Mis Tres Comidas Favoritas en Buenos Aires*
- 3 -
En el barrio Palermo Soho, hay un muy lindo y pequeño restaurante dentro de una librería. El nombre de la librería es Libros del Pasaje (Thames 1762). En la carta del restaurante, hay una pequeña pizza que es muy deliciosa! La pizza tiene, espinacas, tomates secados al sol, y jamon salado. El precio de la pizza es muy buena porque no es cara. Los sabores de la pizza son simples pero muy ricos. La pizza es una merienda perfecta! Yo la recomiendo.
- 2 -
El numero dos es una sopa de mariscos maravillosa. En el barrio San Telmo, hay un nuevo restaurante que hace muchas comidas de Chile y Argentina. El nombre del restaurante es De Lira Restaurant (1336 Defensa). Me gusta comer las comidas de Chile porque las comidas utilizan muchos mariscos. La sopa de mariscos es una pequeña entrada pero hay muchos mariscos dentro del plato de sopa. En la sopa hay muchos pequeños camarones, almejas, mejillones, y un gran langostino en el centro. Los sabores son complejos pero no abrumadores. Si te gustan los mariscos, la sopa es perfecta para vos. Yo la recomiendo.
- 1 -
Mi numero uno es ojos de bife de La Cabrera. La Cabrera es parrilla muy popular en Buenos Aires y en el barrio Palermo Soho (Cabrera 5099). Que puedo decir? El chef cocina el bife perfectamente. El bife es muy tierno y jugoso. La carne es de una rosa perfecta cuando yo lo corte. Y la carne es gruesa y grande. El precio de la comida es un poco caro pero yo lo recomiendo. El bife es perfecto!
* entre Julio 13 y Agosto 11, 2010
Rounds Two and Three: De Lira Restaurant
Spinach salad with sun-dried tomatoes
Beef with root vegetables with a wine reduction
Fruit jam crepe
I did round two at De Lira Restaurant last Sunday with my friend Chris. We chose the prefixed menu this time – a three course meal for AR$37, which didn’t include the wine. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a clear translation of each of the courses, but I did snap a picture of each dishes. The starter was a lovely spinach salad, with sun-dried tomatoes. The main dish was a very tender piece of beef with root vegetables in a red-wine reduction sauce. The final course was a fruit jam crepe. I really love the plating of each of the dishes. I enjoyed the food tremendously.
Round three?
[ ... a couple of days later ]
Round three was definitely not a charm. My classmates and I decided to have a lunch at De Lira Restaurant today with our teacher. It felt like Spring was definitely in the air. The San Telmo fair was packed full of fair-goers. Our instructor had called ahead to make reservations at the restaurant as she felt it was going to be full of people. She was absolutely right. The restaurant was slammed. It’s great that the place is getting so much action, but I’ve never seen the staff so visibly overwhelmed. Service was slow. And unfortunately, the food suffered. I ordered the Lomo a lo Pobre, the same meal that I ordered on my first visit to the restaurant, and I was very disappointed. The egg on the steak was less than over-easy (it was raw). And my steak and rice were cold. My instructor looked at my plate and asked me why I didn’t finish the meal. All I could say was, “I’m full.” I continue to hope that restaurant gets better and more successful, but it really needs to figure out how to deal with a packed restaurant without compromising service and quality of food.
Amazing Woman Singing in San Telmo
I popped into a small bookstore on one of the side street off of Defensa in San Telmo, and in the store a woman was singing amazingly. She was really getting into her songs. I wish I jotted down the name of the bookstore. All I remember is that the bookstore is very tiny and sells film and music books.
Drop a Beat! San Telmo Street Drummers
The San Telmo fair draws out all sorts of people. Chris and I started hearing the sounds of drums getting louder and louder as we were eating lunch at De Lira Restaurant and wondered what it could be. They were coming from a parade of street drummers! Who doesn’t like spontaneous dancing in the streets? After lunch we strolled up Defensa street and saw that the drummer inspired a block party. Fun, fun, fun.
