Buenos Aires
Beth and I just got back from a 2 week visit to Buenos Aires. My answer to the simple question "How was the trip?" has been "Amazing, wonderful, frustrating, angering, amazing, wonderful". In fact, that was almost the chronological arc of the trip.
Pics of the trip are here. We did a lot of eating, a lot of sightseeing, a little of everything else: saw live music a couple of times, went to a few bars, some shopping. It was a full trip full of many "Wow's", "WTF?", and some more "Wow's". I highly recommend visiting Buenos Aires; it's a remarkable city with great people and a complex history and rich culture.
The porteños (inhabitants of BA) are characterized as equally proud and pessimistic. Considering the country's long crazy history from it's colonial occupation, the genocide of indiginous people, and unending political turmoil (how about 4 Presidents in a span of 11 days in Christmas 2001?), this pessimism is understandable. Even with the recent encouraging stretch of stability and growth, its citizens are not ready to trade in the doubt and mistrust with which they've been comfortable for several generations. So while we could hear and see the pride in their culture and beautiful city, it was just as clear that they weren't ready to acknowledge any form of prosperity. 40% of Argentinians live below the poverty line and 3 in 5 will apparently accept a bribe.
The city is enormous: 3 million people in the city proper and another 9 million in the metropolitan area. It consists of several dozen neighborhoods (barrios) fanning out from the city's center, the port. We spent our time mostly in the Eastern side: first half in Recoleta, a beautiful tree-lined neighborhood just a couple kilometers from the city center and the second half in the quieter, hipper Palermo area. Each of the many neighborhoods we visited their own very distinct personality and offerings, and I was happy to be able to spend significant time exploring each on foot.
I have many thoughts and reflections from the trip but here are some of the things that stuck out:
1. Empanadas: My friend Christen from work who lived in Buenos Aires for 6 months told me that "Empanadas are the best food ever." and I have to say that while I was down there, I agreed with her. We had a few of these delicious stuffed pastries almost every day. My favorites were the ones filled with spicy ground beef and the ones with sweet corn.
2. Beef: The Argentinian beef is legendary and rightfully so. Every form of beef we had from the ground beef in the empanadas to the rib-eye steaks was unbelievably good. It caused me to wonder whether cows get rub-downs each day or some sort of regular spa treatment. While dining at La Cabrera, one of the finest steak houses in Argentina, I asked our server why the meat is so good and he revealed that they take care to cut the meat closer to the bone, bringing out the flavor more. All I know is Argentinians really have a bond with their beef, it's consumed daily (60kg per capita per year) and everywhere. We were at a shopping mall downtown and down at the food court there were shoppers going full-on eating steaks -in the food court.
3. Malbec: Every glass of Malbec I tried was fantastic: earthy, full-bodied, well-balanced. Regardless of whether I was at a parilla (traditional Argentinian restaurant), a cafe, or a high-end modern restaurant, the Malbec didn't disappoint. There is something special about the Malbec grapes and their communion with the Mendoza region.
4. Gelato: I had read that the gelato in BA was better than in Italy, a statement I found somewhat dubious. I mean the people in Venice and Florence seriously threw down with their gelato skills so how could Argentinians improve on that? Well, they did. The gelato was amazing; smooth, rich, and delicious and, like their beef, gelato is fully integrated into the porteños' life style. They have Starbucks there but those cafes aren't ubiqitous like they are here -but Freddo's are. These gelaterias are everywhere, and they have an absurd assortment of flavors and sizes to choose from, just like Starbucks with their coffee.
6. Bread - Argentinians have not discovered this thing called "yeast". It makes bread rise and gives it some air, some lightness. The bread we had, across the board, was terrible. Even at high-end places where everything else would be fantastic, we'd get something that resembled Wonder Bread. It was doughy, dense, and flavorless and was such a stark contrast to the otherwise solid food we enjoyed throughout the trip.
7. Driving/Traffic: The first day I think I was killed almost four times crossing the street. Pedestrians do not have right of way as I quickly discovered. And this would be OK if the people driving exhibited the same politeness and grace we encountered from them regularly off the roads. But they didn't. They drive like aggressive, road-raged maniacs -but surprisingly no one actually exhibits any rage otherwise. There is rarely a honking horn and I never heard another driver complain when someone cut him off again and again. They just accept it as the way things are. And after a few days, we did too.
8. Milión: There were many sleek, stunning bars we checked out in BA but one that stood out as especially unique was Milión in Recoleta. Milión is a mansion that has been converted to a stylish, contempory lounge. It's an incredible blend of classic architecture with striking 20-foot ceilings and modern twists such as cutting-edge art hung and visuals projected against these tall walls. We had a nice evening people watching the young urbanites mingle while sipping on cocktails and nibbling on some small plates. The food was less than inspiring but it really wasn't about the food, totally about the vibe. It reminded me a lot of Thievery Corporation's Eighteenth Street Lounge in DC which itself is a converted 250 year-old townhouse.
