The area the café currently occupies was previously the location of the
Templo Escocés ("
Scottish Temple"), and the
Tortoni was located on the corner of Rivadavia and Esmeralda. In 1880 it moved to its present location, but had its entrance on the other side of the block in Rivadavia Street. In 1898 the entrance on Avenida de Mayo was opened, and the facade was redesigned by architect
Alejandro Christophersen. At the end of the 19th century, the café was bought by another Frenchman, Celestino Curutchet. In the basement,
La Peña (see
peña) was established in 1926, which fomented the protection of the arts and literature until its disintegration in 1943. Among its visitors were
Alfonsina Storni,
Baldomero Fernández Morenoes,
Juana de Ibarbourou,
Arthur Rubinstein,
Ricardo Vines,
Roberto Arlt,
José Ortega y Gasset,
Jorge Luis Borges,
Molina Campos, and
Benito Quinquela Martín. Over the years the
café has been visited by many renowned people including politicians
Lisandro de la Torre and
Marcelo Torcuato de Alvear, popular idols
Carlos Gardel and
Juan Manuel Fangio, international figures like
Albert Einstein,
Federico García Lorca,
Hillary Clinton,
Robert Duvall and
Juan Carlos de Borbón. Currently the basement works as a stage for
jazz and
tango artists, and for the presentation of book and poetry contests. The
café has conserved the decoration of its early years, has a library and at the back facilities to play
billiards,
dominoes and
dice. == Notable visitors ==