Trick or Treat: Brunch at Fierro Hotel

We finally made it to brunch at the Fierro Hotel in Palermo. And what can I say: Everything they write and blog about it on the internet is true. It’s great. Go!

You pay 150 Pesos, and they serve you five delicious courses, bread & jams, a very good Bloody Mary, fruit, juice and tea. The portions are not big, mind you, but I swear even the husband who does not only like his food well prepared but also in a certain quantity actually rolled out of the place afterwards.

And it was delicious. This month’s tasting menu started off with a fruit salad and some bread, jams and the traditional Dulce de Leche. Then we had an egg prepared at 63° C, followed by a combo of Leberwurst & Schwarzbrot, some Asian snack that looked like a Bahji, and a seaweed fritter with joghurt dressing. Then came the catch of the day – a nicely prepared white fish with courgette puree – and a Goulash with real Spätzle. How we managed the pear crumble is still a mystery to me but it was so good that I had to give it a go.

I actually don’t know how often they change the brunch menu, but I can’t wait because then I can go again.

As to the ambience, brunch is served in the regular breakfast a.k.a. dining area of the hotel that offers a view at the small garden and the open kitchen where you can watch the chefs do their magic. The décor is tastefully modernish, the seats are comfy and the waitresses make up for their slight absentmindedness by being very friendly.

So what are you waiting for? Go!

Happy Birthday, Daahling

Is it a coincidence that for the third year in a row the husband wasn’t with me on my birthday? Or is it some sick cosmic sense of humor that always sends him away on a business trip on that day? In 2011, he had to go to a meeting in Germany and I organized my Girl’s day on the town. Last year, he had to go Shanghai, but luckily I was in Germany at the time and could celebrate with my parents and my best friend. And this year, he had to be in Mexico City and was only able to take the night flight and arrive back in BsAs the following day. So I was on my own again.

Taking the day off from the office was of course a given, as was setting up a full agenda to keep myself entertained. Luckily, this year I could count on a few good friends to share the day with me which made it more fun. I started the celebration with brunch at Oui Oui in Palermo Hollywood and a good natter with a German friend over a delicious (and huge) portion of scrambled eggs, bacon and toast which left me fully fortified for my next agenda item. 

I had booked half day with a photographer from the Foto Ruta team here in Buenos Aires who took me through the barrio of Montserrat. After a quick introduction to the basics of photography we changed the automatic settings of my camera to manual and off we went on the lookout for interesting motives, on which I could practice aperture and shutter speed. It was a windy day so the changes between cloudy and sunny kept me pretty busy, and to make it even more challenging the dials in my camera acted up a bit. But all in all it was good fun and I even managed to take a few artsy shots.

After a quick tea break it was then time for the weekly tango class that I also take alone when the husband is not around. Believe it or not but there are tons of things the women can learn without the male partner, such as the nifty adornos that the follower can bring to the game whenever she feels like it.

For my birthday dinner I had chosen Peruvian cuisine at the RAWA resto close to Teatro Colon. It is more on the economic side but like its flagship restaurant Chan Chan it serves great ceviche and fantastic Pisco Sours. Plus the décor is hard to beat with its colorful painted walls full of Machu Picchu scenery. I met my friend there after the class and shared a few of the typical Peruvian dishes to get the full variety. When it was time for desert my flan was quickly adorned with a candle and my friends sang and clapped the typical birthday ditty “Que te cumplas feliz” that I had already heard as a bystander a hundred times in the neighbors’ gardens. Well, when in Argentina …

It was a fun day and I really enjoyed it very much. And the best thing was that I got a repeat celebration when the husband landed the next day with a guilty conscience and invited me to Osaka, where we had a fantastic Peruvian-Japanese fusion dinner. Who says you can only celebrate your birthday once?

Trick or Treat: La Pecora Nera

Choosing our News Year’s venue had taken some research, and while trawling the net and the newspapers I had assembled quite a list of potential restaurants that we had never been to but that sounded promising. We didn’t want to let all the work go to waste and decided to give those places a chance and work our way down that list.

The first candidate was La Pecora Nera, a highly recommended Italian restaurant in the Recoleta neighborhood. That alone was a plus for me since I like that area of Buenos Aires – probably because it looks like Barcelona. Talking about recommendations: It is also a good idea to reserve a table because you can’t just walk in from the street but have to ring a bell and announce yourself to the staff. And since it is a rather small place that always seems to fill up pretty quickly, make sure to secure a table.

Located on Ayacucho, La Pecora Nera offers easy access with enough parking in the vicinity – but make sure to bring the house number since there is no prominent sign but only the logo on the top-to-floor glass windows. Those are mostly covered by black velvet curtains that only offer a glimpse at the interior – which gives the patrons on the other side the necessary privacy to dine without passersby staring at their plates.

The interior for me was just the right mix of elegance and comfort, with chandeliers hanging from the ceilings, nicely set tables, golden mirrors and paintings on the wall, wooden cabinets displaying antique decorative objects and comfortable chairs. Tables were placed close enough together to create an intimate atmosphere but far enough apart to give each party enough privacy, and the noise level was astonishingly low for a place of that size. One advice: Don’t forget to bring a sweater or jacket because the aircon unit is quite potent and the dining room had been chilled to an apparent 15 degrees– but that goes for any place in South America.

The waiters were very attentive but not overly so – again just the right mix for me - and the chef Daniel Hansen, obviously someone famous in the culinary scene, made the rounds several times. Due to our timing he didn’t get to our table, which was fine with me since I wasn’t there for his autograph but for the food. Which was great!

