eating is my second language

tomorrow, 2/12, is IBs bday and being that we are in a foreign land, some things that we love back home are either not easily accessible or just don’t exist. 

quick backstory. a few weekends ago we went to a bariloche ex-pat party thrown by a family who were actually leaving to go back home. we met tons of people there but we were clearly the youngest, unmarried, childless couple there but that didn’t stop us from mingling with everyone. one woman there brought these amazing herb type roll things and they all said she makes great bagels too! 

BAGELS!? those are not a thing down here so hearing that was eye widening. i quickly got her email and kept it safe!

i made an order last week and this morning, i went to her house and in her hand was a large bag of 12 assorted bagels! i had her make cinnamon raisin, IB’s fave, sesame, another fave, plain and everything (those were for me!) 

i purchased what is close to cream cheese, as queso crema in the stores is like sour cream vs cheese cream, anyway i figured it out and got something similar.

they were/ are (as we have 10 more to go) so delicious!

in pesos. 

so last night, IB and i went to dinner in town at a place called la fonda del tio. a bit out of the center of town but still walking distance. this is a place where all the locals say to go for good food, and since we are now locals, gotta go there, right?

we each order the milanesa (basically chicken cutlet or beef if you like it breaded) and a small bottle of wine. next time i think i’ll try the salad because 1. it looked good for argentine standards and 2. they put ham on my milanesa and ham is gross (i took it off.) 

this is what the bill came to

now, if you aren’t familiar with argentine pesos to the us dollar, divide this cost by 13. yes, that is a $24 meal for 2 people including wine. 

herbs in argentina are literally grown on the street. ive seen sage and rosemary just out there in the wild!

luckily for me, i can just go out to my front yard to get some fresh herbs! 

we got, rosemary, lemon oregano, tarragon and sage- seen above. 

just recently, as our herb garden was getting to be too big, it got a trim and i discovered we have chives too! 

i’ve made a ton with the rosemary (i put that sh*t on everything!) fresh lemon oregano is awesome to have and nice to smell and honestly don’t really know the difference between regular oregano but lemon oregano but thats for another day to figure out! and the sage is great in the butternut squash soup i make (recipe and photos coming soon!)

so being here in bariloche, comes with many things that i need to get accustomed to, one being going food shopping.

i start by taking the #20 bus which stops right in front of my house, lucky for me, and take it about 15 minutes towards town to kilometer 13 (everything in bariloche goes by km mark which is super easy.)

conveniently there are a ton of stores and shops at this kilometer mark but inconveniently for me is they take a siesta here in bariloche from the hours of 1pm to 4:30 pm, cool right?...not! so these smaller stores which have some essential items I am unable to buy so i head to the larger grocery store (where they don’t have everything) called la anonima or in english “the anonymous”, no idea either. 

check out this view from my grocery, not your typical trader joes backdrop!

a few things to note when going food shopping in argentina, i guess more specifically in bariloche:

1. they sell their milk in bags which i believe i noted before. but really, how does one store their milk? we did have to buy a container that we keep milk in.

2. the fruits and veggies can be a tad scary but i normally find the good stuff. don’t bank on making a kale salad, just doesn’t happen.

3. sometimes they are out of chicken...they love their steak i guess!

4. instead of a deli counter, they have an all beef counter. pick your cut!

5. today they were out of apples and i was sad.

6. they love their peanuts here but peanut butter, oh no way, thats a specialty item that can rarely be found. luckily some family recently came to visit and brought me some! i have also made my own which is much healthier anyway (have you looked at the ingredients?!)

7. the wine section is abundant and lucky for ib and i, the wine is cheap!

overall the grocery shop outing is always an adventure. from waiting for the bus and hoping it comes somewhat quickly (there’s no app for that) and then praying they have exactly what you are looking for and if not, there’s always next week!

exactly 3 months ago, IB and i landed in bariloche and what a change of pace it has been! no car, no english, no amazon.com, no complaints. i mean, look at this view that look out on every single day!

this is quite the change from nyc. 

