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Is Buenos Aires A Great Food City?
That is the question I came here to answer, after all. And it's a hot subject of debate among the expats here, which you can read about on our discussion group, where a thread titled "Food Revolution Bypasses Buenos Aires" is now at 143 posts, with a total of fifteen pages devoted to the topic.
With three months here, and with much exploring and dozens of restaurant visits under our belt, I feel qualified to answer the question definitively. (For myself, at least.)
For me, a great food city is a place that caters to all manner of the food-obsessed: vibrant street food, affordable ethnic and traditional dining, and highly-acclaimed (and more importantly, highly-respected by their peers) destination restaurants. It should have a connection to its seasons and soil (or sea, as the case may be). It should be a place that can alternately surprise and comfort, at any budget level. On my personal list thus far I'd have to include places like San Francisco and the Bay Area, Madrid, Washington, D.C. (but not without a fair amount of effort), and Barcelona. (I hope to visit soon places like Montreal, San Sebastian, and Singapore, which I imagine will be added to this list.)
For me, a great food city is a place that caters to all manner of the food-obsessed.
Buenos Aires doesn't fit the bill, though.
Yes, there are many affordable steakhouses that specialize in the traditional Argentine cuisine of "Meat. Fire. A Little Salt." The problem is that there isn't much to be found below or above it. That is, the street food scene is virtually nonexistent beyond empanadas. And in the "above" category, the popular restaurants like Thymus, Sucre, Republica Brasas Resto, 788 Food Bar and others have left the worst taste of all in our mouths--the absence of flavor.
It's not that all of these restaurants were bad (well, a few were), but none of them were very good. I have had one meal in Argentina (the subject of a future post) that really hit all the right notes, and it was in the wine city of Mendoza, far from Buenos Aires.
The culprit? I blame it on the grill.
In the kitchen at Sucre restaurant, one of the top-rated and -reviewed spots in the city, they are using the same wood-fired grill as nearly every other restaurant in town.
In some ways, this could be a godsend. The concept of cooking primitively is an attractive one and has proved successful for some, like the destination restaurant Extebarri in Basque country where everything is grilled, even the ice cream.
But at Sucre and other restaurants here, the grill becomes more of a crutch than a pedestal.
Menus consist mainly of wood-grilled proteins, but which are inadequately seasoned and sauced. When you grill salmon, halibut, shrimp or chicken over the same fire, without setting them apart in any way, it becomes tiresome. While the right sourcing and ingredients could provide variety in the absence of creativity, it doesn't seem to be a priority here--there is little connection to the seasons and soil, a disturbing absence of the Alice Waters philosophy. And when there are attempts at creativity, it just seems to fall apart.
So one is left with eating a lot of steak (not necessarily a bad thing), but pining for other flavors--something new, something alive.
Maybe ten other food-obsessed thirtysomething drop-outs could come here and reach ten other conclusions than the ones I have. But I have the luxury of choosing where to spend my pesosand expand my waistline, and my appetite is telling me it's time to move on.
As Anthony Bourdain would say, "I'm hungry for more." It would be a shame to spend all of our "retirement" in one place, on one cuisine. So we're headed to other locales, which you'll be reading about right here (with some additional thoughts and reports from Argentina). First up is a week in my hometown of Washington, DC, with a very full culinary calendar.
Although Buenos Aires hasn't met my expectations as a great food city, it has been a wonderful beginning to "early retirement," and we really have enjoyed so many steaks, empanadas, raviolis, cafes and scoops of gelato here. If you want to spend a week eating world-beating ribeyes at ridiculously low prices, washed down with wine at "two buck chuck" prices but possessing qualities of a far more expensive red, this is the perfect place.
So Chau, Argentina, and Salud--thanks for the long nights chewing the fat (literally) at your asados, the many afternoons pondering espresso in your cafes, and the tasty Coca Cola. But you are a city better suited to gluttons than gourmands.
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After having emigrated here from Chicago almost 6 years ago; and being a staunch fan of Argentina and a fanatic for one of the world's great cities, Buenos Aires; I have to concur with Mr. Henry. A Great Food City this ain't.
My wife and I raise cattle for a living on the pampas in the center of Buenos Aires province but live downtown in the nation's capital. Even the quality of beef is declining for reasons too many to name here.
Henry's description of the requirements for Great Food City status strike me as about right. "Biting tail" seems to be the predominant snack on the expat discussion group he links to. However, I don't think there is any disrespect at all in the above article. Not everyone can be a champion and, as regards food Buenos Aires doesn't rank.
Another reason that I respect his analysis is that he spent 3 months here forming it. It took me about 3 months to reach the same conclusion.
That having been said, the steak here and the manner (almost sacrament) of preparing it is just about worth the price of airfare alone. The wine that pairs it magically makes for an eating experience that should be on everyone's bucket list. Throw in deft handling of las achuras, a choripan, a slice of great pizza with fainá, some of the world's best ice cream outside of Italy ...and it will take you more than a month to get bored.
If you leave after only two weeks, you'll probably be sketching plans for your own Argentine bbq pit on the plane back home.
