Pancakes and Pepino, BA, Argentina
Topic: Food & Wine in Argentina

Some ideas for a Perfect day in Buenos Aires
Topic: Food & Wine in Argentina
Perfect day in Buenos Aires


Perfection is something to look up to but hardly achievable by itself. I try to run my mind according to this precept, because otherwise life is too unapproachable. Some unique events, moments, things, gestures are intrinsically perfect, not with regards to a perfection standard, but within themselves.

Those who have children would know that about their child’s first word, smile and even poop… yes, that’s the way the world turns sometimes.
Buenos Aires is a city faraway from perfect. It’s gorgeous and appealing, but complicated like a one of those Escher paintings. Sometimes it’s hard to say if we’re going up or down…

However, I truly believe there are perfect moments in the city of good airs, the capital of tango, Maradona’s hometown. Those labels are not perfect, don’t get me wrong, but they synthesize in some way what this city meant to the sense of what’s perfect to someone else.

There’s a stupendous Argentine story writer who lived in Paris for a long time, his name is Julio Cortazar, and in one of his stories (Las Babas del Diablo in English translations by Paul Blackburn, under the title End of the Game and Other Stories (in later editions the title was changed to Blow-Up and Other Stories) he describes what at the beginning is a perfect day.

A sunny winter- autumn morning is what he first describes. And its funny how Buenos Aires and Paris share that intrinsic atmosphere. The smell of the cold wind mellowed by the rays of a shiny sun open the door to an amazing day from my point of view. And since we’re approaching that time of the year at the moment in Buenos Aires, the idea just poped into my mind.

Today, what a perfect day… I’ll get up early in the morning, have breakfast with the local treat of Mate and some good home-made medialuna croissants.

Then, into the car and off we go to the historical quarter of Buenos Aires, San Telmo-Monserrat. That’s the corridor that goes all the way from the Pink House in Mayo Square to Lezama Park neaby Boca Juniors stadium.

Lunch at Petanque is without a doubt a must in this perfect day trip. And though Petanque is French, and this is my perfect day in Buenos Aires, I think we shouldn’t go too into the “argentine feel”… But if we needed to, well,…

We Argentines enjoy great food as much as an outstanding tango move, it’s a treat to our souls and palate. To match the top notch Resto cuisine, nothing better than a true Argentine Malbec.

Lunch and a great conversation carried on will lead us out of Petanque on Defensa Street, and I would stroll my way thru the artisan and crafts shops and antique stores all the way to Dorrego Sq. The perfect spot for a perfect coffee. The ancient cafe on the corner of Defensa and Humberto 1st is the perfect setting for the afternoon to settle. On the background, the music of our master of bandoneon: Astor Piazzola.

As the sun goes down and the stars being to shine in the clear and cold sky, our day is coming to an end. The setting changes, like those theatre scenographic walls. We’re off to a true tango show.

The Fernandez Fierro Traditional Orchestra is playing downtonw. This gang of young talented musicians put our tango ideal to test, for they don’t appear as the true real thing… However, patience is a virtue. Hold on, go beyond their rock n’roll aesthetics and wait to hear them at their arts, at their bests….


Asado, as our barbeques are known here in Argentina

If you would like to take part in any of our Tours, from hunting art & antiques in Buenos Aires or traveling around the Argentine and Uruguayan coastline in our fantastic one of a kind lighthouse tour or you wish to participate in our Route 40, an interesting rally venture, then please don’t hesitate to contact us directly thru email, phone or chat.For more information :Email Bob Frassinetti. Press here to go to The Buenos Aires Art Dealer, our webzine magazine on Art, Antiques & Collectibles made or found in Argentina. The Buenos Aires Art Dealer,Argentina.


Punta Medanos lighthouse
Bob Frassinetti. Copyright 2005. Roberto Dario Frassinetti.

Pedro Telmo Pizza and Cafe House: Bolivar 962
Topic: Food & Wine in Argentina
The glory of comfort food:
                                                       
San Telmo Vegtable & Antiques Market Place Pedro Telmo Pizza and Cafe House: Bolivar 962
San Telmo is the old quarter of Buenos Aires, now known for its bohemian arts and antiques, this has become a real hot spot in Buenos Aires.

Indeed, in recent years, San Telmo has become the place to be in for artists, young vanguards and intellectuals of all kinds. It’s a growing neighborhood that’s mutating from interesting, traditional and old to new, hip and a very Tango like flavor place.

Along this transition the neighborhood is going thru many things changing, evolving and transforming.

Old darkish bars turn into modern cafes, dinners mutate into bistros and commune homes recycle into outstanding modern design places.