what i was/ am most excited for is the different type of cuisine this gorgeous country has to offer. just this past weekend, IB and i were invited to have dinner at the best restaurant in bariloche with our new ex-pat friends. we initally avoided this place because it is mostly a tasting menu and with some dietary restrictions, we didn’t know what they would have on the menu but when you are invited and you know it’s got an amazing reputation, you take up on their offer (i did call to make sure we were ok with what they have to offer and luckily, we were good to go!) 8:30 reservations at cassis with our new local bariloche friends, needless to say our level of excitement was high.  

upon entry to the restaurant, we see 4 tables and an overlook of the lake and mountains. not too shabby but i should say, bariloche is filled with this kind of view. 

we start with a cheese tasting platter for the table and they inform us all cheese is homemade, word! then the second course they bring us piping hot soft pretzels. now these days i am trying to avoid carbs but i couldnt be rude, right!? with the pretzels came what looked like creme brulee but it was actually a chicken patee, and it was the best form of chicken I have ever had! even IB loved it! 

the wine ordering was non stop and we were not disappointed with the selection. even a white was chosen and it was delicious!

every platter and presentation was flawless. 3-4 servers at one time bringing out our plates in a synchronized manner and all was done to perfection...fancy!

just look at this salad! it has flower petals in it for eating! 

we were given a lamb dish  as our sixth course in some kind of filo dough. we couldn’t imagine this meal getting any better, but it did.

and finally, dessert. literally ate everything on this plate. 

ok so after about 7 bottles of wine, 7 courses and 7 friends, (ha, funny, i just noticed that, weird.) it was an amazing night and for argentine standards, this place is on the pricey side. if we were at a similar place, getting a similar meal with all the same drinks in nyc,we would be paying almost 3 times the cost. 

so, i’ve been in argentina for over 2 months now and what a fabulous and beautiful country. full of discovery, amazingly delicious eats, a country that just seems like planets away from new york city, argentina is nothing to sneeze at when it comes to food. 

i present to you my buenos aires top five restaurants to keep note of because face it, you can’t miss this beauty.

number five- nola, located in palermo soho this is a cool, scrappy, down to earth, taste of home type food. at first glance, just seems to be your cool hip palermo soho joint, tables situated outside, locals drinking the local beer all in front of the restaurant. upon entry, a huge chalkboard menu hangs above the cashier/ drink station and inside is filled with bar height and regular tables. super cool atmosphere, i was immediately in love. ib and i actually came here twice. the first time was around 10:30 at night after we enjoyed a full day in ba but this was immediately following a la bomba de tiempo show at the konex (a must see if in ba on a monday.) we were hungry for dinner and close to our apartment, so nola was the best choice for us. we got the fried chicken, chicken nuggets, jalepeno  corn bread and then another round of nuggets all topped with a bottle of malbec. after ordering you wait, enjoy the music, company and strangers surrounding you waiting to hear you name called out in some kind of argentine accent. food was delicious and jut the thing we needed after our full day!

number 4- morelia, also located in palermo but in palermo hollywood (called hollywood since a bunch of ba actors live here, apparently.) we came here on one of our last days in ba and knew nothing about it. all we saw was pizza a la parilla on the website. having gotten pizza once in ba, and it not being ny style pizza, i was a little wary of getting pizza here. it is your typical italian spot, known for their amazing and fresh bread and since we were eating realllyyy well this whole trip, i was trying to avoid the extras but this time, i couldn’t. the bread was deeelish! it was lunch time so we each order an empanada and share the pizza a la parilla and let me tell you something, this pizza was amazing.  if you are in ba at any point and need your pizza fix, this is the place to go! (olives can be tossed aside!)

number three- chila, in the heart of puerto modero the new, up and coming barrio in ba. established in 2013, this hotspot trendy area was a place we knew we needed to get to. being that we wanted a few nicer places to eat on our two week “vacation” in ba, we found this place. upon entry of the restaurant, we knew we were in for something special. we ordered a nice bottle of malbec that ended up as one of our favorites- zucardi serie a, and a few minutes after we were seated, we received our first of two snacks, courtesy of the kitchen. these snacks are pretty common at nicer restaurants in argentina. one of the snacks was the common choripan which is normall a pork product in bread, mostly seen like a hotdog. this time, it wasn’t the case. the waitress brought over the “choripan” and described it to us. we then waited for the choripan to come out and never did. after a few minutes our nice waitress asked if we were done where we said we never got anything. you see, the plate was filled with black charcoal pieces of wood and what looked like round pieces of coal. you see my friends, those pieces of coal was the choripan and were our faces red! the whole meal was excellent, we each got the steak (of course) and a dessert. great fancy option and service was excellent!

