Buenos Aires: discover new restaurants in the city – 02/27/2023 – Tourism

If you’re planning to dine out in Buenos Aires, Argentina, get ready for an unusual experience: lines.

Now that the city is coming back to life, there seems to be a celebratory mood in the streets, as if an antidote to the lasting side effects of Covid. Outdoor tables are packed. Locals who would never have lined up for dinner before the pandemic are now willing to wait to experience the dishes a new generation of chefs are cooking.

“There’s a mentality of not knowing what’s going to happen tomorrow, so it’s best to enjoy life now,” said Julio Baez, 37, who opened his 22-seat Julia restaurant in 2019 in the Villa neighborhood. Curly. Inflation makes it difficult for Argentines to travel abroad now, he explained, and so they are spending their money on good meals and fun nights out.

Like many of the city’s young chefs, Baez is promoting Argentinian ingredients for quality and sustainability. “The land is very fertile in Argentina,” he said. “We want to show that.”

At Julia and his latest restaurant, called Franca, also in Villa Crespo, Baez buys fruits and vegetables from small producers across Argentina, and combines them with world flavors to create a parade of original dishes.

In the neighboring Chacarita neighborhood, Lis Ra, 33, reimagines the flavors of her youth at Na Num, a 34-seat Korean fusion restaurant that opened in July 2020 on the former site of a pharmacy. “When I was a kid, my parents always mixed Korean and Argentinian food, so this combination of flavors comes naturally to me,” she said.

To produce her fermented pastas and sauces, she uses ingredients such as spicy “chile” flakes, ginger, garlic and soy sauce, to season fresh Argentine produce, seafood, meats and cheeses. “I love creating layers of flavors and textures,” said Ra.

A big hit with vegans is a recipe inspired by “humitas” –a corn pudding from northern Argentina– served as a “crème brûlée” made with almond milk, and topped with salty kimchi and pickled “daikon”. One of the chef’s personal favorites is the mussel ceviche prepared with a kimchi-based broth, crunchy buckwheat granola, pomegranate seeds, toasted seaweed, ginger oil and coriander. “It has many layers,” said Ra.

At Gran Dabbang, a food joint in the Palermo neighborhood, Mariano Ramón, 41,’s mission is to democratize fine dining. “The concept behind the restaurant is to showcase the diversity of superior products that exist in Argentina and make them accessible to everyone, in a relaxed and inclusive environment,” said Ramón. “We kept the design simple in order to invest our resources in the best ingredients and human capital.”

Asia and the Middle East are given attention in nuanced dishes that include many indigenous ingredients. Menu favorites include an entree of “labneh” layered with Japanese cucumber, dried cherries, tamarind chutney, Andean black mint, walnuts, sliced ​​fennel, spicy “chiles” and pomegranate seeds, served with a side dish of fried chickpea noodles.

Look out for starters like grilled quail marinated in “rica rica” ​​(a bitter floral herb from the highlands), ginger paste and yogurt, and roasted pacu (a freshwater fish from the more tropical region of northeastern Argentina), brightened with fresh turmeric, lemon, almond and yogurt paste, cardamom and allspice, and topped with papaya and coriander chutney. “Many tropical ingredients that locals think of as ‘exotic’ are actually native to northern Argentina,” said Ramón.

At Mengano, his first restaurant, opened in Palermo in 2018, Facundo Kelemen, 35, decided to reinvent the “bodegón” -a classic neighborhood restaurant- in an early 20th century home, decorating it with family portraits and furniture from heritage.

The open kitchen allows diners to see the cook preparing new interpretations of time-honored recipes, which are served in the form of small plates to be shared.

“Each dish brings a certain level of surprise, and they are all emblematic of Argentine cuisine, which is primarily an amalgamation of Spanish, Italian and Creole influences,” he said. Fried beef empanadas are stuffed with onions, peppers, garlic, spices and a flavorful beef broth that explodes with every bite.

Other highlights include the Patagonian lamb “tarte”, gnocchi made with cassava starch, and a crispy rice dish that is halfway between a risotto and a “socarrat” – the layer of toasted rice that forms the bottom of a paella.

At Oli, a bright and lively cafe open for breakfast, brunch and lunch near the bustling Colegiales neighborhood, Olivia Saal, 28, has split the menu evenly between freshly prepared sweets and savory dishes.

Top picks include made-from-scratch French toast with a thin layer of yogurt, mascarpone cream and mixed dried fruit and figs, and the delicious “medialunas” (an Argentinian specialty similar to a croissant), coated in sugar.

For a savory snack, order a grilled hot cheese with ham on “chipa”, a kind of cheese bread made from cassava. The dining room overlooks a glass-encased kitchen in which a group of tattooed youths are hard at work.

“I’ve always dreamed of having a restaurant where customers can see the people who feed them,” Saal said, “and where the kitchen staff can see guests coming in and out happily.”

Translated by Paulo Migliacci