A Film Starring Malbec!

My new favorite wine nerdy thing! A film all about Malbec, Boom Varietal: The Rise of Malbec, came out last month. It stars some of my favorites from the Mendoza wine community, plus insight into where Argentina will go from here with the much-loved, super popular varietal. I'm still trying to figure out where one can find the film in the Seattle area. I'll keep you posted on that. In the meantime, check out the trailer if you haven't already!

Recently Discovered Wine Report Article

Featuring yours truly speaking terrible Spanish! 

Some of you may remember that I used to work for a wonderful restaurant in Mendoza called Azafran. Well one day we were surprised by a gaggle of journalists from the Argentine AP. Pablo, the chef, and I did some impromptu interviews and then stuffed them full of food and wine. By randomly googling my name today, I came across the finished article on www.winereport.com, so I'll post it here for you all to read if you like. In Spanish. Enjoy.

Pablo Ranea un cocinero sanjuanino Chef del restaurante mendocino Azafrán

Pablo Ranea, un chef cultor de la “Nueva Cocina Argentina”, recibió a los periodistas vitivinícolas nucleados en el CAPEVI (Círculo Argentino de Periodistas Vitivinícolas) en el Restaurante Azafrán, en Mendoza, donde es jefe de cocina desde hace cinco años.

Pablo Ranea es cultor de la "Nueva Cocina Argentina"

Nacido en San Juan, estudió diseño gráfico en la mendocina Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, y mientras cursaba la facultad, comprendió que su pasión estaba entre ollas y sartenes, y se lanzó al mundo, encontrándose con la cocina mediterránea en Ibiza, pero según nos cuenta: “Mi formación como cocinero fue con el Gato Dumas, en Belgrano, Buenos Aires”.
A partir de 2003 trabajó en el ‘Saint Kitts Marriott Resort’, en el Caribe, lo que le permitió adentrarse en los secretos culinarios de las cálidas islas, recorriendo desde Puerto Rico a Barbados. Luego continuó en los Estados Unidos, como chef ejecutivo del ‘Louisville Marriott Hotel’, en Kentucky.
De regreso a la Argentina volvió a instalarse en Mendoza, y trabaja desde entonces en ‘Azafrán’: “Hace más de cinco años que estoy trabajando acá. Esto me encanta. Me gusta mucho este lugar. No me veo en otro lugar que no sea Azafrán”, sostiene.

También ha recorrido destinos exóticos, presentando los vinos de famosos winemakers: “He presentado los vinos de Walter Bressia en Napa, en el sur de California; en Hawaii, Honolulu; y también en Alaska. Mi óptica es a través del maridaje con la cocina argentina. Presentaba los vinos desde mi visión, la de un cocinero, que le gusta tomar vino, y comer lo mejor con el mejor vino”, aseguró.
“La aceptación y el impacto de los vinos argentinos en el exterior es muy, muy grande. A la gente le gusto mucho. En varios eventos de beneficencia donde se hacen subastas, llegamos a vender botellas de Malbec por 300 dólares. Los vinos de Walter causaron mucho impacto”, comentó.
“Me llaman bodegueros –agregó-, y me dicen que vienen compradores del exterior, y les diseño un menú en función de esos vinos: si es un reserva, si es un blend, un torrontés”.
“También he notado como la gente afuera queda impactada con el Torrontés. Uno les explica que es el varietal emblemático argentino (blanco) y las cualidades que tiene, tan aromático, tan floral, y tal vez esperan que va a ser un vino dulce, pero cuando lo prueban lo notan seco, con acides, y se encuentran que va muy bien para maridarlo con las comidas”, explica.
“Por eso, la Argentina vitivinícola no solo es el Malbec. Por ejemplo, hay que destacar los Syrah que se están haciendo en San Juan; el Tannat también; el Pinot del sur también está teniendo algunas cosas interesantes”, enumeró.

