to quote Norman May, "Gold, Gold, Gold"

had

So last meal (given tomorrow's a public holiday due to the population census and I fly at 2) and no pressure given the ordinary eating experiences today.

Having claimed the holy grail of tango shoes, i wanted to celebrate.  Concierge recommended Gualterio Bolivar as a wine bar - they're not....Chef Alejandro Digilio has done time at El Bulli.

I've walked 8 blocks on Concierge's advice, having had a dud lunch (walking away from creamy vegetarian pasta and greasy empanandas) so I'm looking forward to a decent glass of wine and some good tapas.  It's 730ish and the wine bar is shut. so i keep walking down Bolivar and there on the corner is life - Territoro. Two great glasses of malbec, a cheese plate (complete with a great local lavendar goats cheese) and salmon taps for 77 pesos (19 AUD) plus they make a reservation for dinner up the way for me.....



seemed appropriate to find this in the shelves tho only the title is worth reading (the rest of it is a diatribe requiring more than a glass of wine...)

then across to La Vineria de Gualterio Bolivar
a 12 step journey for approx $60 aussie dollars.

Interesting and not always successful pairings (particularly malbec rose with a "sea water, "ravioli" of foie, with seafood salad) but food that makes you thing.  from the 36 hour braised octopus to the sous vide braised pork, while a bit hit and miss, worth trying and applauding



didnt realise organic wine was an option...

favourite = egg bread which was actually deep fried bread with set yolk still runny in the middle, dried olive truffle crumbs, and tart cheese smear

great wine!

choc meringue frozen in liquid nitrogen with sorbet and yoghurt

Mission Accomplished

My last day in Buenos Aires and, despite looking promising, my lunch choice didn't quite deliver.

this is in the street parallel to Defensa just across from the Mercanto in San Telmo.  Dish of the Day 24 pesos (that's 6 dollars) for a choice of 3 (vegetarian) dishes.  The bread, just steaming and crumbly warm out of the oven came with salt and rosemary or an onion topping that must have been marinated in milk to take the sharpness out so that it was still crunchy but very mild.  the dip, a creamy carrot with just a little fennel.  the pasta, a carrot fettucini ( i know, go figure, which is why i chose it coz I didn't think it would work) was lovely and light but drowning in a very creamy and rich 4 cheese sauce.  Given I'd walked BA for four hours this morning, I was quite hungry so decided to abandon a bad choice and give it another go.

 Almost on the corner of Moreno and Defensa, is a great deli.  Lots of great looking cheese and meat but unfortunately my hunger and their opening hours haven't coincided.  They only sell 4 empanadas at a go. Wish I'd had some way of heating them up because they weren't quite right cold (but made for a lovely pic) and were disappointingly greasy even cold.


So, with just a little money still burning a hole in my pocket, I ventured forth to tango shoe heaven.  Lolo Gerard is apparently the place to go.  If you look closely, you can see the smear of my nose pressed against the window.  Went half way across town only to find the shop shut!  Luckily my intrepid cab driver, Ernesto, wasn't about to let a woman cry in anguish of what might have been and he tracked the owner down (who was having lunch a block away) and I bought the white and black shoes which are front and centre (handcrafted shoes for $70!).

So, two wedding proposals later, and yet another attempt to find a classy bar other than a hotel lobby for a drink between 5 and 7, I retreat back to the hotel to caress my shoes, and plan my attack for tonight. 

But first a drink and a good empanada coz, god damn it, my last empanada experience is going to be a good one! my window is open, and the sounds of the street are flooding in, traffic blends with singing (these Portenos sing a lot with vigour anywhere anytime) and tango music, with the occasional peal of church bells.  the curtains just flapping in the gentle breeze.  and then my stomach rumbles so time to go!  Ciao

well that was a no brainer...

so, i finally adapt to the argentinian dining time, venture out for dinner at 11ish and the restaurant in the hotel is shut.... they suggest i walk 5 blocks.  Cafe San Juan is also shut so I decide to go the steak, at one of the best known steakhouses, La Brigada.  It's not too far away but, given I wouldn't walk 7 blocks in Sydney at 11.30 at night, I'm certainly not going to do that here.

Pull up outside in my (radio) taxi and it looks promising.  big groups of well-dressed spanish speakers pouring in, and out.  Unfortunately (perhaps due to Frommers mention) they stick me in the front room with the other english speakers, primarily american business men.....so i rise to the challenge and decide to drink (was that convincing?).  Unfortunately (what a shame), they don't do wine by the glass, just the bottle, so I go for a 140 peso Malbec, DV Catena 2006.

the entire place is like a football mad, teenager's room - footballs, football photos, football banners, football lights. i win brownie points for attending the Racing V River match on sat.  testorone is high so i'm expecting the steak to be good.  order a vitello tonnato (can't remember the spanish), a sirloin, and, just for the hell of it, a mixed salad.  they bring  out home made bread rolls, in fact 3.  For the first time, there's butter instead of that great creme fraiche/quark type spread with pepper corns and herbs.  the bread is good (for someone who doesn't eat bread) but given it's now late and i haven't eaten since our breakfast at 9 (that seems so long ago, my god, i've done the Desigual search to no avail, MALBA, Cafe Torino, and Av de Mayo since then), my head is spinning (ps i only eat a little of 1 roll not the 3!).  entree arrives and is the size of our dining table at home.  it's an argentinian interpretation of the classic ie veal is chunky rather than the delicate slivers and, on top of the tuna mayonnaise, there are anchovies.  good if not very good anchovies (taste like ortiz) but salty.  '

the wine is opening up and i"m rising to the challenge.  it's soft, curvaceous, and just a hint of plum - definitely feminine in a dawn french, all embracing kinda way.