number 2- burger joint. this place has a familiar vibe and look. after further inspection, post meal here, i come to find out that the burger joint located in nyc has the same similar look and feel but still unable to find out if they have the same owner. tbd on that then! you know a place is cool when the tables outside are filled, the name of the restaurant is in small font right on the window, and there is a line out the door...all at 10:45 at night! sign posted above the cash register read “1 hamburguesa con papas fritas y 1 cerveza por 100 pesos” that is a steal! we each got a burger with french fries and a beer and it was delicious! must try for some familiar cheap food.

number one- steaks by luis. if you read mine and IB’s blog - malbec and mate, you will know that the night we went to steaks by luis was one of my favorites so far! a reservation and deposit were needed in advance here so we couldn’t miss it. 8:45 reservations at a spot where the door was black and unmarked. buzzed in by erica who asked our name and if we had reservations. about a minute later she opens the door and walks us up about 30 stairs. we were greeted by a full board of fiambres, cheeses and bread oh and white wine! 

we knew this was a closed door dinner but initially didn’t know what that meant. it is a dinner cooked by a professional chef in an apartment type setting. further into the apartment, we see our dinner beautifully displayed and ready for a nice photo op, which of course i took advantage of. asked to be seated after about an hour of chatting with the other out-of-towners, and brought out course number two, a basic salad, course three, a bunch of smaller meats like morcilla (blood sausage), small intestines, different cuts of beef, sweet breads and more. course four, the main course, our steaks cooked to perfection (medium rare) and the final course, a dulce de leche (another argentina staple) cheesecake. we were sooo stuffed by the time dessert came but there’s always room for dessert! every course was nicely paired with a different wine and they were nice servings of wine.  i could go on about steaks by luis but i will leave it as my favorite meal and experience so far in argentina. 

where have you been in ba that i need to check out?

so IB and i have been in buenos aires for about 5 days now, and we have done so much and have been eating like kings and queens! 

to start, we went to the grocery store to buy some things to keep in our apartment and upon looking for the milk, we only saw them in bags, no cartons! eventually we found the cartons at a higher price but come on, once that bagged milk is open, how do you put it back in the fridge?!? we were very confused. 

day 1- went to late lunch at fifi almacen- a lot of places have the word almacen in them and that means ‘shop’

i got the new york salad. squash, quinoa (seemed toasted vs cooked, but still good,) arugula, and a type of parmesan cheese, it was very mild in flavor. i thought this was a good intro to our trip to the south. 

for dinner we went to a restaurant called calden del soho, a typical argentine restaurant with a main focus on steak. very close to where we are living so it was a good first dinner. we enjoyed a bottle of syrah, which we now note that while in argentina, we should only get malbec, duh, each got a steak and shared two sides. the meal was super cheap and set the tone for the trip!

the next day, we went on a tour of buenos aires. a private tour led by don, had far surpassed my expectations. he took us on a 9 hour tour filled with history of the city, local hotspots and different landmarks. for our first cafe experience, he took us to cafe tortoni, one of the cafe notable’s in ba. we ordered coffee with tres medialunas which is what they call croissants here, it seems like their equivalent to the bagel in the us.  i got the hot chocolate and churros, simply delicious!

day 3 was a suday, a big day for ba where a lot of locals head to san telmo for the san telmo market. this place has tons of vendors with clothes, leather goods, souvenirs, food, almost anything. we had the best time walking this market!

cool seltzer bottles!

when it was time for lunch we found an awesome taco spot called che taco. it’s pretty rare for argentina to have a good mexican place but this one was amazing! we shared just the chicken tacos and steak tacos, simply delicioso! 

