La Cabrara

Cabrera 5099, Palermo Viejo - To round out our week of new restaurants (almost, we're headed to a new place tonight too - it's been a spoiling kind of week :) ) we finally decided to try La Cabrera. This place has been recommended to us by multiple people, but we could never get our act together early enough to make reservations...until our anniversary this past Monday. I made reservations on Sunday at the original La Cabrera location, they have separate location called La Cabrera Norte (both of which are located on the same street, only a block or two apart), most certainly due to the fact that they are incredibly busy. This place could be summed up in one word: MEAT. La Cabrera is known for it's amazing meat, although most places in Bs.As. are known for the great meat so this is not any sort of revelation, but they went about it in a slightly different manner. The menu is a double-sided over-sized sheet of paper with one full side dedicated to meat. Every kind of meat you can think of, from the gross - Small Intestines, to the intriguing - Long American Ribs and Kobe beef (though significantly more expensive than the alternative, clearly), to the delicious - the rib eyes, tenderloins and other known cuts that we are accustomed to. We both planned on ordering a tenderloin (lomo) but each of us wanted a different "style" of steak, we were were going to order two. The waiter told us that the menu items were "para compartir", a phrase we had heard before (since we Americans eat like 5 times the food that people in other countries consume, we are often told that we are ordering too much food, which is both embarrassing and amusing) so we replied that we were really hungry and 2 orders would be fine. Thank goodness he stopped us - the steaks we were ordering were 800 ounces (~28 ounces). O.M.G. It's impossible to tell from the one horrible picture I took (at the top of this post), but we basically got four 6-8 ounce filets plus lots of side dishes when we ordered A menu item (pictured much more elegantly from this picture on the right that I stole from Google images). The table next to us was a group of 3 Australian guys that also insisted on ordering their own dishes, although they did not head the waiter's warning when they were advised to share. I thought they were going to fall off their chairs when three - count them, THREE - 800-900 gram rib eyes came to their table. Holy Meat Overdose.

La Cabrera round-up: This place exceeded our expectations in terms of food quality and serving efficiency. Our waiter was friendly, knowledgeable, and efficient. We loved the number of side items and sauces that we received with each course; bread, appetizer and main dish. Other than the steak, the bread and proveletto appetizer that we ordered were nothing special. The main attraction was the meat, and it was unbelievable. This is a great place for visitors (we most certainly will take our families here over Christmas) and for the shock value of these ginormous cuts of meat. If you're looking for an authentic Argentinean parilla, this may not be the right place to go. La Cabrera is definitely tailored to tourists, expect to hear lots of English (and French and German etc) spoken by the clientele, which can distract from the authenticity, even if the food is amazing. Last note - prices are insanely low for the amount/quality of food you receive, after an appetizer, a glass of wine, 2 soft drinks and the steak, we had a bill of less than US$45.

Tegui

Last weekend marked some big milestones for Jon and I, I turned "almost-thirty" (29) on Saturday and we celebrated our second wedding anniversary on Monday (that celebratory restaurant post is still in progress). Both events were reasons to celebrate, therefore, reasons to try new restaurants. We took a recommendation from our friend Federico, a great source of recommendations, and tried a new restaurant for my birthday, a place called Tegui (Costa Rica 5852, Palermo Hollywood). Our evening started with the craziest cab driver of all time; he talked to himself the whole ride, honked furiously at cars in front of us that had no chance of moving, and eventually threw out his transmission and we had to exit the cab. Don't worry, he still charged us for the ride. We found another, non-crazy taxi and arrived at the graffiti-covered wall pictured to the left. Luckily, Federico knew how camouflaged the door was, so he sent us a photo in advance because if we didn't know what the front door looked like, we wouldn't have felt comfortable ringing the doorbell. Yep. The restaurant has a doorbell. This door opens to a whole other world on the inside.

The restaurant decoration is a mix of ultra modern glass and renovated apartment building. We opted to sit on the small patio, which was comfortable even in late fall since it's heated and covered. The downside to sitting on the patio is that the chairs are semi-patio furniture style, and not nearly as comfortable as the padded chairs situated at the indoor tables.