9. Out late: We were constantly being reminded that Argentinians go out late and stay out late. Dinner crowd usually assembles no earlier than 9 or 10pm and there's no bar/clubbing of any form that begins before 2am (and they stay out until dawn). After one especially long day of exploring the city on foot, we were walking home at 1AM thinking that we had started to adapt. But then we spied a group of senior citizens having gelato at a Freddo like it was 4 in the afternoon. And there was another time we were leaving a trendy bar in the city center and saw a pre-teen girl come in with what I guess must have been her Mom. Great. We can't even keep up with the seniors or pre-pubescent kids here!
10. Mullets - Business in the front, party in the back. Mullets are still going strong here. But they're less trailer park and more futbol player-style. Pretty much every guy under 50 has some form of mullet. It was weird.
11. 80's - I thought the 80's resurgence here in the hipster scene was disturbing. I had no idea. The 80's are STRONG in Buenos Aires right now: tiger prints, pastels, tight jeans. I had looked forward to some cool shopping in BA but was roundly disappointed. Everyone from teens to thirty-somethings are kicking fierce 80's style. And 80's music was everywhere: restaurants, cafes, malls, retail stores, everywhere.
12. Change - The entire friggin' country is out of change. Cab drivers grimace if you hand them anything bigger than a 10 peso (~3 $US) bill. Retail store clerks look at you like you're a madman if you try to pay in cash. Apparently, it costs more to print the smaller bills than they're worth so they're in short supply.
13. Dinner at El Bistro - One night we went to El Bistro for dinner. It's one of the finest restaurants in the country apparently, featuring a 10-course modern Arentinian tasting menu. It's also in the Faena hotel, one of the most luxurious in the city. The level of opulence was off the hizzle. And it was also bizzare. Beth described the design aesthetic as "Cinderella & Cocaine". The restaurant looks exactly like it does in the picture: all white leather furniture, walls, and floors with touches of red. And oh yeah, the unicorns with the red eyes. So we're sitting there enjoying this lavish meal in this elegant-extreme setting and there's the music: 50 cent, Ludacris, and other mainstream hip-hop being piped in loudly over the speakers. Finally, it stopped but only to be replaced by the sound of a live 80's hair metal band playing next door: Whitesnake, Poison, etc. now begin to literally rumble and shake the dining room. It was the strangest dinner I've ever experienced and so typified much of what I experienced in BA!
I really loved Buenos Aires but also was happy to come home; it was an exhausting trip. San Francisco seemed so peaceful and idyllic upon my return compared to the hustle and bustle of such a large, dense Latin American city.
Like our dinner experience at El Bistro, there were so many strange juxtapositions I experienced. For example, on one city block, you'd see classic Western European-style architecture from multi-century old buildings oddly adjacent to jutting glass and metal sky-scrapers. In the neighborhoods out from the center, you'd see run-down tenaments next to chic, ultra-modern bars and restaurants.
Buenos Aires seemed to me like a city gaining its footing in this new unfamiliar era of prosperity and stability. It'll be interesting to visit in several years to see how they figure things out for themselves as they learn to blend the old with the new..
Last, below are a list of my favorite BA restaurants and bars from the trip:
Restaurants
Cade Dadá - Tiny little cafe/restaurant in the city center. Enjoyed the Lomo Dada pictured above; a delcious filet mignon on a bed of potatoes au gratin bathed in a creamy sauce. So good, I went back and had it again a week later.
647 Dinner Club - Sleek, loungy uber-hip place in San Telmo - We had the most amazing oxtail ravioli and dessert here; really good modern Argentinian cuisuine. And the aesthetic was just jaw-dropping.
La Vineria de Gualterio Bolívar - Small, almost hidden place in San Telmo that provided one of the best meals in my life: an 11-course tasting adventure in modern Argentinian cuisine with 5 generous wine pairings for a fraction of what you'd pay in SF. This is where I had the realization that, for me, heaven is an endless tasting menu with wine pairings.
El Bistro - located in Puerto Madero, mentioned above.
Cumaná - Our first meal in Buenos Aires, some amazing empanadas. Modest place in Recoleta.
La Cabrera - The best steakhouse we tried in BA, amazing cuts of meat. These guys are pros. Located in Palermo Viejo.
Bars
Thelonious - Jazz club in Recoleta, saw a great show mid-trip here but it was actually more folk pop than anything else. Cool vibe, good sound, so-so drinks.
Le Bar - Cool, loungy bar in the city center, great design.
Milión - mentioned above
La Cigale - Divy, unpretenious bar in the city center. Saw some interesting electronic music here.