Pablo Ranea - Carla De Lavallade - Ezequiel Araya

“Ayer tuve un matrimonio que vino de Napa, y les hice un maridaje con Bonarda y les gustó muchísimo. Ellos decían que les hacía recordar mucho al Tempranillo”, contó.
“La vitivinicultura está potenciando todo lo que es la gastronomía. ¡Esto se nota mucho!”, enfatizó Ranea.
Pablo nos preparó una picada gourmet muy especial: un trío de empanadas de mollejas con champiñones; chorizo y cebolla, preparada a la mendocina con dos partes de cebolla; y morcilla con parmesano; y se sirve una porción de tomate concassé (cortado en trozos gruesos) que funciona para limpiar el paladar.
Además, sirvió una tortilla a la española clásica, con sobreasada; una ensalada Caesar con chipirones crocantes y langostinos; y las Tablas: una tradicional “de Campo”, con una selección de embutidos, carnes curadas, fiambres y quesos tradicionales ; y una “Tabla Especial”, que además de jamón crudo y algunos salames, viene acompañada de trucha, salmón, faisán, jabalí, ciervo, y carpincho ahumado.
Todo esto fue regado por un Serbal Malbec 2009 de Bodega Atamisque, y un Ala Negra Malbec 2008 de Bodega Corvus de la Familia Corvalán Jofré.
En relación a ‘Azafrán’, ubicado en la Avenida Sarmiento 765, de Mendoza, comenta que han venido muchos turistas de Estados Unidos, atraídos por las excelentes críticas que les hicieron en dos notas del diario New York Times.

“La gran mayoría de asistentes son extranjeros, por la ubicación del restorán, rodeado de dos hoteles cinco estrellas y en plena zona hotelera de la ciudad de Mendoza, aunque también viene una importante cantidad de público local. El restorán ha sido adaptado también a ese público: el carácter principal del restorán es el vino, y la comida está diseñada en función del vino”, sostiene.
El restorán está abierto en horario de corrido, desde el mediodía hasta medianoche, “justamente porque mucho de este público viene a comer en el horario de 4, 5 ó 6 de la tarde”, dice.
“Lo que busca la gente, además de la buena comida, es el buen servicio, y esto se nota en el camarero, en la comida, en la forma de servir el vino, de presentarlo, de cuidarlos (la cava es una muestra acabada de ello), en la calidad del pan, en la atmosfera del restaurant. Un poco todo”, analiza.
Sobre la aparición de tantas escuelas de formación de cocineros, y la posibilidad de tener más especialistas para volcarlos al mercado gastronómico, sostiene: “El boom de las escuelas de cocina, facilita un poco…pero no tanto. Es una carrera que está muy de moda. Y de la gran cantidad de chicos que estudian para cocineros, cuesta realmente mucho conseguir gente con actitud, que quiera trabajar de cocinero. Ven todo lo que se ofrece en la televisión: El Gourmet; ser bonito, cocinar bien, publicidades que dicen ‘estudie chef’. Y en realidad chef no se estudia, lo que se estudia es cocina para ser cocinero. Si llegas a chef, genial. Es como estudiar ‘Gerente’, en realidad estudias lo que sea, y podes llegar a gerente”.
Sobre su estilo, y el que aplica en ‘Azafrán’, se define: “Lo mío es ‘Nueva Cocina Argentina’, y obviamente ‘Cocina de Autor’. Lo que significa ‘Nueva Cocina Argentina’ es trabajar con ingredientes y recetas tradicionales, y darles combinaciones y una vuelta de ‘rosca’ con mejores presentaciones, y más gourmet”, finaliza.

Cara De Lavallade, de 27 años, oriunda de Seattle, nos cuenta que hace nueve meses está en la Argentina, y va a permanecer por tres semanas más.

Cara de Lavallade (Sommelier) de Estados Unidos

“Vine a la Argentina para conocer más el Malbec, el Torrontés, y los vinos de Argentina, y sobre todo los de Valle de Uco, que son muy interesantes. Y me resta conocer los vinos de la Patagonia”, nos comentó la sommelier norteamericana.
En relación a la gente que conoció en la provincia, dijo: “Yo note que son muy orgullosos de los vinos de Mendoza. Hay un montón de estilos diferentes, se pueden encontrar Malbec más al estilo del viejo mundo, más tradicional. Pero hay un montón de bodegas nuevas, y bodegas chicas, que hacen sus vinos más al estilo internacional, con más madera, más cuerpo, y más concentrados. Es muy interesante, por los diferentes estilos”.
En relación a sus pares de nuestro país, opinó: “Vi muchos sommeliers en Mendoza, y en la Argentina. Es una profesión que está creciendo muy rápido, y se está popularizando, porque esta es una región de vinos y la industria necesita gente que conozca de los mismos. Los sommeliers de Argentina conocen muy bien los vinos, y son muy profesionales”.
“La cosa en Mendoza es que no hay otras posibilidades de probar vinos de otros países. Es lo que falta en la Argentina, porque todos los vinos son producidos en este país. Y para conocer bien los vinos, hay que probar también los de otras partes, de Francia, de Italia, de España, de Australia, de Chile, de California también”, opinó.
Con respecto a su futuro, anticipó: “Voy a volver a Estados Unidos, a mi ciudad, para ver a mi familia, a mis amigos, organizar algunas cosas, me gustaría trabajar también la cosecha de Estados Unidos que viene en Agosto, y así poder ganar algo de plata, para financiarme el próximo viaje para el año que viene, que tengo pensado conocer los vinos de Australia”, puntualizó.