2 weeks ago:

less than a week left to go and i still have hundreds of nyc spots to try, good thing i’m young! i did however get some amazing new hotspots down my belly before i am argentina bound!

started with seamore’s in little italy. heard about this from some friends i knew i had to try and it. owned by the same guys that started the meatball shop, you know its got to be good! i met some girlfriends there and luckily they like to share. we got the poke (pictured), ceviche, kale salad two different tacos and a side of sauteed spinach, oh and a bottle of rose to top it off. we shared a table with another party which i kinda like. Finally, the bathrooms are normally overlooked by restauranteurs but not this spot, the theme was continued to the john and i really appreciate that.

next stop was jams. just over two months old, jonathan waxman really knows how to make me feel good!  my last week at work was truly bittersweet. filled with lunches and goodbyes but one particular one stood out. i went to lunch with one of my bosses and we chose a spot i was looking to try and it did not disappoint! we started with the jams pancakes (shown) and holy sh--! it was like a carnival of flavor in my mouth. mini pancakes donned with smoked salmon, caviar, creme fraisch. not knowing anything, this was something one should not look past! for our main lunch (felt more like dinner) we shared the chicken (normally i overlook the chicken dish) and the burger. chicken was juicy and flavorful and the burger probably took my second place spot with all time favorite burgers...come to think, it is first place in the beef burger column. this meal was a sad-it-is-over type meal.

finally, topped it off with a meal with shapin up. she suggested going to this new spot called by chloe. not knowing anything, i agreed. i soon found out it is a vegan restaurant, which normally i would say “no thanks!” the website was so friendly and colorful and fun looking, i knew i couldn’t pass it up. the owner’s story was pretty inspiring i knew i had to check it out. we got a mix of things, sweet potato fries, “mac and cheese” taco quinoa salad (seen) and the kale salad. seriously, this place is amazing! oh and for dessert, we shared the kale cookies and cream ice cream- WOW! everything about this place is so friggin delicious! i definitely suggest!

less than one month! ok, so a bit of some back story, these last few weeks, IB and i have been getting ready for what will be an adventure of a lifetime! we will be taking off next month and living in argentina! if you were to ask me two years ago if i would have ever done this, i would say “heck no!” but now, everything has changed. he and i will be embarking on what will be the coolest thing we will ever do. we will spend a few weeks in buenos aires then in patagonia in bariloche, learning the tango, eating the best beef in the world and getting to know one another on a whole other level. i am most excited to try the new foods, the different culture and most importantly the mate! i understand it is definitely an acquired taste, like a bitter tea, but something all locals must have in their home at all times! so with these final weeks in nyc, the mecca of amazing restaurants and culture, i am packing my schedule with final goodbyes (not forever), last meals at some amazing restaurants and that one last dollar pizza.  on my tour of goobye for now’s, i got together with some girlfriends for our last “team brunch” (not only brunch!) and went to the ribbon. it was in my old hood, which was a must and it had a real amazing vibe, so i was immediately in love. with no forth wall, the restaurant was more open and welcoming than the one down the street. we were seated in the back with an open view to the kitchen, which was still pretty awesome. 

we started with the trio of deviled eggs. I can’t go anywhere that has these guys and not get them. there was the spicy pepper, the salmon and the fried oyster. they were all good but best one was the fried oyster, yum!

for my meal, i got the schroom burger which is a beef burger and a variety of mushrooms on top, it was seriously delish! the french fries were really good too! they were kinda like fast food fries but 10 times better and not from a bag. 

this past weekend was America’s birthday and an amazing 3 day weekend! started with a nice day trip to see the ‘rents on friday and then that night until sunday night ib and i went to his aunt and uncles house in trappe maryland. sounds a bit shady but it is far from shade!

trappe is a very small town about one hour from ocean city. it is a water town with lots of wildlife and an abundance of stars…i don’t think ive seen this many stars in a long time!

saturday was filled with fun stuff all day long accompanied by the celebratory fireworks.

sunday, ib’s sister and boyfriend came in to hang out with us at the house and we spent time in the pool, relaxed and had a great day. that night we went into town and ate at the high spot. cute little place with outdoor seating and tons of great looking stuff on the menu, i was pretty excited.

very first thing on the menu was baked brie. how could anyone pass up baked brie?! It’s mine and ib’s favorite thing! i didn’t know this until this past weekend too!

