When I arrived in Argentina a couple of years ago, there were a few spots known for vegetarian food – mostly of the all you can eat steam line buffet style, and generally a mix of Argentine and Chinese dishes – also leaning heavily into the fried world. There were a couple of spots offering more interesting vegetarian cooking, but not many. Over the last two years more and more places seem to be opening, and some of them truly creative – places that could give the vegetarian spots in my old East Village neighborhood a run for their money. I’ve only checked out a limited number of them, but my impression is that they’re being frequented by locals more than tourists, so there’s clearly a culture here that appreciates the offering – whether vegetarians, or just folks who want something different for a change. Enough so, apparently, that the raw food vegan spot that I wrote up awhile back – verdellama – has opened up in a full restaurant setting – have to get there and check it out – and is apparently thriving, and a new puertas cerradas place, Diego Felix, opened up that is offering vegetarian tasting menus three or four nights a week and apparently pretty much selling out seating any time he opens. I’ve also noted that in more and more just “regular” restaurants, they’ve started to add some sort of vegetarian option – most of them are still at sort of the “veg plate” level as opposed to being something more creative, but it’s at least a recognition that there’s a demand.

Even the press – as you know I wrote a piece for Time Out Buenos Aires on vegetarian dining in the last issue, at their request, and it’s still getting positive response from folks using the guide. The Guardian UK wrote a piece in January on the topic. The Boston Globe just published something in March. So there’s starting to be some recognition internationally as well that there are alternatives to steak here.

Ken, thanks!

The food here looks really terrific, esp. the beggar’s purse. It goes a long way to show how interesting and appealing meatless cuisine can be.