Por: Oscar Pinco (CAPEVI)

Ballard Cachaça Adventure!

So there's a new bar in Ballard! Paratii is a "Brazilian scratch bar".  What does this mean? Delicious craft cocktails and nerdy bartenders with an emphasis on South American spirits and food. Seattle, you have a lot of bars, but I'm pretty sure this is the only one offering over 40 different types of cachaça.  What's Cachaça, you ask? Oh, only the 3rd most consumed spirit in the world. Heard of rum? Well this came first. Yeah, I had no idea either.


Brazilian slaves first began distilling the spirit sometime in the early 1500's using the leftover juice from milling sugar cane. They at first fermented the juice, and later discovered that by then boiling it, a much stronger spirit could be made.  These facts bring me to only one conclusion: So while I'm sure it really sucked to be a slave in Brazil in the 1500's, they were clearly totally awesome dudes. Not only did they invent capoeira, a badass martial arts dance form, they also invented cachaça, a badass liquor that is now the national spirit of Brasil. Not bad.


Important note: the difference between what we call typically rum (from the Caribbean) and cachaça is that Caribbean rum is made from molasses (sugar post-crystallization) while cachaça or Brazilian rum is made from fresh sugar cane juice (pre-crystallization).  Because of this, you will actually find that many cachaças display a sense of terroir, showing different characteristics depending on what region or climate the sugar cane is grown, a fact that totally appeals to the wine nerd in me.


At Paratii, I recently had the chance to taste though a selection of eleven different cachaças, an opportunity that would have been completely wasted on me had I not been guided by our two local experts- barman/cocktail wizard, Micheal Kostin and bar owner/cachaça fanatic, Sam Hassan. Following a standard and much recommended format, we tasted from cheapest to most expensive. I have to admit I had limited expectations, only having tasted fairly cheap, rubbing alcohol-like versions mostly mixed into sweet caipirinhas (more on that later) but what I tasted that night truly gave me a new respect for the sassy Brazilian intoxicant. Here's a bit about each one I tried and a couple I didn't.

Budget Booze: The Low End

Cabana


Made in Sao Paulo, this is the "The vodka of cachaças" as described by Sam and Micheal. Tinny flavor, lack of character, over-distilled. Really just kind of tastes like a cheap vodka.


Sagatiba Pura


Sweet, anise aromas, yeasty finish. Multidistilled. Slightly less offensive than Cabana, but still not anything that I would imbibe straight. Probably a good mixing cachaça.


Sama Brasil


Most offensive off all- potent ethanol aroma and not much else but a lingering burning sensation in my throat. Throw some juice in there and call it a frat party.


Ok I was off to a shaky start, but things quickly improved.

A Step Up: Mid-range Must-Trys

Boca Loca


The most popular cachaça brand on the market. Triple distilled.  Aromas of tropical fruits and fresh herbs. Bright and easy on the palate.


Leblon


Aged 6 months in XO Cognac barrels. Fresh sweet citrus notes with a bitter herb on the finish. Nicely rounded on the palate with underlying hints of caramel and spice.  Brazilian rum made by a Frenchman.


Fazenda Mae de Ouro (Mother of Gold)


From Minas Gerais, the best known region for cachaça.  Vanilla, pepper caramel aromas with underlying citrus and red fruit. Small batch pot distilled and aged one year in oak barrels. I can easily see sipping this neat with a twist.

Novo Fogo Silver (organic)


From Serra do Mar, a coastal town in the south of Brasil.  Aged 6-12 months in steel tanks.  Sweet sugar cane and herbaceous aromas, bright and lively on the palate.  Novo is a super earth friendly and organic distillery- a totally waste-free operation, they reuse every byproduct and dump nothing into the water. Also the bottles are handmade from recycled glass and individually signed and labeled with the batch number. Not too shabby. Oh, and the guy that makes this stuff, "Dr. Cachaça" actually has  PhD in cachaça-making. Who knew that was even a thing?