The reason for the unvaried menu has a lot to do with the character of porteños (residents of Buenos Aires) in that this most European of New World cities has never connected with its terroir in the way that you might imagine that it would have. Add the famous description of this being the only coastal city in the world built with it's "back to the water" (you can spend a year here and not realize that we are built at the corner of Atlantic Ocean and World's Largest Estuary) and it just adds to the mystery.
Being a Midwestern boy over 50, however, I can easily remember when anything curious or adventurous in US restaurants was unheard of ...and unmarketable. It is this memory of universally boring and bland restaurant offerings that keeps me balanced.
Three cheers for your investigation, your conclusion, and just maybe your inspiration for we porteños to raise the culinary bar here!
Can you imagine what just a little Bearnaise would do?
any portenho worth his or her lomo con malbec would have told you that Sucre and Thymus (and probably, the el bulli wannabe too) are for pretentious sissies.
Have you gone to la costanera to get street food that is not empanadas? Bought veggies in el barrio chino? Bought fish in la feria de Juramento? Cheese en Valenti? Had the best middle eastern food at Sarkis, in Jufre y Thames? Peruvian/ bolivian food around el abasto? Korean food in Flores?
No, didn't think so. If you stay within the confines of palermo-barrio norte, you won't get great food at good prices. If you insist on going to showy-off places, you can't complain because the food is bad. They are for show-offs. If you wanted to pay a lot of money, there are at least two places that serve better food: la bourgogne, in the Alvear hotel, and les anciens combattants, in unfashionable Barracas. great french cuisine, distinct tastes (at a price). I'm in chicago now, and while I love the profusion of "local" cuisines (thai, japanese, indian), i find the meat bland, the ice-cream tasteless, and the wine ridiculously expensive.
Hey Yanqui Mike, I am actually a reader of your blog, and glad to see you are reading about my time in BA (and soon other destinations) here.
It saddened me to find that Buenos Aires was built almost to hide the river -- they did the same thing in Montevideo, and it's too bad.
I agree with you about falling in love with the Parilla -- I think it's enough to enthrall for a short time, but at some point you'll be craving something more. I also think there are a few reasons to have hope that BA and Argentina at large will catch on to the rest of the culinary world, which I'll be posting about soon.
And "Argentine Gal" -- I was looking forward to some defenders of cuisine in BA, believe it or not. I only went to Thymus, Sucre, and the others because these are the restaurants considered by Time Out, Food & Wine, etc. to be the places to go in the capital. I agree with you, though -- they aren't worth it, especially when there are so many great steakhouses around.
Yes, I bought veggies in barrio chino (a better selection than the verdulerias, to be sure, but an asian market in almost any town will have something interesting -- this doesn't set BA apart). Yes, I went to feria de Juramento, and Valenti, and Sarkis for Middle Eastern. While these are nice places to go if you happen to live in BA, they are hardly a reason to go there -- compared to other fish markets I've visited Juramento is lacking, Valenti's cheeses and chaucuterie are fine, but not excellent and certainly not on par with the cheeses and chaucuteries of France, Spain, Italy and more recently the States, and Sarkis, while enjoyable, cannot be considered a hallmark of Middle Eastern cooking, much less an adequate approximation (this coming from someone who has lived and traveled in the Mideast). And as for La Costanera, isn't it all just chorizo sandwiches, which are also served at all the aforementioned steakhouses? I stopped by plenty of other choripan places during our three months there, if that's any help. I just don't consider a fatty sausage in a sad baguette to be interesting. But perhaps if BA isn't a great food city, it still isn't a terrible one, and knocks the pants off a few other places I've been to (I'm looking at you, Riyadh!).
I will miss the gelato, the steaks, the wine -- all of which I said originally. For me Buenos Aires simply wasn't a complete package, as man cannot live on ribeye, malbec and dulce de leche granizado alone (though there were times I came close to thinking I could).
I also have a hunch that Chicago, where you are now, could qualify as a "Great Food City," one that I'm looking forward to checking out later this year. If you have any tips, please send them along.
Thanks to both of you for reading, and Salud.
I'm going to differ with you (and Mike) on this. While it's true that BA is not at the top end of "Great Food Cities", it's certainly an excellent one, and there's far more than either Terrence or Mike suggest - argentine gal is dead-on - both in what you missed out on, and on the choices of places to try for "something different". I'll add in places like Pura Tierra, Urondo, Tegui, Almanza, Defensa al Sur, and dozens and dozens of others that take Argentine cuisine far beyond the "meat salt grill" formula that you propose. And while it may not have the most varied ethnic choices there are Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese and Thai restaurants; Bolivian, Peruvian, Uruguayan, Chilean, Brazilian, Ecuadorian, Colombian... the lists of places could get silly in length, and for the most part, we're not talking about places that will stretch your budget. And, as a.g. said, you clearly didn't try the places where you can find real street food here - come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen an empanada offered on the street, unless you're counting the baskets of them at the touristy flea markets.
