Feria Masticar 2016

I’m not usually a “festival” person. Long lines, massive crowds, getting jostled around without much to show for it… sometimes it’s just too stressful to handle. However, there are times when taking a deep breath and diving into the insanity is all part of the fun.

It’s time for Feria Masticar, the star of Buenos Aires’ burgeoning food movement, now in its fifth year running. Waving the #ComerRicoHaceBien flag, it promises four days of eating and drinking extravaganzas, with the city’s best and brightest talent showcasing their goodies for the people.

In an effort to make the experience more enjoyable for everyone involved, this year the fair is sort of an XL reloaded version of itself, having annexed a few extra blocks and open spaces surrounding El Dorrego. There’s a whole brasas section, a beer garden, tons of market vendor stands in the middle of it all, and more space overall to stroll/scarf/lie down when your food baby gets too big.

Let’s get down to business. Here’s my shortlist of what you can’t miss from this year’s edition:

Savory

• Chorichang by Astor Bistro (the wild boar raviolis are also the jam, slurp up that brodo, bro)
• Arepas de pollo y cerdo braseado by i Latina (#PuraSabrosura)
• Oysters from Patagonia (served both raw and breaded in Panko) by Crizia
• Chorifish + Cebichón by La Mar (be prepared for XXXL lines, however, everyone wants a piece of Gastón Acurio’s Peruvian magic)
• Empanadas de Yacaré by El Baqueano (yep, you’re going to eat caiman)
• 100-hour Bondiola by Pura Tiera (Chef Martín Molteni literally makes me want to live in a cabin)
• Pulpitos by my favorite neighbors BASA
• Pastrón by Mishiguene
• Prawns by Gipponi + Rastellino (#UnaToneladaDeLangostinos)

Sweet

• Sugar rush chocolates by Compañía de Chocolates
• Dolce Morte ice creams by Elena (smoked milk has never been so sexy)
• Elderflower sorbet by Cassis
• Cookies by Santa Teresita (if you weren’t lucky enough to summer in José Ignacio, now’s your chance)
• Chocolate Cardamom Mousse by the Nespresso Patisserie

Drinks

• Bar de Vinos by CAVE (rent a glass for 100 pesos and go to town on some fancy wines from Argentina’s best bodegas)
• Alfredo Romero + more by Ludovico De Biaggi at the Gancia Cocktail Truck
• Mimosa de Remolacha by Julep
• Negroni Balestrini at Florería Atlántico (points for their awesome floral garnishes and beards)
• Pisco Punk by 878
• Everything coffee by the Nespresso Patisserie (go for the coffee + chocolate pairings to really get your blood sugar roaring)

This obviously doesn’t cover everything, but these recommendations will guarantee you leave having sipped and nibbled one some of the best that Masticar has to offer this year.

Double up on patience before you arrive, be prepared to get pushed around by surprisingly strong Argentine grannies, and take a lap or two before you commit to anything. Crowds are more manageable later in the evening, and if you go on Sunday when things are winding down you might be able to take home some of the goods (one woman I spoke to made off with 14kg of clams last year… why that seemed tantalizing to her I will never know).

Feria Masticar
Zapiola 50 – El Dorrego
Now through Sunday, May 8, every day from noon-11pm

Entrance $80
Dishes & drinks range from $50-80
Be smart – Buy tickets in advance here

 

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Review: Pain de Sucre

It doesn’t take much to convince me to dive into something sweet. No one has to twist my arm to order (more) dessert after dinner, and there’s always room for another bag of Haribo in my bag after a trip through Duty Free. Since I can remember, my palate has been fine-tuned to favor a decadent chocolate mousse or a brownie sundae piled high with whipped cream. When I moved to Buenos Aires however, I had no idea what I was in for. Dulce de leche on top of dulce de leche, crema pastelera out the wazoo, kilo after kilo of creamy helado in every flavor imaginable. The saccharine overload was almost enough to turn me into a savory-only girl.

