Exquisite
Mind you, that’s not to say presentation is everything. At the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter how nice your coffee machine is. What counts is the quality of the service that you offer.”
- Peter Bolton-King, chief executive of the National Association of Estate Agents
Buenos Aires - I turn to my Roget’s Thesaurus… entry 674.17… superb, super [slang], superexcellent, supereminent, superfine, exquisite, magnificent, splendid, splendiferous, tremendous, immense, marvelous, wonderful, glorious, divine, heavenly, terrivic, sensational; sterling, golden; gilt-edged or gilt-edge [both informal]; of the highest type, of the best sort, of the first water, as good as good can be, as good as they come, as good as they make ‘em [informal], out of this world [slang]. Okay, quite a few of those are well over the top, so to speak, and truthfully, the word that came to mind was the title of this post, exquisite. A visiting friend from New York was in and we’d headed to a restaurant that my friend Alex, of Terroir has been recommending for a couple of months now. I hadn’t gotten there. Silly me. Alex is good with food. We entered the converted old brownstone that is now puratierra, 3 de Febrero 1167, in Belgrano, 4899-2007, and found ourselves to be the first to arrive (at nearly 9 p.m.) for the evening meal.
It’s tempting to just pick an illustrative photo, but would it be the cute little amuse bouche of bondiola… or the non-photo-ed trio of dips (hummus, carrot-grapefruit, vegetable cream) for the various freshly baked breads…
…or perhaps the tender as butter seppolini (baby squid) swimming happily about with their braised vegetables…
…or maybe the oozing fresh burratta perched atop its tomato compote and tagged with slices of roasted beets…
…or, better yet, the main courses, a succulently moist chicken breast, cascading with finely diced bits of zucchini and black olives in a bit of a garlicky foam…
…or the perfectly grilled piece of corvina (sea bass) atop its roasted tomatoes, carrots, fennel…
…no, wait, the desserts, that would be it, the bitter chocolate gelato with a trio of sauces - caramel, coffee, and cocoa, with scattered bits of sweetened cocoa nibs…
…or maybe the coconut and white chocolate soup with a scoop of fresh raspberry sorbet and dots of different herb and spice oils….
Better yet, the attentive, friendly service. Or the nicely lit, handsome room. Or the cozy, comfortable feeling of just sitting there and enjoying a glass of well priced wine off their well selected wine list.
Or perhaps, just to note that it was easily one of the top three meals I’ve had in Buenos Aires over the last three and a half years. [And, before you ask, Maat and Urondo are the other two of those three.] Definitely a special occasion place, as it’s a bit pricey - with a bottle of moderately priced wine it ran us 240 pesos for two - but worth every centavo (that my friend spent, since he, thank you Allan, picked up the check).
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:02 am
We went there awhile ago and had a great meal but I don’t remember the food looking so nice–I must learn to eat more slowly and I think your pictures will take me there again sooner than later! The presentation is nice but you did great work with the photography. Curious, what kind of camera are you using? It looks like you are using a flash, does anyone ever look twice at you–especially in nicer restaurants? The baby squid picture and desert picture are my favorites. Nice work!
May 23rd, 2008 at 8:57 am
The camera is an Olympus Stylus 730, which I got specifically because several sources recommended it as the best for macrophotography in the relatively inexpensive price range. I do use a flash, and I used to get odd looks, and sometimes someone from the restaurant would even come over to ask why I was taking photos - but these days, so many people do, and with the increase in tourism, I’m just one of many snapping shots in a dining room. I tried without the flash, but find that on closeup work they don’t come out well.
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:42 pm
I also went to this place a while back and loved it. They even messed up on the description of one of their desserts and when we pointed that out they comped it!
That is something that is so rare in Argentina. I have since recommended this place to anyone who would listen.
And no, I can´t remember what the mistake was. I do remember the service and the food being excellent though.