Café Galeria

A Luxury Coffee House in Poços de Caldas

This a Coffee House in Poços de Caldas that is both luxurious and historic. It was built in 1894, one of three houses built for three sisters. This one has since been acquired by a bank, restored as an Art Gallery and Coffee Shop. There is also a cinema in the basement. The predominent colours are blue and white.


Two of the houses were built the same. This one is only a block away and the predominant colours are red and white but the architecture is identical. It is still occupied by descendants of the original owner.


The original third house was not the same as the other two because that sister was handicapped and could not climb stairs. So it was only one story high and it has since been torn down and replaced by a modern style home.


This is the uninteresting entrance to the gallery on the street behind the Café Galeria.



When you go through the gallery you come to the entrance to this beautiful old house.




The patio.




The gardens are lovely even in winter. These are two bushes of extremely rare Pink Camelias, planted there when the house was built.




These two Pink Camelias are on the patio.




This bush has two colours of flower on it.




Here is a close up. It is called manaca.




There are a few beautiful Bird of Paradise around the property.



The architecture is marvellous. Notice the fine iron work on the door. Above the door is the year the house was built. In the middle of the door are the initials of the three sisters.




When they restored the door on this house they liked it so much they recreated life size duplicates on either side the original door.




Here is what the other house door looks like. The iron work is identical to the Blue House.




This is one of the original hardwood floors from 1894.




The ceiling is all original, except for the gallery lights, of course.




All the doors and windows are original or very painstakingly restored.




Most rooms in the house are used as an art gallery. Some have tables and chairs for coffee.




Judy had a cappuccino and I had a regular coffee. This certainly isn't a Canadian Coffee House. Look how tiny the classic cups are. *SMILE* They are called cafézinho or diminuitive cups.




They have a simple but classic menu.




The prices are much the same as regular coffee houses. But some of the items on the list are rare classics in linw with the tone of the entire coffe house.




These are special cheese buns (pão de queijo) served with jams or honey. Very delicious!




We went back out through the main gallery. It is quite large. There was a special show on with all black and white photographs.




These two photos were a sad commentary on the days only half a century ago when children worked in the coal mines.





If you come to Poços de Caldas this is a "Must See" on your list. The food and coffees are wonderful and the service is elegant.


Photos by Urso Branco