Hidden Gem: De Lira Resturant
The chefs at De Lira Restaurant (Javier Aviles De Lira, head chef, bottom left; Chris, baker, bottom right)
My Spanish classmates and I had planned on meeting for Sunday brunch at Olsen, a Scandinavian restaurant in Palermo Hollywood with supposedly a fantastic brunch. One by one, however, my classmates decided to cancel a few hours before our meeting. I wasn’t too bummed – canceling at the last minute is par for the course for folks from Seattle, an act that I knew only too well. My classmate Chris, one of my mates who had canceled, sent me a follow-up message saying he had been invited to bake bread at a restaurant near his apartment in San Telmo and asked me to drop by. During the short time that I’ve known Chris, who owns a bakery in Albuquerque, I knew him to be an outgoing guy despite his limited Spanish – certainly more outgoing than me based on his stories of nightly tango dancing and encounters with all sorts of Porteños. So it didn’t surprise me that he would be invited to be a guest baker. I replied back and said that I would meet him at the De Lira Resturant in San Telmo (1336 Defensa). I was going to San Telmo anyway to check out the street fair (more on the fair soon).
Defensa street (l); De Lira Restaurant (r)
I got to the restaurant, which is at the tail end of the San Telmo street fair on Defensa street, greeted by Javier Aviles De Lira, the head chef and owner of the restaurant who was passing out postcard advertisements to any and all who walked by. Chairs were placed in front of the restaurant so that cars could not park and so people passing could have a clear view of the restaurant. I was impressed by his marketing diligence, and I figured the restaurant was very new. Why else would the head chef be out there on a drizzly Sunday? On the chalkboard outside the restaurant’s door was Chris’ name. I was at the right place.
Seafood stew
Steak, eggs, hash, and risotto
Sure enough as I walked in I spotted Chris in the kitchen baking bread with the other chefs. Javier directed the solo server to seat me at the table near the window. The waiter brought out the menu and luckily he spoke a little English since the menu was completely in Spanish. I started out with a glass of Malbec. Chris joined me for lunch, intermittently getting up to check on his bread. The cuisine at De Lira is home-style Chilean/Argentine cooking. Chris and I started off with the seafood stew, a delicious creamy concoction with small shrimp, mussels, clams, and a jumbo prawn. The stew was a tad on the salty side, but the flavors were good. And having fresh seafood made me immensely happy. I’m sure as the restaurant continues on, the stew will only get better. Our next course was the steak and eggs, with potato hash and risotto. Muy deliciocio! The dish was perfect. The steak was prepared medium rare, just like I ordered. The over-medium egg was perfect. You couldn’t have asked for a better brunch! I opted against a desert though I wanted a cafe con leche (sadly, the restaurant doesn’t do coffee drinks); Chris, however, went for the chocolate volcano cake, which he inhaled. I enjoyed everything I ate and loved the thought that went into the plating of each dish. The grand total for my two courses and the wine: AR$77, or about US$19.
Volcano cake
And what about Chris’ bread? He confessed that he baked a bit too much. But from what I saw, the folks eating in De Lira couldn’t get enough. People were asking for seconds and thirds. I was telling Chris that late night wine-drinking sessions are never a bad thing! You never know who you’ll meet or what sorts of invitations you’ll get.
I loved De Lira Restaurant and will definitely return. The young chef and his team have tremendous talent, and I only wish the best for him and the restaurant.
Portenos in Love
I made a video using footage from the San Telmo street fair today. Defensa street was almost completely deserted because of the rain, except for a few merchants and the two lovebirds who I caught on video walking ahead of me. The music in the video is “Amor Porteño” by the Gotan Project.
Puppeteer at the San Telmo Street Fair
This puppeteer brightened an otherwise drizzly day at the San Telmo street fair today.