As we walked to our table, the hostess politely asked if we would prefer English menus, and we happily accepted them. The menu had an interesting setup, it was priced by the number of courses you chose, either 1, 2 or 3 regular sized courses or 6 mini-courses consisting of 2 items from each section of the menu. The catch with the 6-course menu is that the courses are chef's choice, and although everything we ate was wonderful, there were a few ingredients that we were not interested in sampling, so we went with the 3-course menu. What we didn't realize was that the menu was supplemented with all sorts of other goodies that came as part of the dinner. The first item we were served was a small cone filled with whipped goat cheese and some other deliciousness. Next, we received our appetizers, I had the cheese souffle (pictured on the right) and Jon had the corn pudding. Both items were on the sweet side, the corn pudding came with a caramelized top, a la creme brulée-style, but they were both delicious.

Peter Cottontail, on my plate

In addition to the items we ordered we also received a plate of mini-pancakes accompanied by two delicious spreads, and the delightful item served in a shot glass (pictured on the left). Our meals were great as well, I actually ordered the rabbit (which I've never done before) served with a goat cheese spread, pureed carrots and orange slices, and it was really good (even though I thought about the fact that I was eating a rabbit the whole time). Jon had the veal tenderloin which was, of course, delicious. Our meals ended with two decadent desserts, both of the chocolate variety, and both quite good. The only tarnish to our perfect meal was the fact that it took us two requests and 40 (yes, FORTY) minutes to receive our check at the end of the meal.

Tegui round-up: Probably the most chic restaurant we've been to in Buenos Aires. The food was interesting, delicious and different than any other dining experience we've had in the city. The service was great (minus the absence of our bill at the end of the meal) and we felt comfortable to ask questions and take advantage of recommendations. Great place to go for an occasion, such as celebrating 29 years on Earth, but a little on the expensive side for a frequent trip.

Sorrento

Posadas 1053, Recoleta - After going to a movie Friday night (see Sex in the City if you are looking to feel totally inferior about your sense of style and inability to walk around a city in stiletto heels...), we were in a quick fix to find a restaurant that was good, close, casual and new (to us). There is an area called Recova near the Four Seasons Hotel that has a cluster of restaurants that we've never tried. The closest Sushi Club location is there, so generally when we head that way we are drawn to have sushi, so we really haven't spent much time checking out the other places around. We weren't dressed for anything fancy, so we peeked at the menus and in the windows and decided on Sorrento. Sorrento is an Italian restaurant with white tablecloths and an extensive menu. It was pretty crowded, although there were still a few tables available (at 10:45pm) so we sat right down. The inside of the restaurant has a pleasant ambiance, but I have to note the hilarious and tacky Coca-Cola sign above their bar - it seemed out of character for the place.

Considering the vicinity to the Four Seasons, we requested an English menu and they were happy to comply (which was nice considering the attitude we sometimes get with this request). Their wine list was on par, nothing great, but everyone in the restaurant was drinking wine so it must have been sufficient. Here is a pet peeve of mine that occurred, again, at Sorrento - the serving staff handed us our menus and then didn't return for an eternity. No one asked for a drink order, came by to see if we were ready or anything of the sort - they wait until our menus have been closed on the corner of the table for at least 10 minutes before returning to take our laundry list of an order. This could easily be a culture difference, but a difference that I immensely dislike. Either way, after putting in our order, the server returned with a lame basket of bread (it was hard, dry and powdery) and a greenish spread that tasted like pure mayonnaise.

The meal turned around when we received our Bruchetta Mixto appetizer. The order came with six small toasts, two of each type of topping. The eggplant bruchetta was so good, I ate it before I remembered to take a picture. It was a beautifully marinated blend of eggplant, green and red peppers and my favorite of the three types. The bruchettas shown are fresh tomato and garlic (lots and lots of garlic) and some sort of cream cheese with a small pepper on top. The only criticism of this dish was that the toasts were drenched in olive oil, almost to the point that they fell apart when you picked them up. Don't be deterred though, this dish was delightful.



For dinner, Jon ordered the Lomo (beef filet) with peppercorn sauce and mini-potatoes and I had a homemade spaghetti dish with tomato sauce, capers and black olives. The steak was perfectly cooked, the potatoes were tender. Though it was delicious, we couldn't help but comment on how similar this dish was to the Lomo that Jon orders at most other restaurant meals. The fresh past in my meal was delicious, but the flavor makeup was not my favorite. The tomato sauce was on the sweet side, then mixed with the salty black olives and capers made for a bizarre combo. The portions were enormous though, I was able to take 3/4 of my meal home. I should note that the server was much more attentive and pleasant at this point in the meal, he truly seemed delighted to wrap my leftovers up once I asked him in Spanish. It was already pretty late, and we were in for another dinner out on Saturday (for my birthday! More to come on that...) so we skipped dessert.