Steak arrives.  I wanted medium rare and this is medium but the meat is well meaty.  think this tops the Mirabel benchmark on the price flavour ratio (60 pesos - that's AUD15 for a generous 400g of steak).  a bit of chimmi churri to spice things up and i'm on my way from misery to happiness .... the salad while simple iceberg, tomato and onion is dressed well, and provides some (albeit delusional) balance to the hunka hunka gorgeous meat in front of me.  i surrender a third of the way through and retire hurt to the bar (given i was sitting in the middle of the room all by myself the bar looked more familiar and comfortable).   the staff then entertain me with wine books, tastes of different vineyards and charades. 

in summary, well worth a visit and ask to sit with the locals not the tourists.....  ps great tango music!

snippets of buenos aires

this is the Paz Palace which is where our Conference wrap dinner was - stunning!

view from the hotel Moreno

you just look up and see architecture like this....

Eva Peron's grave - she's buried with her family not his (interesting)

San Telmo streetscape

San Telmo

San Telmo

Oh no - disappointing meal. don't you hate wasting a meal on "international food"!

 Can you guess what this might be?  Go on, I dare you, stretch your mind above and beyond the more "inventive" dishes you're seen on the invention test on MasterChef.......

one of the more bizarre combinations i've ever eaten but i took the advice of the house and went with the house speciality.  squid ink pasta with "beef ragout" served in a cream sauce.  pasta thick and chewy, "ragout" aspirational, cream sauce was pleasant so I just ate that after trying 1 piece of ravioli

this is the other house special.  Presented as Parmesan Risotto on the menu.  supposedly veal marinated in wine and then braised for hours.  tasted like it was grilled and then drizzled with reduction.  couldn't taste the parmesan (or in fact anything) in the rice which was uncomfortably chewy.  parmesan crisp was nice.



Luckily the company was great and the wine flowed freely.  I raided the mini bar once we got back to the room.  Pringles. Yum!

Number 1 on my list of must have culinary devices - look where we ended up as a result!

 The lobby of the Sheraton is soul less but luckily the Marriott has a great bar (and great martinis).  Even better, the restaurant has a DUCK PRESS!  Ever since watching the pressed duck on the Greatest Dishes in the World, I've wanted to play with one.  The restaurant was almost empty so, given my enthusiasm, I was allowed to play....  and ended up sitting with the one table, collecting their recommendations on best places to eat in Buenos Aires.

here's where we ended up and it was a perfect intro to Parrillas - La Tranquerra.  meat, meat, and then some.  Choice of Beef, goat or lamb.  very salted but tender

As well as some damn fine empanadas and chorizo, i ordered some blood sausage.  It was a lot gooopier (technical term) than i expected almost to the point of being a soup just contained within the skin so that it almost explodes when you pierce the skin.  I managed to eat maybe 2 tablespoons but was well worth the couple of pesos

ahh, yes, that would be my single (gulp) serve....

our first meal in BA - El Mirabel at Puerto Madero

We managed to find the perfect wine for our first drink on Argentinian soil - a gran reserva, round, senusal and welcoming

while the chorizo was spectacular (just spicy enough with a crumbly texture) my choice of grilled tripe was not so successful.  in fact it was a bit like eating rubbery straws

still think this was the best piece of meat so far - and look it's shaped like Australia...tasty and lean which apparently comes from the fact the steer is castrated before he reaches "bullhood"

Puerto Madero from the city side - on the other side lies the port, with converted warehouse after converted warehouse of restaurants, cafes and fast food.  very touristy but worth a look.  we steered clear (no pun intended) of the most oft-referred tourist restaurants mentioned in all the guides and so packed full of non-locals (never a good sign) plus at least double the price

just cause - the style of Eva Peron

it's a wonder there are any cows left in argentina

400 g steak from Las Delicias (52 pesos!) - enough to feed a family of 4 instead of the single serve our waiter insisted we accommodate

800g sirloin (allegedly for 2) La Cabrera - with plentiful and interesting sides (first time we've received anything bar chips!)

this is the inside grill at La Tracoleta - no wonder the average Argentinan hoes through 80kg of meat a year.....

best Buenos Aires empanada so far - Las Delicias (and the malbec was pretty good too...)

Cafe San Juan in San Telmo was a wonderful find

the braised rabbit with polenta was my favourite - crispy wedges of cheesy polenta which added to the delicate rabbit

the gnocchi were the lightest I've ever eaten and the cream based sauce had rich roasted tomatoes and eggplants.  almost enough to turn me vegetarian (but perhaps not in Argentina...)

we had three gnocchis for a table of 8 and barely made a dent in it.  one of those fabulous dishes that fills you without filling you (if you know what i mean)

a range of desserts were ordered - creme brulee, chocolate terrine (here) and a tart passionfruit bavarois which tempted even us non-dessert eaters, and then tempted us some more

Buenos Aires Magic

Am in the process of transferring across previous posts but I am overwhelmed by Buenos Aires.  The architecture, the beauty, the food (OMG the food!) and the wine. 

We've been in BA for just almost a week now and have had some magical food.  Have managed to stumble across some gems - sensational rabbit stew and garlic prawns last night in Cafe San Juan, San Juan 452, in San Telmo;  best empanadas yet at Las Delicias, Quintana 380 stuffed with spicy beef, egg, peas in a flaky flaky pastry; Andeluna Reserva Malbec washing it all down.

Not sure how the Portenos manage to stay as thin as they are given the size of the servings (and it's nigh on impossible to leave any behind right ;))

Havent had a chance to try the pressed duck at the Marriott's Belle Epoque Menu but did get to play with the duck press (all fingers still intact just).  choice now is a nanna nap or an empanada challenge...  wonder which one will win?