Now, is there a lot of the classic, old-style porteno food here? Absolutely, and much of it is indeed pretty basic, simply grilled meat (though interesting you don't mention how varied the cuts are along with the various offal cuts that you wouldn't find in, say, a NYC steakhouse). And if you go to only parrillas and "minutas" spots, yeah, you're going to see the same basic menu over and over again - so what, if all you do is go to steakhouses or neighborhood cafes in Chicago, or NY, or LA, or, wherever, the menu will be pretty much the same at each place too.
A few years ago, I spent two weeks in BA and another week in Sao Paulo on business. I was so sick of steak and (truly decent and cheap) wine that it was a relief to get to Sao Paulo, with its far more varied cuisine.
But I did love BA. It's a beautiful city with terrific people.
I live in downtown Chicago, and it truly is a great food city. I've lived in NYC and Boston in the past, as well as Tampa (assuredly not a great food city), so I have basis for comparison.
From the gourmet hot dogs at Hot Doug's (wild boar sausage, anyone? With foie gras?) to the high end, this town has everything. I'd recommend checking out chowhound.com before arriving. The discussions of the whole gamut of Chicago's restaurants are generally in-depth and informative.
Whatever you do, do not judge the town by Taste of Chicago. We residents only go for the music. And deep dish pizza leaves me deeply puzzled. It's just...big. Chicago-style hot dogs, on the other hand, are fantastic.
Here are a few suggestions at the moderate level (I'm not a good resource for the upper end):
Spoon Thai (ask for the translated menu of real Thai dishes)
Sun Wah (a Chinese BBQ restaurant in the Vietnamese area at Argyle St., which offers a full Peking Duck feast for $30...enough for four)
Cafe Iberico, cheap and terrific tapas and sangria
David Burke's Prime House, for the 20-course Sunday brunch for the surprising price of $35
Frontera Grill, famous yet affordable for gourmet regional Mexican cuisine
Quartino, Italian/Mediterranean small plates
There are just too many to mention, but you'll enjoy exploring.
I enjoy your blog and will be interested in what you think of Chicago.
Hi Mekon, thanks for the advice
I've been to Quartino, Iberico and Frontera grill, and loved them all.
I'm not into hotdogs (give me a choripan/lomito any day) and i am also puzzled by deep-dish pizza.
Terrence: Time out and Food and wine are tourists traps. for anyone going to bs as I recommend http://www.guiaoleo.com.ar/.
I love Chicago (particularly in the spring/ summer) and yes, it a great food city.
I also love (oh the heresy) American supermarkets, all of them: from Whole Foods to Dominicks to Target, i just love the sheer variety of stuff to be found.
I love this essay. RIGHT on. We felt the same way about the food scene after spending two weeks in BA: there's only so much steak, ice cream, and pizza one person can eat. You think you're in paradise for the first few days and then, you realize they're food is fairly one-dimensional. Flush with beef and wine, we almost ate at sushi restaurant in Palermo but it was like $15 US dollars per roll...we figured we could wait a week until we were home.
Looking forward to reading your post about the D.C. food scene, which I find to be quite wonderful. Very underrated in my opinion.
Emily: you were doing it wrong: if you stick to beef and malbec of course you'll get tired. But complaining about beef and ice cream if you never try anything e;se, nor go west of Avenue Cordoba does not make sense. It is as if I compalined of chicaho hot dogs and deep dish pizza, but never tried anything else.
if you do bs as like a tourist, you'll get touristy food.
I know, it is difficult not do do bs as as a tourist when you are a tourist.
I was in DC once. I was 21, a college student, attending a conference, frightfully poor. i ate ramen noodles four nights out of five. But that does not mean DC is not a great food city. it means both that i was poor and that i didn't know were to find other good (but cheap) food.
I'm late to the conversation here, but Terrence is correct about everything he's written above. I've been living here for two years and complain endlessly to my Argentine girlfriend about the food here in Buenos Aires. Only a handful of restaurants in this city have not been disappointing (and more than a few have been terribly disappointing, an absolute waste of time and money).
In fact, if I had to use one word to describe the food in Buenos Aires I would choose "disappointing." And not "I went to Buenos Aires with certain expectations and was disappointed" disappointing, but "I've been living here for years now and am continually disappointed, no matter how low my expectations, by the bland food served to me, quite often by rather, er, unmotivated wait staff, in restaurants that would be out of business in a heartbeat in just about any large American city" disappointing.
There does seem to be better food to be found elsewhere in the country, though, as well as better service. I went to a fantastic restaurant in Mendoza and won't mention it here because I'm curious if it's the same one that Terrence is going to write about. Certainly the best dining experience I've had here in Argentina.
ok. now.. i've lived in the us for several years before moving to europe (uk and sweden) and i have to say, as much as i love the US, i find it almost comical that any american would criticize argentine food. i mean, because there aren't as many wendy's, krispy creams, in and outs and kfc doesn't mean that the food is bad. obviously there's an obvious lack of information as to what places to go to for lunch/dinner. i'm a vegetarian and don't drink alcohol, but still feel that everytime i go to BA there are plenty of varied options. now, i don't expect to find a place that sells bagels, or a street vendor handing out huge hot dogs. like a rational argentine shouldn't expect to find empanadas or garrapinadas at a street in chicago. right? right.