the waiter informed us that their ‘duck fat burger’ was a number two rated burger on a famous blog, the name had escaped him at the time, and said its amazing! after perusing the menu and knowing a taste of chicken and waffles was in my future, i decide i needed to get the duck fat burger. the follow up question “do you want truffle fries with that?” what kind of question is that?! of course i want truffle fries!

i get the burger, and looks beautiful. topped with a fried egg, bacon and your normal lettuce and tomato. first bite, i didn’t get the extra goodness so i couldn’t tell if I liked it or not so i kept going. it was over cooked and fell apart. it looked like a plate of ground meat was served to me. overall I do not know what was so great about this burger, so I was a tad disappointed.  

the chicken and waffles looked and tasted delish (this is what ib got) and of course the baked brie was flawless.

so david chang of the ever famous momfuku restaurants is opening a new fried chicken sandwich restaurant in nyc. he is calling it fuku. 

i get it, its a play on your claim to fame but for the out of towner, the unfamiliar with what is new york city cool and popular restaurants, they may look at this name a bit differently.  

i think they got it spot on, it just took me by surprise. 

summer is basically here and my eating habits need to take a chill pill! this past weekend, i journeyed out to hoboken, nj to visit a coworker. the morning of, i was thinking about what we would be eating for lunch (naturally) and i remember watching some food show (also, naturally) and they went to vito’s in hoboken and were raving about the place. i had always remembered this spot for some reason, so finally this weekend was my chance. i got the vito’s sub- pretty much an italian sandwich with their famous homemade fresh “mutz”. just look at it, its a thing of beauty. i tried saving half for later but, let’s be honest, there would never be a ‘later’, this thing was gone before i even knew it! 

ok, so i thought i was done with my bad eating for the weekend but no. my friends, IB and I went to dinner at harry’s italian. yea you guessed it, it’s italian food, mostly known for their pizza, how can we NOT get the pizza?

we share their famous (what is with everything being famous!?) pizza. it really was incredible, so i think it was worth it, it is my favorite food after all! take a look, its pretty flawless!

i need to try all of these!

you know its passover when you see multiple bottles of sugary, yummy manishewitz wine at my parents house. that time is almost upon us!

a few weeks ago, i had seen an advertisement for the manishewitz experience at chelsea market...ummm, yes please! i don’t think i would ever turn down a trip to chelsea market but this was just a good excuse to get down there! so, normally when it comes to free food events, my expectations are pretty low, for this, i would say it basically met these expectations but ib and i still had fun!

there were about 4-5 different tables making some passover favorites. from smores made with chocolate covered matzoh (i kind of love this) to matzoh pizza to latkes (ib was particularly excited about this) to something that was not matzoh ball soup! it was a nice little snack to hold us over before lunch.

among the samples, they had a huge display of manishewitz foods but a clear absent member of this family was the vino! there was not a drop of malaga in sight, so it was definitely missed but again, free event.

was basically the theme of last nights dinner (also maybe because Valentines Day is tomorrow.) IB just celebrated his birthday so what else but dine in style! i took him to the swanky stk in the city where the high heels are abundant and the fur coats are apparent. it was his birthday so no excuse needed to splurge on an awesome meal. we decide to get a bottle of wine, we got a rioja tempranillo which was SO good considering it was the cheapest on the menu. we start with what people claim the not to be missed parmesan truffle fries, eh you can skip these and we also got the creamed corn. ho-ly shiz! WOW i have had some creamed corn in my day but this takes the cake! it was like a dessert before dessert! in addition to these appetizers, we were complimented with “candied swine” which sounds a lil weird but its just candied bacon, (I attempted these for super bowl but didn’t come out nearly as good) but these, these were redic, it was just the right mix of sugar and spice (and everything nice) the perfect treat!

we each order the filet, IB got his with the bone in and i think that was the right move, it had a bit more flavor than mine, oh well, lesson learned! each cut was served with your choice of dipping sauce. IB got a butter type sauce and i got the blue butter. picture it, bleu cheese mixed with butter...how amazing does that even sound?! it tasted just as good!

bellies stuffed, just one more thing, the necessary surprise birthday cake which came out candle blazing for the birthday boy. the cake was a mix of ice cream and yellow cake, yum!