However, in the middle of this turmoil of modernity and change, there are some things and places that prevail unaltered… charming and traditional, featuring their original feel of comfort and belonging. These are those places that if altered to fit new style standards would loose what makes of them a perfect place. Small, a bit dark and smutty within its own charm, these shops have mastered throughout the years a true, original and authentic style in their food and service that makes of them perfect places people tend to point as homes outside their home.

Pedro Telmo is –no doubt about it- one of these places. Located in the heart of San Telmo, at one of the sides of the charming Fruits, Meat and Antiques Market, Pedro Telmo is an everlasting trademark of the neighborhood. This is a family run place, and all those who come in –whether it’s just for a coffee or for a big meal- are immediately considered part of the huge family that is Pedro Telmo. “La Negrita” is the mother of the owner, she, with her 70 years of age personally looks after you, so everything is working perfectly throughout your stay. This is not a preconceived service –as it happens in chic, hip restaurants- it’s her true nature of sweetness and charm. She’s a joyful and warm woman, who would take your order, help you choose the best of the day’s specialties, and offer a complementary espresso after your meal, just because she loves people who enjoy her food and place.

The pace fits around 20 tables, in summer or sunny weekend days tables are set on the sidewalk for people to enjoy great food under a clear blue sky. The kitchen is open, you can see when your order is coming, when it’s being prepared in the huge pizza oven that’s the center piece of a medium size kitchen. The food is simple and tasty. The options are not pretentious, but there’s a broad variety of dishes to choose from, all which are freshly made depending on what’s good in the market that morning. Pizza is their specialty, as well as stuffed dough empanadas –cheese, ham, meat, chicken, veggies…- the cook has mastered the process and his pizza is fabulous, tasty, crunchy and delightful. I know, it’s just a slice of pizza, but this is one great slice!

While Pedro Telmo is indeed a restaurant, it has come to be more than that throughout the years. People not only come to eat, or have a quick coffee. Pedro Telmo and its charm have transformed its restaurant aspect into a cafe like feel (see our article on Argentine Cafes). This means that apart from the fact that the place served food, it’s become a reunion spot, a hangout place… If you have the opportunity of spending a couple of minutes in Pedro Telmo you’ll witness some of its magic. While people come and go, for food, coffee and takeout, others just come and drop by to greet the owner, the cook, give Mamma Negra a hug and a kiss… If your Spanish allows it, you’ll understand everyone knows everyone, Mamma Negrita knows everything’s going on with their lives and in a sweet way she inquires about projects, love life and an endless list of other meaningful everyday life aspects.
When in Pedro Telmo, true Argentine comfort food is the rule. The best of the Argentine charming feel is in the air, for all local and foreign customers that choose this dinner for their meals, coffee and also as their hangout spot.
Not only is this a true local feel experience people have to go thru when discovering Buenos Aires and its people, but it’s something that once tried you’ll always want to return.

www.flickr.com artdealer_ar's Food & Wine photoset

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So if you are interested in any item, from Art, Antiques, passing threw Collectibles and just to mention some like Advertising, Advertising Art, Architectural, Art Deco, Auto Parts, Badges, Banks, Beswick, Bottle, Bottle Openers, Bronze, Button, Calendars, Candy Containers, Carnival Glass, Chandeliers, Christmas, Coca Cola, Corkscrews, Elvis Presley, Ethnic Art, Ethnic Toys, Fans, Fishing, Fishing Reels, Folk Art, Francisco Adaro, Furniture, Lamps and lightning items, the wild 60's and 70's, Garden Furnishing, Girl Scout, Glass Art, Glass Contemporary, Golf, Halloween, Inkwells, Insulators, Ivory, Japanese Woodblock Prints, Jewellery, Judaic, Kitchen, Knife, Lamps, Lighters, Lightning Rod , Majolica, Match Holders, Medical, Motorcycles, Music, Napkin Rings, Nautical, Netsuke’s, Nutcrackers, Paintings, Liberato Spisso, born Buenos Aires, Argentina. 14 March 1903, Portrait Artist, Viski, Jean ( Janos ) 1891 - 1961, Old Car, Paper, Paperweights, Pens, Pencils, Pencil Sharpeners, Pepsi Cola, Perfume Bottles, Pewter, Phonographs, Photography, Postcards, Posters, Prints, Radio, Railroad , Records, Steam Tractor, Scientific Instruments, Sewing, Sheet Music, Silver, Souvenirs, Sports, Stero Cards, Stereoscopes, Telephones, Television, Tools, Toys, "The Buenos Aires Toy Museum. Argentina", Tractor, Typewriters, Watch, Weapons, Weather Vanes, Wood Carvings, Wooden, World's Fair, to say Wristwatches. So you can buy Toys from my museum and threw eBay, threw the Toy Museum on eBay press here; Toy Museum on eBay and thru The Buenos Aires ArtDealer, press here; Art Dealer on eBay From Art to Antiques. Or contact me direct. For more information :Email Bob Frassinetti. Press here to go to The Buenos Aires Art Dealer is a webzine magazine on Art, Antiques & Collectibles made or found in Argentina. The Buenos Aires ArtDealer, Argentina.