Novo Fogo Aged


Aged 2 years in small bourbon barrels.  Rich, spicy aromas of toffee, cinnamon, and vanilla.  Yeast and honey on the palate with a silky mouthfeel.  Akin to a nice aged rum.

Top Shelf: The Special Stuff

Rochinha 


Made in Barra Mansa in the interior of Rio de Janeiro.  Fermented with natural yeasts and aged 5 years in bourbon barrels.  Sultry aromas of vanilla and baking spices.  A clean and integrated flavor profile. Particularly bourbony in character with sweet honey notes and smoky, caramely spices. This puppy won a double gold in the San Francisco World Spirit Competition.


12 year Rochinha


Impressive.  Complexity and richness of the 5 year with a lingering mouthfeel, intense vanilla aromas, and a notable peaty finish, much like a fine aged Scotch. Aged in French oak barrels. Only 1,200 bottles make it to the U.S. every year and Sam's got it.


Armazem Vieira Esmeralda 


Aged 4 years in Brazilian "Aririba" barrels and blended using a Solera system.  Produced in Santa Catarina, on the island of Florianopolis in the South of Brazil.  Tastes very much like a coastal spirit- clean and herbaceous, almost salty on the palate with fresh citrus aromas. This one rated #2 among hundreds of artisan producers in none other than Brazilian Playboy, a publication which I can only imagine makes U.S. Playboy look like an Archie comic.

Extra Special: I didn't get to taste these, but Sam did let me hold the bottles for a couple seconds.

Anisio Santiago "the best cachaça in the world"


Also from Minas Gerais, Anisio Santiago is super rare and much sought-after, one of the gems of Sam's collection at Paratii.  Aged 5 years in balsam barrels, only 8,000 bottles are produced per year and it is the most expensive cachaça in Brazil today. Sam will be offering it at around $200 a shot. 


Sagatiba Preciosa


Also extremely rare, Preciosa comes from a random discovery of several barrels of cachaça that had been left to age in 19th century French Limousine oak barrels for 23 years in an abandoned warehouse at an old sugarcane mill.  The Sagatiba Master Distiller that found the barrels filtered and purified them, producing only 3,000 bottles in all. It's said to be like no other cachaça in the world and snagged a healthy 96/100 points from Chicago's Beverage Testing Institute, making it the highest rated cachaça in the world. You can taste it at Paratii for a mere $250 a shot, which is not bad, considering a few bottles sold for about $2,500 at Christie's.

In all, I must conclude that cachaça tasting is A. fun and B. totally delicious. And at Paratii, you're in good hands- these guys can tell you pretty much everything you've ever wanted to know about cachaça and a little bit more. The last few that I tasted were perfectly lovely served neat and sipped slowly, but to experience the spirit in a very traditional manner, you've gotta try Brazil's national cocktail, the Caipirinha.  Make them on a sunny day, sit out on the patio, and pretend you're in Rio on the beach.  

Classic Caipirinha Recipe

3 thinly sliced key limes

2-3 tablespoons of sugar (depending on how sweet you want it)

2 ounces of cachaça (try Leblon or Novo Fogo Silver)

Muddle limes and sugar, add booze, stir to dissolve sugar, add cracked ice, consume heartily.

A BIG THANK YOU to Michael and Sam for the awesome education and for bringing something totally new to Seattle!! GO! Go to Paratii and see for yourselves!

Sipping Local in Port Townsend!

Port Townsend has long been a great place to find amazing organic local produce, small independent businesses, and lots of gorgeous northwest beach. On Saturday the farmers market is hopping and surprisingly large for such a small town. Here you can find fun things like woodfired pizza, goat milk soap, Teacup piglets for sale, and- perhaps most surprising- local organic saffron threads.  What started as a relaxing do-nothing weekend mini-vacation turned into a romp in regional eats and drink for me and my two friends. Surprising? Perhaps not.  Wins for most exciting/interesting Port Townsend finds are brought to us today by the letter "F": the Farmer's Market, Fairwinds Winery, and Finnriver Cidery!

