Sharing Plate – Your Cooking Coach |

We made our way to Palermo which is another section of Buenos Aires that is quite popular with tourists. As I mentioned in the previous post, this area is filled with restaurants, boutiques and very trendy bars and cafes. Each block is lined with tons of them. It is a feast for the eyes.. one doesn’t know where to go. We had our fill of grilled steak, etc and were looking for something different. We found a Vietnamese, Thai fusion restaurant in our area called Sudestada. We unpacked and explored the area.. but before we left our room, we looked up the restaurant and the menu. We reached the spot and discovered it doesn’t open till 8.30.. wow, really? We, in America are not used to that… but we wanted to try their food so badly that we waited and had a drink while our daughter ate her dinner (she wasn’t willing to wait that long for food).

Well, the food was worth the wait. I had a whole fish cooked in tamarind sauce and washed it down with a delicious mango cocktail- yum! Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera.

The next day, we walked to a charming cafe called Pani. I had an omelet and cafe con leche. My daughter had a delicious cinnamon bun and fruit salad. I later looked up this cafe and people online were talking about their unbelievable cinnamon buns. We had a delicious croissant filled with ham and cheese. This place also serves afternoon tea, lunch and dinner. We will be back there tomorrow.

We researched lunch as well and found a place called La Fabrica del taco. They are famous for the taco al pastor. I had a taco and a margarita. The decor was colorful and very eclectic. The whole experience was great. We walked around some more and came back to our hotel and chilled a bottle of sparkling rose! Delicious! Will report back on dinner at Azema cafe. The place does not have a website and it is supposed to be a very eclectic place to eat as it is a combination of French and African cuisines.    

We have been staying in the Recoleta area for the past 4 days. It is an upscale neighborhood filled with very fancy stores and boutiques. We have walked around and really enjoyed the area. We have eaten in mostly Argentine restaurants and have enjoyed the steak and the wine. My daughter has been devouring the gelato, which is everywhere. Speaking of gelato, there is a big Italian influence here. We have yet to try an Italian restaurant- looking forward to it in the next few days.

The steaks or grilled meats are usually served on their own or with fries. One can order a side or an appetizer with the meal. I love fries but try to stay away from them.. but it is very hard to do so here.. especially because they are served with every meal. I am trying to be good but not so good when it comes to the vino! It is everywhere and it is super cheap. The house wines or any label one orders is delicious. I have been indulging in mostly Malbecs but also the white variety called Torrentes. There is a lot of Sauvignon Blancs and sparkling wines as well. I am trying to be on a mostly liquid diet with a sprinkle of steak, etc. We went to a highly rated restaurant where I had baby goat. It was deliciously grilled but the problem was that they only served the ribs- so I didn’t get a whole lot of meat.. I guess more wine for me!

Day 5 we went for lunch to a place called El Sanjuanino. We had passed by there a few times and didn’t think much of it.. until I read about it. It serves the best empanadas in the city! Well, we had to go… and we did. They were delicious. My daughter had a place of spaghetti and bolognese sauce which was delicious as well. We had a pitcher of rose wine and had a great time… After lunch we packed up and made our way to Palermo- which is another interesting neighborhood in Buenos Aires. Will report from there tomorrow…

Day two started with a trip to the museum. It is walking distance to our hotel and best of all, it was free. It was not too big- just the right size for me.. it had a great selection of art. We spent about an hour in there and then saw a double decker bus that toured around the city. We got on to see the entire city- it was huge!!
We got off at La Boca which is a fairly poor area. It’s cobblestoned streets are lined with tango dancers and live music. Lots of cafes and restaurants are there as well. We had lunch and walked around a bit. We returned exhausted to our room to rest up for the main event of the day- dinner at Casa Felix, which is a closed door restaurant here in Buenos Aires. One has to call or email to make reservations about a month in advance. I got in touch with the chef a year ago and he asked me to get in touch with them closer to our trip. I was super excited about this meal as it is all farm to table. I also love the idea of going to someone’s home and eating a delicious meal.
We got there at 9.30- yup.. that was a little late, especially since we took our 9 year old daughter was with us. Anyway, we walked into a open style home with a courtyard near the entrance. Tables were set up there and other people were in a little garden off the kitchen. They war all drinking a lemon verbena drink (verbena was growing in the garden) and munching on fontina cheese wrapped in chayote leaves (chayote was growing in the garden as well!)