Our quest to discover a great Indian restaurant in Buenos Aires
Topic: Food & Wine in Argentina
In our quest to discover a great Indian restaurant in Buenos Aires, after a first not so good experience we finally found a great place… Actually two, though both places are owned by the same family. Mumbai and Katmandu are two great Indian restaurants conceived, organized and run by an Indian family living in Buenos Aires. Mumbai is in the Retiro district, much frequented in weeknights and lunchtime by local businessmen working in the surrounding area of downtown, and several foreign visitors who in search of great Indian food head to were the entire magic takes place… Katmandu, on Cordoba Av, is in the nearby area of Palermo Soho, a bit further towards Palermo Viejo, but very easy to access by any public transport or cab. Both places are beautifully designed and decorated, soft background music creating a peaceful atmosphere in which to delight oneself with greatly done traditional Indian food.

While Mumbai opens day and night, Katmandu only opens during the evening, so don’t even bother to go there during the day for lunch or brunch… it’s so closed that it might even seem just out of business, but no… at night it opens, and during weekend evenings it’s sometimes full, so reservations are a good option, if not, they will set you up in a table nonetheless, but it’s a possibility that you’ll have to wait. Unlike other ethnic restaurants in the Palermo area, Katmandu is big and if you show up with no dinner reservation, this is not a huge problem.
We visited Mumbai for lunch and Katmandu for dinner; both were great and delighting experiences.

Mumbai –which we visited many times since then, for it’s good and at lunch as a pre fixed menu for A$ 22, featuring entrees of pakora and samosa (one of each) and a main course of 10 vegetable curry with homemade cheese, chicken curry and basmati rice (all in one plate) plus a beverage. The menu is brief; there are three/ four options for entrees, main dishes, vegetarian main dishes, basmati rice, and deserts. A complementary dish of chapattis –one per customer- and a set of two dips, one of tomato and mustard seeds, the other of conserved lemons and tomato are offered. The naan is charged on the side. These are made in a traditional tandori oven according to the waitress.

In order to compare different restaurants and menus, we once again ordered Rogan Josh, with Patagonia lamb, Mumbai Fish curry. The curry servings were small portions that should be accompanied by rice as the waitress suggested, so we ordered Veg Biryani –excellent rice, well spiced and with fresh vegetables-. We also ordered the pudina nan. We asked what the traditional drink to have with such meal was and she said either Lassi yogurt or water, we ordered one of each.
Food was good, the curry mix was not too hot but hot in the after-mouth, and the lamb was tasty though a bit too salty; while the fish was good. It was a good eating experience, the Indian chef from Northern India seems to know what he’s doing, and the dishes show his passion for food and Indian traditions.

We visited Katmandu on a Friday evening, one of the hottest days for dinner parties in Buenos Aires specially for working middle class couples, -that use this day as the couple day while kids stay at home-, friends hanging out after work…
We arrived there at 9 PM, by car, thought this is a place easy to access in several means of transport, cab, bus, underground.

From the main door to the left is the kitchen, featuring a huge window that shows what goes on inside, the kitchen seemed busy; however we peaked inside to check the kitchen material, to see if we found the Tandori oven and may be we got hold of some secret techniques of Indian cuisine.
This idea of open kitchen is also a main attraction in a variety of local restaurants such as in Sudestada, and for example, Buenos Aires top notch grill house Cabana Las Lilas, featuring their grill and kitchen at the entrance as a quality sign. The place is well sized, and the tables are big enough to fit all the plates for naan, chapatti, main course and beverages without feeling cluttered.
Unfortunately, our waiter, a charming young man, did not provide a professional enough service… I think he was mostly interested in picking up and chatting with the group of young ladies sitting near us. This was a very off point, because it delayed the service and explanations and irrupted our dinning experience… All and all, I think this was mended by the owner –son of the owner of Mumbai- who approached us, and worked out the situation to the better.
As in Mumbai, there’s a complementary dish of chapattis and traditional dips as a starter, this was as good as in the downtown restaurant.
We then ordered chicken and lamb tandori, vegetarian rice, somosas and pakoras, once again Indian yogurt was our choice for beverage… it tastes fantastically with the spicy food!
The whole experience was very interesting and fulfilling. We were very pleased to have found good traditional Indian restaurants in Buenos Aires. These are great proof of the broadening of the gourmandize option range in the city, not only in terms of numbers of options, but more significantly in terms of great quality food, through which to explore the feel and sensitivity of faraway cultures.
Before the 2001 breakthrough, most middle class educated Argentines traveled around the world and explored first hand distant and exotic cultures. Nowadays, with a 3 to 1 peso-dollar exchange rate, traveling abroad has become a luxury not everyone can afford. But those who back in those days did discover a whole new world, and those who recently found Buenos Aires to be their new home, had the good eye of translating their experiences, transforming them into windows that open from Buenos Aires into fascinating faraway traditions and flavors, thru means of one of humanity’s first arts: the art of cooking.