Fairwinds Winery

Established in 1993 by two retired Coast Guard couples, Fairwinds winery is the oldest winery in these parts, only about a fifteen minute drive on Highway 20 south of downtown Port Townsend. For those less familiar with the region, we're talking the western part of Washington state, a ferry ride across Puget Sound and a jaunt over the Hood Canal Floating Bridge, heading towards Canada to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the west.  Port Townsend itself sits on a northern point aside Discovery Bay and from the shore on a clear day you can see Vancouver Island in Canada.  My memories of visiting this area as a child involve beach combing in wind and rain, frolicking through the ancient cement barracks at Fort Worden, and fighting over buckets of buttery steamed clams with my family. I never once thought that I'd be drinking wine made in this place. It's cold, WET, and rugged in a northwest hippie type of way.

Though Puget Sound was the third AVA established in Washington state, only about 1% of the wine produced in the state is made from grapes grown in the region. It hard to imagine most vines would grow well here, let alone produce quality fruit. Grapevines like it dry, they like sunlight.  While local grape growers are experimenting with certain cool climate varieties like Siegerrebe and Pinot Noir Pricoce, most area wineries are getting their fruit from the other side of the Cascades.  I for one, am thankful for this while drinking these wines, but at the same time interested to see what can be done with the weirdo cool climate vines.

Now run by Micheal and Judy Cavett, Fairwinds specializes in lesser known varietals like Gewurtzraminer, Aligote and Lemberger, while also supplying much-loved Merlot, Cabernet,  and a Cab/Merlot blend. You can find Micheal on Saturday afternoon cheerfully serving up his wines in a charming wood-paneled tasting room.  

His 2009 Gewurtz is bright with good spice and a flowery stone fruit profile that is distinct to the Washington state expression of the grape. The 2005 Lemberger is friendly,  balanced, and full of fresh red fruit. A good taco/burger/sunny day red. Bold and ripe, the 2006 red blend stands out in the line up, made from Yakima grapes, 60% Cab, 40% Merlot. But by far the best- the Fairwinds star of the moment is the just released 2002 Merlot. It's round, earthy, supple, and everything that a nice Merlot should be while ageing quite nicely.

To add to the small town winery charm, Fairwinds also sells homemade wine jellies- the Jalapeno Gewurztraminer being the tastiest, especially with strong goat cheese. Micheal also has a couple other interesting treasures in his cellar- homemade mead with organic honey from Mt. Vernon, and a brewing fruit wine made with Kiwi Berries. We were lucky enough to get a special taste of the Kiwi Berry wine, which Micheal is thinking of turning into a summer sparkler.  Like no fruit wine I've ever tasted, it's tart, juicy, and totally unique.  It's these types of tasting experiences I love to write about.

Fairwinds is definitely worth a stop for the curious vacationing wine lover. Grab a bottle of the  Lemberger, a locally caught salmon, and some farm fresh greens for a delicious and distinctly Puget Sound dinner while in the area.

Finnriver Cidery

I can't say how much I love the rising popularity of local ciders in Washington state, especially those cidermakers who look toward traditional French style ciders for direction. They are moving away from the sickeningly sweet appley fermented juices to earthy, crisp, super dry crafted ciders. Finnriver is one of these places!  Located in Chimacum about twenty minutes south of Port Townsend on Highway 19, the organic farm produces blueberries, eggs, honey, several different grains and vegetables, as well as being home to goats, pigs, sheep, and other animals.  Apples, pears, blueberries, and black currants all go into their delicious ciders that are fermented on site in a small building with an adjacent adorably decorated tasting room.

A must try is the Methode Champenoise Sparkling Apple Cider (8% abv).  This cider actually won a double gold medal in the sparkling wine category at the Seattle Wine Awards last year, right up against the likes of Domaine Ste Michelle and other big players, and I can see why. Very old world in style, the cider had elegant fruit and plenty of earthy aromas, lively little bubbles, and a crisp, dry finish.  It's made using the same method as traditional French Champagne, which means a lot of time, labor, and riddling.  Impressive for a small town farm cidery.

If you're into a sweeter, fruitier flavor, taste the pear and apple blueberry ciders.  Without being cloying, they are true expressions of the fruits they are made with, not added sugar or phony flavoring.  And if you want to try something really unique, go for the Dry Hopped cider!  It'll blow you away with it's tart, dry, hay and cannabis-like flavors. It's something you can keep tasting, finding something new in it each time. Excitingly enough, Finnriver is now putting their ciders in kegs and starting a limited distribution in the Seattle area. The Noble Fir in Ballard will be the first to have Finnriver cider on tap, so stop by there soon for a taste.

