Honestly, I loved it. Yes, it’s a place where people go and eat meat, but in multiple ways. Some people go there every week and just have the same cut of meat, and then there are people who queue for two hours and have big meals with empanadas and morcilla and all the different cuts. There are families and business people and also tourists. So it’s this kind of restaurants that I love, where many things happen. You can feel what Buenos Aires really is when you’re at Don Julio.
Did you have a favorite dish at Don Julio?
The sweetbreads were stunning, and they have this morcilla with loads of cumin. I also loved the libritos. It’s this very special laminated bread, like a puff pastry, made with lard instead of butter. It looks like an open book, and it goes very well with things like morcilla and sweetbreads.
What was a meal that really surprised you on the trip?
El Preferido de Palermo. I thought the salamis were beautiful and very fresh, and we had these delicious, colorful desserts at the end. There were vegetables that I loved, like a radicchio salad. I just thought this is the kind of place I could return to many times. Now, every time someone goes to Buenos Aires, I tell them to go to El Preferido. It’s the kind of place you want to stay a long time at, and do a sobremesa [relax at the table after a meal]. Everything is to be shared. I like this feeling of sharing the dishes and passing the salamis around. It was of course Argentinean but lighter, easier on the stomach in a way.
I also had amazing oysters at Crizia. I was like, why haven’t I had oysters here before? The team explained to me that Argentina has good seafood, but it just isn’t the culture.
Was there anywhere else you had fantastic but less-quintessential Argentinean food?
Julia. It’s this small place, and you can feel there’s a lot of love in every dish. They’re trying to do something beyond meat, which is obviously the thing in Buenos Aires. There’s seafood, and really good vegetables.
What was your favorite cheap eat of the trip?
The empanadas, of course. They were so good at Café San Juan. It’s a super casual place, some people just take them to go.
What was your favorite dessert?
Honestly, the alfajores. Before I had only tried alfajores that were pre-packed. At La Fuerza, they were more cake-like, less of a cookie, and super smooth. Dulce de leche by itself is too sweet for me—in an alfajor, the cake balances the dulce de leche.
Anything you packed in your suitcase to bring home?
I brought some white wines! I was really surprised by them. I brought home a beautiful sauvignon by Michilini, and I brought alfojores, which my daughters requested. And I brought home amazing olive oil from Olivos Patagonicos, which was a gift from Pablo.
If you flew back tomorrow for one meal, what would it be?
The cold morcilla with hazelnuts at El Preferido.
