Dinner and what comes after: dinner and dancing in Cartagena under one roof

At seven, as the heat finally loosens its grip, candles are lit against the stone at SLVJ and the light turns amber. A night out in Cartagena usually comes in two parts: dinner and whatever follows. Normally that means settling the bill, hailing a taxi and hoping the next place has room. At SLVJ both parts happen in the same room.

The old habit of the gala night

In Cartagena, dressing for the night is a custom more than a century old. On 11 November 1911, for the centenary of independence, the city opened its Municipal Theatre on the ruins of the old church of La Merced; in 1933 it was renamed Teatro Heredia, and today it also carries the name of the composer Adolfo Mejía. In January 1934 the first Señorita Colombia was crowned here, and every November since, the national beauty pageant and the Independence festivities have filled the city with evening gowns, drums and dance troupes.

Not even the Nobel escaped the rule. When Gabriel García Márquez received the prize in Stockholm in December 1982, he asked to be accompanied by musicians from Colombia's Caribbean coast, Totó la Momposina among them, and for one night Swedish solemnity had drums and cumbia.

Elegant dinner first, then the party: in Cartagena, the order is almost an institution.

I · Before

A drink by the fire

If you arrive early, Kanibal, in the same house, serves Monday to Saturday from noon to midnight. A drink by the fire before the feast is a good way to begin.

II · 7 pm

First, the feast

SLVJ opens for dinner at 7 pm. Stone, velvet and amber light; a sushi bar to open the night. It's a long dinner, the kind that takes its time. See the SLVJ menu.

III · After

The room lights up

Thursday to Saturday, once dinner winds down, the room lights up. The music rises on a Funktion-One sound system and the club runs until 3 am. No need to move: your dinner table becomes the starting point of the night.

It's what the coast has always done. The first champeta dances, in Cartagena's neighbourhoods, were called "therapy": the place where your troubles stayed on the dance floor. SLVJ's therapy is better dressed, but the principle is the same.

Epilogue

How to book

• For dinner: book your table online or on WhatsApp.
• For the club: ask for a club table; Thursday to Saturday it's the way to secure your spot when the room fills.
• Special dates: Halloween, omakase and limited-seat parties are announced first to the guest list.