Behind the tasting counter, owner Crystie is super knowledgeable and friendly, inviting everyone in back for a look at the riddling racks and ageing bottles.  An NYC native, she's still getting used to living on a farm in rural Washington, but proudly pours her bubblies every weekend and talks about taking a cider research trip to France hopefully someday soon.  Sounds glamorous.  Check out Finnriver if you're ever in the area- remember it's on the way back to the Kingston ferry from Port Townsend!

Look for more from Washington state coming up... And I promise I'm getting on that blog naming thing soon. :)

Consuming Buenos Aires!

San Telmo Mercado Central

Most of you know that I spent my last week in Buenos Aires completing one specific mission: eating and drinking delicious food and beverages.  I'm proud to say that I accomplished this mission with ease, finding B.A. to be chock full of culinary delights, some hidden, some easy to find. In such a giant city, it can be tough to find interesting, creative food and drink. You'll find mediocre pizza/pasta on almost every corner. Soggy milanesas and dry lomo sandwiches abound.  There are limitless amounts of scrumptious empanadas, but one can't eat empanadas all day everyday. Trust me, I tried. But once I started to really do my research, asking local chefs, bartenders, and foodies for their favorites, I found myself with a surprisingly long list of restaurant, cafe, and bar names. The truth is, I hardly had time to scratch the surface of this list, making sure also to revisit my favorite spots from my last visit to the city, but I checked in with some amazing spots and hey, now I already know where I'll be going next time I'm in town! So without further ado, here are some of my favorite Buenos Aires spots to eat, drink, and be merry.

Bar Dorrego

Set in the center of San Telmo on the corner of Defensa and Humberto 1, this classic bar is full of character.  Graffiti-covered walls and peanut shell covered floors make this place unique, and the ancient wooden bar gives you the sense it might have been around forever. Stop by on a Sunday during San Telmo's fantastic antiques market and you'll find the bar full of tourists and locals alike sipping local cider or filling up on lomito sandwiches.  I fell in love with this place on my first visit, when I ordered a Campari and soda and they served me a big glass of campari with a do-it-yourself soda syphon on the side. I was even more seduced when I wandered in around 7:00 p.m. (way early for dinner in Argentina) and they served me a full dinner without batting an eye. Upon my most recent visit, a friend introduced me to the Submarino, a traditional hot chocolate that involves a steaming glass of milk with a bar of dark chocolate on the side. More do-it-yourself deliciousness.

I'd say this place is a must-visit while in B.A. It has all of the classic charm that fits into the romanticized idea of Argentina that is often lost in other super-modern areas of town, but preserved well in funky San Telmo. 

Plaza Francia

This plaza near the Recoleta Cemetery is hopping on Saturday mornings.  Don't worry about grabbing breakfast before heading out to browse all of the handmade crafts for sale at the market here because there's enough tasty street food available to keep you full all day.  Probably my favorite cheap snack at the market is the giant cups of fresh fruit salad, always sold alongside freshly squeezed orange juice (something I am already missing here in Seattle).   Toasty stuffed breads are also toted around in big, cloth-lined baskets and come with empanada-type filling: chicken, beef, ham and cheese, and my most recent favorite, pollo portuguesa, a concoction of chicken, red pepper, tomato and spices.  Also look out for churros, spiced nuts, and lots of different cakes and sweets!

Buena Vida Natural Bar

Palermo is the spot for natural, organic nibbles.  A friend introduced me to this cozy little local joint serving up some of the best espresso in the city with a brand new Lavazzo machine.  Fernando, the owner is a total coffee nerd, just what a Seattle girl looks for in a strange city, and his cappuccino is stunning.  They also offer some great wines by the glass, though he will tell you his first love is still whiskey. The organic snacks are just the healthy treat you look for after days of red meat and pasta- try the pumpkin empanada made with whole wheat dough. Colorful and charming, this little cafe is a gem, a comfortable spot to sit and read or catch up with friends.  If you're lucky, maybe you can get Fernando to play a couple tunes for you- he's also the guitarist in a local rock band.

Maté on the Go!

