70s international style fad that has just about survived into the 21st-century. You can imagine Augusto Pinochet, fresh from one of his shopping trips to London, asking Santiago's city planners to come up with something that could replicate the GPO Tower dining experience.

Bizarrely, my main course at the Giratorio was like a Chilean riff on fish'n'chips: battered conger eel and a fried egg and chips. Not bad actually. And the wine was, as you'd expect in Chile, excellent.

Unlike with some revolving restaurants I have visited, the Giratorio building itself does not move, instead the restaurant is on a kind of giant turntable inside a rectangular steel and glass structure. With mountains on all sides, the 90-minute journey around Santiago is a picturesque and contemplative experience. Can the Muzak though please, guys.

Av. 11 de Septiembre 2250, Piso 16; nearest metro: Estacion Los Leones; tel: 232 1827/251 5789;
www.restaurantgiratorio.cl

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A sprawling two-storey bar that looks like a junk shop, Goupil le Fol is a favourite place for first dates, thanks to its battered, but comfortable sofas, and its many nooks and crannies. Also known for its range of delicious flavoured wines (blackcurrant, raspberry, nut, etc). A bulwark against the increasing homogenisation of city centre nightlife.

22 Violetstraat/Rue de la Violette 22; Tel: 2 511 13 96

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With 420 different cachacas to choose from, this bar/restaurant is able to satisfy the most demanding of students of Brazil’s national spirit. And for neophytes, the knowledgeable bar staff will happily design a program that takes you from the mildest to the strongest cachaca in four increasingly drunken steps. Passing that exam was a pleasure, although my memories of the graduation ceremony are a little hazy.

Rua Iaiá, 83 – Itaim, São Paulo – SP; tel: 11 3167 0461; www.sergioarno.com.br

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The Miami Design Preservation League organizes some excellent tours of the art deco area in South Beach.

www.mdpl.org/

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