After a while we sat down to a delicious Bolivian peanut soup. Cumin and chili infused oil introduced a nice kick to it. I ordered a flight of wine to complement the dinner. All the wines were delicious.

The next course was some sautéed baby potatoes that tasted like beets. It was served with a homemade ketchup with a side of fresh picked greens, herbs and flowers.

Next was a watermelon and mint granita with a hint of tandoori masala. It was a great palette cleanser.
The main course was a chimichurri encrusted sea bream with sautéed green beans, pine mushroom and garlic confit. It was delicious.
We ended the meal with plums and caramelized figs in a jasmine and honey soup with cinnamon ice cream.

All in all, it was an amazing experience. My only regret- it was quite late when we finished and my daughter was exhausted.. but we couldn’t have made it without her.. but I guess it was okay as we all slept in the next morning…

We have been looking forward to this trip for almost a year now- that is how long ago we booked it. I can’t believe it is finally here. For me, the anticipation of the trip is far sweeter than the trip itself, especially if the anticipation is almost a year long. The getting here part is a bit long. We took a flight to Dallas which was around 3 hours. We had a night flight from Dallas airport to Buenos Aires. We got to Dallas around dinner time with about an hour to spare. I immediately started looking for a bbq place to eat. My husband wanted to wait for the airplane food.. not sure why. I will do anything not to eat that crap. Anyway, after a very satisfying pulled pork platter we settled down for our flight to Buenos Aires. Ten hours of flying time later, we reached our destination. As we got off the plane, my first impression were the smells. Every country has a different smell. This one smelled like home- India. It had the same hustle and bustle feel with lots of people rushing around. Even my daughter who has only been a couple of times, commented on how much it all reminded her of India. As we pulled out of the airport and drove towards the main area, everything looked familiar. Who knew the Paris of South American looked liked Delhi, India?? As we approached the city, it started looking more European with little cafes lined on every block.

While we were still on the plane and getting close to our destination, we were served breakfast. My husband was happy to eat the croissant, etc. I had one bite and decided to wait for some airport food. After getting our luggage we found a little cafe serving pastries, sandwiches and coffee. I ordered a pastry that resembled a croissant but was round and had jam in the middle. Cappuccinos for the adults and hot chocolate for the minor. The hot chocolate came in two parts. A cup of steamed milk with a small bar of chocolate. I took the wrapper off and added it to the warm milk.. in no time it started to melt and turn into a delicious hot chocolate. The cappuccino was delicious and so was my pastry. It was a like a sweet, dense croissant with delicious jam inside. It was the perfect first meal to welcome us into this lovely city.

We don’t have a whole lot planned for ourselves other than walking around, enjoying the delicious wine and beef. We do have reservations tomorrow night at a back door restaurant. It is where one goes to dine at a chef’s house or backyard. The food is farm to table. I am really looking forward to the meal. It should be a very different experience.. stay tuned…

This recipe is a play on the popular warm spinach salad. It is typically made with bacon. You start off by cooking some bacon down; taking the bits out and using the warm fat for salad dressing.

I used pancetta instead of bacon; rendered it and kept it aside. A mixture of dijon mustard, white wine vinegar and apple cider make a delicious dressing. To make it interesting, I added crumbles of salty feta cheese. I am a big fan of this cheese- I love salty cheese, and this one is as salty as they come. It provides an amazing punch of flavor. The good thing is you don’t need a whole lot of it and it is naturally lower in fat than other cheeses.

The salad turned out delicious- it was a great start to the meal, especially since it continued with the yummy meatballs…
Click here for the recipe… »