Maté is a super important part of Argentine culture- usually served in loose leaf form in a special gourd cup with a specially designed straw, it's a strong, bitter tea served steaming hot.  Many who try maté for the first time find it a bit intense, but those like me eventually become addicted not just to the beverage, but to the ritual itself- maté is usually a social experience, passing the gourd around a group of friends in the park is a classic sunny afternoon pastime.  For me, it's a great way to start the day- a nice little burst of caffeine that lifts me up and doesn't make me crash after a few hours the way that coffee does. After lunch is also a good maté hour.  But for those on the go in the city, these portable carts (often also offering hot coffee) are a kind of godsend after late nights out in B.A. And by late I mean late. Like getting home at 7 a.m. type of late. The cart maté isn't loose leaf, but does the trick on the way to work after only a couple hours sleep. It also tends to be less strong and bitter than the raw type, so if it's your first time trying it, a $3 peso cup may be the way to go. If you decide you like it from there, you can move on to the real stuff, and eventually become addicted, carrying your mate, herb, and thermos around everywhere you go like I did and sometimes still do, despite getting weird looks from Starbucks-toting Seattleites.  Maté! Try it!

Cafe San Juan

Okay now things are getting serious. This is by far the best daylight eating I did in B.A. Another San Telmo spot, this place has been getting loads of attention by restaurant reviewers and I actually learned about it watching an Argentine cooking channel. The chef is a young, tatooed, trucker-hat-wearing pate wizard who also pickles all his own veggies. A modern take on traditional Argentine cuisine, the menu is full of tasty things like octopus, rabbit, and house made chorizo. The place is small and packed, defined by the partially open kitchen where you can watch the other hipstery tattooed cooks bustle about.  The menu is hand-written on two big chalkboards that the servers patiently display tableside while you make up your mind about what to order.  This process is a bit stressful for someone like myself who loves to take forever looking at the menu and hates to waste a server's time, but it's unique in it's own right, and I give that credit. 

This gnocchi dish with fresh tomato, basil and eggplant in a light cream sauce was as delicious as it looks in the photo. The rabbit pate with plum compote and rabbit stew with sun-dried tomato, crispy polenta and parma ham were also winners, washed down with a bottle of Alta Vista Premium Malbec, a common but consistently good bottle, made for a heavenly lunch.  The dishes are unpretentious, created with basic but quality ingredients, well-seasoned, and hearty.  Great food and a unique personality make this restaurant my current B.A. favorite.

Cocina Sunae

Closed door restaurants (Puertas Cerradas) are thriving in Buenos Aires, as everyone scrambles to discover the new, hip place to eat. Signs and commercial spaces are out, home kitchens and secret addresses are in.  Most of them work the way that Cocina Sunae works: visit the website, check out the menu for the weekend, send an email requesting a reservation, and wait to hear back with a confirmation, address, and any special instructions.  I had heard fantastic things about this particular Asian-fusion closed door restaurant and had to check it out. 

Take a cab to the address that will be sent to your e-mail, as the neighborhood where the restaurant is located (Colegiales) is less than friendly at night. After buzzing a the front gate and giving your name,  the big steel door will open into a lush garden patio with beautiful twinkling lights strung through the trees. The dining room is small and intimate but designed in a different way than other closed door restaurants I visited. While Casa Saltshaker feels like attending a dinner party at a friends house with a big communal table in a proper dining room, Sunae is more like eating at a really tiny restaurant adjacent to the house. Overall, the experience is slightly more formal. Of course the owners regularly stop by the tables to drop of dishes and check in on the meal, but two servers also work in the dining room. Though the menu is mostly set, we selected our entrees via email beforehand- a choice between Pad Thai and Green Curry.  I picked a bottle of the 2010 Laborum Torrontes, a gorgeous fragrant white from Cafayate sure to play nicely with spicy Southeast Asian cuisine. 

Spice heads take note- Sunae is not shy with the heat! This may be one of the only spots in B.A. where you find proper heat in the food. Now I have to qualify this statement by noting that I have a particularly sensitive, whiney, baby-like palate when it comes to hot spice and three courses of that much jalapeno or serrano was almost too much for me. My friend from Wisconsin also found herself reaching for the water glass after every bite, her eyes red and watery. But there's no doubt that people who have a taste for hot spice (are probably missing it in Argentina) will be more than satisfied at Sunae. Overall, the space is beautiful, service gracious, and cuisine thoughtfully crafted and artfully presented. Many thanks to implant chefs like Sunae's Christina Wiseman for diversifying the culinary scene in B.A.

