No New York Deli

Buenos Aires – First off, thanks to all who sent Henry good wishes, he’s out of the hospital, doing well, and staying with me until he’s back on his feet. The aforementioned hospital (a couple days ago) pumped two last units of whole blood into him, removed his IV and told him to go home and “take better care of himself.” Ahh the concern. Well, the lady in the kitchen who makes the jello came running and hugged him on his way out…

Before heading into La Plata yesterday for visiting hours, I figured I ought to eat something more nutritious than hospital jello, so I popped in to a small neighoborhood cafe, BN Cafe, Peña 2300, for a bite. This is a gleaming white, IKEA-ish decor, teahouse. That’s their specialty, teas – several dozen of them in tins lining the walls, and afternoon tea is popular here. BNCafe breadI’ve walked by the spot numerous times and sort of assumed that this was pretty much all they had, but being a gorgeous day, there were people sitting outside at tables eating lunch. So, why not?

Lunchtime at BN Cafe is primarily sandwiches and salads, and they were promoting in large letters on a chalkboard their Salmón NY – a “bagel with smoked salmon, chives, and cream cheese.” I did mention a couple of weeks ago that I missed bagels… So lunch started with a basket of the ubiquitous white bread, but served with a tasty little herbed whipped cream cheese.

In addition to the sandwhich/salad board, BN offers a soup of the day. Yesterday it was a cream of spinach soup, and spinach is good for you. BNCafe cream of spinach soupIt was actually a rather tasty soup, nice and peppery, with plenty of finely chopped spinach. I kind of liked that the “cream of” wasn’t what I’d expected. As you can see from the picture, they made the soup, and then dolloped some cream on top to be mixed in. It made for an attractive presentation, and worked out pretty much the same in the end.

I wasn’t expecting much out of the New York deli sandwhich that was being offered, but I just couldn’t resist checking it out. Not surprisingly, they don’t have a clue here what a bagel is. This was just basic white bread, shaped into a rather large ring, and topped with sesame seeds. BNCafe Salmon and Bagel - New York StyleMy waitress assured me that this was the authentic thing, just like I’d get if I ever visited New York (and served with potato chips, which “Americans eat every day for lunch”). I bit my tongue. Why destroy the illusions (delusions?) of my perky attendant? My “bagel” was topped with a wafer-thin slice of smoked salmon, reasonably good, and served with a side of whipped cream cheese with a few chives scattered on top, and half of a cherry tomato. Was it tasty? Setting aside my faint hopes for the real thing, yes. I think I’d go for a more “local” sandwich in the future. By the way, they advertise “sushi all day” on Saturdays and “brunch all day” on Sundays… I wonder if they have sushi other than salmon?

This morning, Henry decided that I need to eat better for breakfast. He seems to think that a cup of black coffee does not provide sufficient nutrition to start the day. Very odd. Besides, he wanted some hard-boiled eggs. For myself, I whipped up a favorite fried egg dish. I don’t remember where I originally got this from, but I find it near impossible to fry up an egg without making this one. It’s, well, tangy…

2 extra-large eggs
1 tablespoon chopped chives or green onions
1 teaspoon chopped tarragon (or another favorite herb)
¼ cup sherry or balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon oil or butter
salt and pepper
toast

Make the toast. I’ll leave it to you to figure that one out. Fry the eggs in oil or butter. I prefer to leave the yolks runny and the whites just set, but feel free to overcook them if you like. Put the eggs on the toast. Toss the chives and tarragon into the pan and add a good pinch of salt and pepper. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Add the vinegar, increase the heat, and stir rapidly to deglaze the pan. Let the vinegar reduce by almost half, then remove from heat and drizzle the mixture over your eggs and toast.

[Note: this restaurant has closed.]

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6 thoughts on “No New York Deli

  1. […] Buenos Aires – My friend Maureen arrived from California for a week or so’s visit. Had a quick breakfast of my favorite eggs with vinegar sauce and then she settled into her hotel for a short nap. As an introduction, we did a major walk along Santa Fe’s shopping district and then up through the Florida shopping district (she likes to shop), stopping off along the way to look at various protests and celebrations for the official date of Liberation Day (more was going on today than on Monday, which was really just an excuse for a long weekend). […]

  2. […] New York City – It’s hard to believe that I’ve been in New York for a full week and haven’t gotten out for a bagel! Maybe I wasn’t missing them as much as I thought I was. But I found myself in the East Village this morning and decided to stop in at an old favorite bagel shop. It’s irrelevant which one, as it’s not the point of this brief post. In fact, there is little to say, other than posting the picture of my morning “everything” bagel with a generous amount of cream cheese, several slices each of lox, tomato, and onion. The way a real New Yorker would eat one. I only say that to compare and contrast to the version I was presented with in Buenos Aires several weeks ago, the picture of which is also included. That one consisted of, as I said in the review, white bread in a ring shape, a tablespoon or so of whipped cream cheese with a couple of pieces of chopped chives, one half of a cherry tomato, and one paper thin slice of smoked salmon. Not, as they claimed, the real thing. Photos pretty much tell the story. […]

  3. I’ve revisited BN Cafe several times. The affected or afflicted bagel aside, BN offers a selection of some really good sandwiches at lunchtime. They also have a wonderful fruit infused herbal iced tea that I’m game to stop in for anytime.

  4. […] Buenos Aires – There used to be a nice little coffee shop at the corner of Peñ and Azcuenaga, called BN Cafe. I liked it, it was relaxed, comfortable, loungy, even if they did have bizarre ideas about what constituted a proper lox and cream cheese on a bagel. But it closed many moons ago, and was swiftly replaced by a place called Sante Bar, same address, Peña 2300, in Barrio Norte. It’s white. Stark white. Kind of like a dentist’s waiting room in a “B” movie. I just, simply, haven’t been able to bring myself to go in. But my friend Victor mentioned one day that he knew the owner of the place and we ought to check it out one day. Then we sort of back-burnered it, until yesterday when we decided maybe we ought to give it a shot. […]

  5. […] When last we saw Martín Rebaudino he was captaining the ship at Oviedo, where I believe he was at the helm for going on 19 years. I’d heard earlier this year that he’d parted ways, amicably, with the owner, and I saw something about him having headed off to San Juan, Puerto Rico, though that was just grist in the rumor mill. Just a couple of weeks ago he resurfaced just around the corner from us with Roux, Peña 2300, corner of Azuénaga, taking over the recently dark space that held Santé for several years and prior to that, BN Café. […]

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