My passion for Indian Food:

                                                 
Curry in the Kitchen

Please feel free to contact us for more details and insight information, addresses and whatever you shall need, as well as to share with us your experiences in these places. All comments are very welcomed!

Interested in buying antiques and collectibles from Buenos Aires or for that matter any other item that I have mentioned in any article you have found on this my web site, you can buy Toys from my museum and threw eBay, threw the Toy Museum on eBay press here; Toy Museum on eBay and threw The Buenos Aires ArtDealer, press here; Art Dealer on eBay From Art to Antiques. Or contact me direct. For more information :Email Bob Frassinetti. Press here to go to The Buenos Aires Art Dealer is a webzine magazine on Art, Antiques & Collectibles made or found in Argentina. The Buenos Aires ArtDealer, Argentina.



Architecture, Buenos Aires. Argentina
Bob Frassinetti. Copyright 2005. Roberto Dario Frassinetti. Argentina.

Dinning out in Buenos Aires .........
Topic: Food & Wine in Argentina


Argentina’s passion for food is worldwide known. Frequently identified with grilled meat and barbeque Argentina’s gourmet experiences go way beyond that. In previous articles we’ve pointed out how broad is traditional Argentine cooking, exceeding the world of grilled meat and sausages… From empanadas and Argentine tamales, to Andes potatoes, goat cheese and corn, “locro and carbonada”… The variety within is fabulous in the world of spices and exotic Latin American flavors. Our gourmandize world is as much of a melting pot as it is our society, featuring strong Spanish and Italian influences, together with Arab, Jewish and Taiwanese exotic flavors.
In this sense, as it happens all around the world, what we eat reflects throughout a variety of shapes, colors and aromas, what we are as argentines.
Whilst other worldwide countries received early exotic influences from India, Asian Southeast, Japan and North African regions, it wasn’t till recent years that Argentina’s culture and society began to establish solid grounds of encounter with those that seem distant and exotic cultures from our everyday culture point of view. That’s why visitors and locals were not exposed in our culinary options and experiences to those flavors.
Recently, thanks to the ever-developing globalizing world we have become closer and closer to distant cultures and their cooking. Atop this international trend, a group of edgy and trendy locals, aiming to explore cultures throughout their kitchen and uses, have set out superb ethnic exotic restaurants throughout the city. These Bobos of the gourmet world based their choice of food upon their own personal and cultural experiences, therefore these restaurants are not only a reflection of a determined culture and society, but also the impact that culture had on a singular individual who transformed his or her life experience into a restaurant in which they could share their passion for food and a certain culture. At the same time, and given the profound success of these new businesses, immigrants from around the globe, coming to Buenos Aires to live and work began to choose more and more the road of restaurants and food experiences as a mean to earn a living, retain their traditions and develop within their new chosen society profiting out of the best of each culture.
What we’ve said before is indeed evident around our city, for locals and visitors the gourmet option has broadened to a greater extent. Hence we chose to pick from the crowd the most significant and interesting of these restaurants, visit them and review their food, environment and sense of originality. We hope this is not only of help for the upcoming visitors seeking variety in their food options, but also, a window through which world wide readers can discover the modern melting pot Argentina.

Interested in buying antiques and collectibles from Buenos Aires or for that matter any other item that I have mentioned in any article you have found on this my web site, you can buy Toys from my museum and threw eBay, threw the Toy Museum on eBay press here; Toy Museum on eBay and threw The Buenos Aires ArtDealer, press here; Art Dealer on eBay From Art to Antiques. Or contact me direct. For more information :Email Bob Frassinetti. Press here to go to The Buenos Aires Art Dealer is a webzine magazine on Art, Antiques & Collectibles made or found in Argentina. The Buenos Aires ArtDealer, Argentina.


                                                       
San Telmo Vegtable & Antiques Market Place
Bob Frassinetti. Copyright 2005. Roberto Dario Frassinetti. Argentina.