Sorrento round-up: Good not great, but a nice alternative to our regular dinner spots. The prices were slightly cheaper than we would pay at Sottovoce, although the food was not quite the same caliber.

Megagym, Megatlon

When I returned from the US I received this delightful welcome from our cleaning lady:

"Hola Dawn! You look so much better with this extra weight you have from your vacation!"

Wow. Time to hit the gym.

I look like something like this at Megatlon

Good thing we have Megatlon. We had a pretty good thing going with Gold's Gym in Virginia great classes, great teachers, good equipment, close to home and a cool cardio-cinema. We were hoping to find a new good thing, so much so that finding a gym was our #2 priority - after we found an apartment. There are plenty of gyms in the city to choose from, basically one on every corner. After asking around, we got a few good recommendations for Megatlon, which is easily the largest gym chain in the city. There are multiple locations in the city, so chances are that there is a location near you. I was sold on joining as soon as I took the tour. We are closest to the Barrio Norte location, from the outside it's not much to look at, but the inside of the gym has much more space that you would think. There are 7 floors in this location including a large pool, locker rooms with full shower capacities, multiple floors of cardio equipment and a full level of fitness rooms. There is also a full schedule of classes that take place at all times of the week. The downside to this location is that with the exception of the fitness rooms, none of the floors are air conditioned.

There are 4 membership levels, Plan Red VIP, Plan VIP Plus, Plan Platino & Plan Platino Plus. Each additional level of membership gives you access to more of the gym's locations and therefore, is more expensive. We are VIP Plus members which gives us access to all locations except Villa Crespo, Congreso, Devoto y All Boys. Honestly, we have never gone to any other locations, so this is no consolation - but this is the lowest plan that includes our location, so we didn't have a whole lot of choice. Our plan charges $125 pesos (~US$32) per month which is automatically deducted from our debit card each month.

Words of warning for anyone signing up for a gym:

• All gyms require a medical assessment before granting your membership. Generally they have medical staff in-house - just don't be nervous (like I was) when they put you in a small room with a Spanish-speaking man and he asks you to remove your shirt. Ladies, remember to wear a sports bra the day you go to sign up.
• The hours are different that you can expect in the US. Our location's hours are: 7:30 - 11:00pm M-F, 8:00 - 10:00pm Sat and 10:00 - 6:00pm Sun. If you're a before-work-workout kinda person, take note.
• There are random, without warning, days/times when the gym is inexplicably closed. This is actually pretty normal for Bs.As., but good to be aware of.
• The cardio machines are all set to stop for a "recuperation time" after 25 minutes of continuous use. You are able to stay on the machine and start it again, but this is super annoying during any type of long distance training.

We both think Megatlon is great, I've been to a few of their classes and the instructors are good too. It's probably the closest thing to a "Gold's: Argentina", so we are happy with this choice.

Primero de Junio

June 1, 2010 brings with it two important events:

1) My youngest brother, Robbie, has a very important birthday, his 21st - Happy Birthday!!!! This is awesome because we can finally go out and grab a drink together. This is not quite as awesome because it means that my youngest brother is 21 and I am way older than 21.

2) Argentina's ban on imported goods is supposed to begin today. Although, there is new hope on the importing foreign goods front. If you remember from my Argentine import ban post, on May 6 Guillermo Moreno, the Domestic Trade Secretary, announced that as of June 1, 2010 Argentina would cease to import all foods that have an Argentine alternative. The examples included Brazilian sweetcorn, Russian vodka, French cheese and Swiss chocolate, according to the Buenos Aires Herald. Consider Argentina an importer/exporter that has decided to focus on the exporting. While I was disappointed to hear that my beloved Philly Cream Cheese and French Brie were a short lived luxury, what I didn't anticipate was the backlash that the effected countries may have on this decision. The European Commission along with Brazil has now voiced their strong objections to the decision - to the point of threatening to reciprocate actions if the decision is enacted. It would seem that moving forward with the import ban would be like shooting the Argentine export business in the foot. An interesting turn of events, and one the will hopefully keep my familiar products on the shelves. We shall see what happens, my only prediction is that things will probably not progress very quickly, they hardly ever do when these decisions are involved.