Gran Bar Danzon

Okay now it's time to get down to that topic I am most passionate about: the drinking!! Above I've inserted a horrible photo of one of the best bars in town- Gran Bar Danzon. I also seem to have lost any resemblance of recipe or tasting note I might have recorded while visiting this bar. I can only deduce that this means that every time I visited, I left super pleased... and perhaps sloshed. What I can tell you is that this place offers some of the most creative, well-balanced cocktails that I found in the city and some of the most well-trained bar staff as well (one of the barmen recently flitted off to a new position at London's award-winning Milk and Honey). Danzon has taken a bit from the speakeasy trend, as the entrance is missable and the bar itself hidden up some dimly lit steps on the second floor.  Like many bars in B.A., the aesthetics are well-planned, it's gorgeous on the inside with a cozy lounge, long sexy bar, and expansive dining area. Located in the posh Recoleta neighborhood, the crowd mainly consists of attractive, suited downtown business types and the fashiony ladies they are trying to attract. It's a great spot for a happy hour cocktail or prefunk beverages before hitting the dance floor (check out El Living a few blocks away). The spacious dining room is always packed and the wine list better than most, promoting a different winery every few weeks. A pretty place with a well stocked bar (see probably the only place that carries Bison Grass Vodka in town), interesting concoctions and an army of well-dressed, charming barmen.

Milion

Milion is one of those places I kept finding myself coming back to, not so much because of the cocktails, but because of everything else that the bar offers. Set up two flights in an old giant mansion, this place is stunningly gorgeous, with antiquey furniture, large funky paintings, and an incredible starlit garden patio. When sticking to classic cocktails, the bar impresses, with a nice liquor selection and mastery of certain recipes, while their original drinks are less exciting. My first Negroni in Argentina was happily sipped here.  The crowd is a crazy eclectic mix of mostly young artists, professionals, daddy-money spenders, and others. Wander through the many tucked away rooms to check out the strange decor and stranger clientele. Perhaps my most notable experience consisted of a long night with a group of Argentine soccer players who were rambunctious from just having won a big tournament and had toted with them to the bar a massive trophy shaped like a big gold cup. When I made the mistake of jokingly suggesting they fill the cup with sparkling wine and drink from that, the boys enthusiastically embraced the idea. Soon bubbly and Red Bull were sloshing all over the floor and the bartenders were giving me the evil eye. That trophy of champagne accompanied us all over town that night.  Milion is just one of those places that you always walk out of with a story. It's a top pick for beauty and a certain breed of debauchery.

Doppelgänger

This one I've saved for last as it is near and dear to my corazon. Think San Telmo has little more to offer than tango and the Sunday market? Make no mistake, this neighborhood is home to hands-down the BEST cocktail bar I found in Buenos Aires. I cannot say enough about the care and attention that goes into the bar program here. Owners Guillermo (pictured above) and Stella have put their heart and soul into this venture and execute it all- food, cocktail, ambiance, personality- gracefully and with charm.  

I was drawn to the Doppel when I came across an internet site that advertised them as offering a cocktail list of over 75 different drinks. When I finally coerced my roommates into checking the place out, I had two cocktails and fell in love. Not only does the list impress with a huge selection of classics (try their Journalist and Martinez, among others... many others), the service is great- Guillermo venturing out from behind a busy bar to check in and chat it up with tables, and the people are just plain awesome- buena onda. For those of you who keep up with nerdy cocktail things, describing Guillermo as an Argentine Murray Stenson will help explain. For others, just imagine a super friendly guy is able and willing to brilliantly make you anything your heart desires as long as he's got the right ingredients. Lillet is an important part of my favorite cocktail, the Corpse Reviver #2, but it is impossible to find in Argentina. They simply don't import it. So when my mom came down to visit I asked she bring with her a bottle for Guillermo's bar, a gift gladly received as he proudly whipped up his very first Vesper and my beloved Corpse Reviver. When I left for four months in Mendoza, Guillermo continued serving Lillet cocktails, but saved me just enough in the bottle for my return to B.A. That's just the kind of people we're dealing with here.

From great music, to low-pretension, to amazing drinks and a tiny kitchen cranking out awesome bar food, the Doppel is the full package. And the best part is that it's still relatively undiscovered. Because Stella and Guillermo deserve the business and recognition, I am shouting GO TO THIS BAR, GODDAMMIT!! Meanwhile, remember to only let the truly cool and deserving people know. "This is not for everyone" is the bar motto and it is more than appropriate. Oh Doppelbar, I miss you. I hope to see you again real soon. Hearts and hearts and hearts.

OKAY! That's it! I did it! Over a month and a half back in the states and I finally completed my monster blog Buenos Aires food/drink round up. Though amazed by my ability to procrastinate, I am at the same time proud of myself. And I hope this proves helpful or interesting to someone somewhere at some moment.

Cheers. Drink on.