We started with the Carpaccio di Vitello and a rocket salad and then had the lamb risotto and fresh pasta filled with pumpkin, Gruyere cheese and a delicious creamy sauce as the main course. Since we had to drive back we shared a small bottle of red wine which limited the selection because the restaurants usually don’t have all the wines on the list in smaller portions. But the recommendation from the couple at the table next to us paid off and we liked the Malbec we ordered. To get a taste of everything we switched plates halfway, and the portions were just the right size. We even had a bit of space left for desert so we shared the Tiramisu – the only disappointment of the evening. But then I have a very specific idea how Tiramisu has to taste – exactly like the one my best friend makes – so ordering that desert in a restaurant is always a risky thing. But there are a few other sweet dishes to choose from, so perhaps I shouldn’t have gone for that one.

Pricewise, La Pecora Nera is roughly in the range of a good Italian restaurant in Germany. Mains are around 65 to 80 Pesos (which at the moment equal roughly 12 Euro) and the whole meal set us back around 470 Pesos. They don’t accept credit cards, but then they give you a discount of 10 percent if you pay cash - which is a nice gesture.

All in all, I really liked La Pecora Nera, and once we are done with the list we will definitely come back for more. The food was very nice, the price good value for money and the atmosphere relaxed.

Read more about La Pecora Nera on the net: http://www.lapecoranera.com.ar.

Second BsAs Anniversary

Exactly two years ago today we touched down in Buenos Aires to begin our Argentinean Adventure. It is amazing how fast the time flew by and it seems like yesterday that we said goodbye to Barcelona, that we had our farewell dinner at Port Olimpic, that I wrote that last blog before getting on the plane over here ... well, that was yesterday, but in 2010.

So to make a bit of a celebration of it we went to the city yesterday for another dinner, this time opting for local beef instead of seafood. We went to La Brigada, the famous parilla restaurant in San Telmo that we had never tried before and that came highly recommended by a German colleague. It is actually his favourite restaurant in Buenos Aires, and he is returning to Germany at the end of this week after living here in Argentina for the past 5 years, so the choice somehow fit very well.

La Brigada earns the praise with its quaint interior decked out with football jerseys on the ceiling and pictures of famous guests on the walls. The service was excellent and attentive – I have never seen so many waiters bustling around and keeping such a quiet and calm atmosphere at the same time. And the food, especially the meat was very good – and they really cut it with a spoon to prove the fantastic quality.

Happy with our choice for our second anniversary celebration and full of good food and a bit of Malbec we climbed in our car and went back to the suburbs. And while we drove along Avenida 9 de Julio, passing the landmark Obelisk and Teatro Colon, while we cruised along the Costanera and past the city airport and when we finally arrived in quiet and green Martinez, Barcelona and our life in Germany seemed far, far away. Yes, the last two years have flown by, but at the same time we have become quite accustomed to our live in this crazy place and we are curious what the next year has in store for us.

I’ll keep you posted.

Buenos Aires Travel Notes: China Town

As plans go, the ones we had made for this weekend took a tumble and we ended up doing something completely different – and constantly changing the game plan.

Towards the end of last week, the temperatures here in Buenos Aires had started taking a dive, so when we came home after work on Friday, we were ready for a cozy evening in front of our fireplace. But after having a look at the wood stacked in the garage we realized that the kindling was just too wet to get a good (and smoke-less) fire going. So we decided to treat ourself to some steak and international flair at the local American hangout – the Kansas restaurant.

The Kansas caters to the North American (and also German) eating habits and starts serving food way earlier than the Argentinean restaurants. So when you show up there at 20:00, the place is open and you won’t be the first customer sitting there under the smirking stares of the waiters who just started their shift and where actually just about to get everything ready for the evening. Actually, if you show up there at 20:00, the place is already packed, people cluster around the bar for a pre-dinner drink and everyone is holding a beeper and is waiting for a free table.

That was exactly what happened to us last Friday, and since we were too hungry to wait, we moved on to plan B – well, actually plan C. The weekend before, we had strolled through Martinez and seen an Indian restaurant that we wanted to try. So we hopped back in the car and drove over there to give it a go. Well, they had really just opened up, and we were the first to come in and ask for a table. The waitress wasn’t there yet, and the air con had just started to warm up the place, but the thought of a nice spicey curry made us take a seat.

Well, to say we were disappointed is the understatement of the week. The air con was really no match for the the big, drafty room, and on top of that the music – some tuneless buddhist chanting – gave us the shivers. At least my Chicken Korma tasted vaguely Indian, but the husband's Chicken Masala was pretty weird, and he started having stomach cramps before the waitress in colourful native garb even brought us the bill. We drove back home and took refuge under a blanket on the sofa with a hot cup of tea to warm up and appease our digestive tract.

Well, after this experience we decided two things. First: Next time we feel like food other than the Argentinean fare we stick to recommendations. And second: I should get out my curry receipes more often. I had stacked up on Indian spices before leaving Barcelona but the one thing we hadn’t found so far in Buenos Aires is Basmati Rice – real Basmati rice and not the fake stuff they serve in Martrinez under the pretense that, yes, of course, this is Basmati rice. So instead of following the original plan for Saturday and going to La Boca to have a look at the colourful houses on Caminito we took the train to Belgrano to check out Buenos Aires’ very own China Town.

China Town in Buenos Aires is not very big, but it offers a few supermarkets with a fairly good selection of spices, sauces and all the goodies to prepare a decent meal. There are enough stores to provide you with plenty of paper lanterns, paints and brushes and other Chinese good luck paraphernalia, and after your shopping spree you can re-energize in one of the many Chinese restaurants. We did so in The Porteño Dragon where the nice decoration and some very good chicken noodles made us go back on resolution no 1.

All in all, I can really recommend the barrio ... and I will keep you posted on the taste of the Basmati rice we bought.