Review: La Alacena

Photo courtesy La Alacena

For those of you that are either from Buenos Aires or have been here long enough to remember the glory days (pre-inflation with that solid 3 to 1 exchange rate), you might reminisce about a time when Palermo wasn’t overrun with pastel-pink cookie cutter shops, cafés peddling mint lemonade, or French bulldogs wearing leather jackets. A simpler, more wholesome time indeed.

Well, you can stop living in the past. Enter La Alacena, the newest gem in a Palermo that harkens back to the quieter days with a real barrio feel. After dominating at BASA (and before that, Le Blé, Bar Uriarte, and beyond), Juli has spread her pastry-making wings and opened up shop on the wide, sunny corner of Gascón and Honduras.

Juli’s cooking stands out for its complex simplicity. Here you’ll eat real food, with a focus on high quality, market-fresh ingredients. Fresh-baked, crusty breads form the bases of inventive prensatti sandwiches, bright roasted vegetables top off hearty salads, and pretty much every dessert available will knock your socks off. Daily specials rotate through pasta, fish, and other delights.

Her style is effortless, unpretentious, making you feel that you could almost replicate these flavors at home (if only you were half as talented as she).

The space is simple but homey, with big glass windows facing the street and shelves of ceramic dishes for sale lining the walls. The open kitchen lets you peek in on the culinary action, and overall a feeling of artisanal warmth is transmitted throughout. Service is efficient and friendly (and thank God they accept credit cards).

Seriously, everything is delicious. How is that even possible? You’ll want to visit every day just so you can eat everything on the menu. Saturday brunch is the perfect cure for a previous night of excess, and nothing can top the now famous chocolate and sea salt tartaleta (featured recently in La Nación). Wash it down with a glass of red wine and you’ll be set for the day.

La Alacena is also open some evenings for dinner, with a menu of small plates meant to be shared. Feast on antipasti like veal carpaccio with arugula, lemon and parmesan, grilled baby squid with fresh herbs and aioli, and roasted mushrooms with almonds and parsley.

Well-deserved positive press means that it’s harder and harder to walk in for a table on the weekends, so call ahead and reserve just to be certain. During the week things are a little more tranquilo, but don’t expect it to stay that way for long. We can only hope that this little corner stays true to its down to earth roots, but with Juli at the helm, we’re in good hands.

La Alacena
Gascón 1401, esq. Honduras – Palermo
Monday – Friday 9am-7pm; Saturday 10am-7pm
4867-2549

Review: Cafe Crespin

Is there anything better than waking up on a sunny Saturday and meeting your friends for a delicious breakfast? Perhaps, if you add a nice leisurely bike ride along the river to the mix, topped off with a gooey cinnamon bun and a fresh licuado de maracuyá. Pedaling outside of BA’s city limits and into nearby Vicente López, you’ll be rewarded with the goodies of Cafe Crespin, without the long lines and insanity of its Villa Crespo HQ.

Tucked away, unassuming, just half a block from a new-ish promenade along the river (overflowing with rollerbladers in spandex, whoa), Cafe Crespin in Zona Norte is truly a gem. Tables dot the sidewalk and the inside is just as welcoming and cozy. After you’ve spent the past hour or so whizzing past the Lagos de Palermo, the Estadio Monumental, and Parque de los Niños, you will spend a few thrilling moments along the highway (don’t tell mom) before ducking into the green oasis that is the “costanera” of Vicente López.

Pedal on for just a few more minutes, keeping your eyes on the prize – a big rewarding breakfast that will help you reponer energías and lull you toward a nap in the sunshine.

We ordered a mix of everything – muffins, French toast, cinnamon roll, bagel with lox and cream cheese – you know, because we had just done a lot of exercise. Of course. Sipping our respective licuados while we waited was an ideal way to cool down; the flavors were bright and fresh, nothing artificial, just … yum.

Since I’m a glutton for carbs, I ordered both the bagel and the cinnamon roll. Hello, heaven/obesity. Both were amazing – as we know, good bagels are hard to come by in this town – but I think the cinnamon roll took home first prize. Gooey and flaky, with the perfect icing on top and just enough crunch … I could have eaten several more of these and am planning to in the not so distant future.

The French toast was also surprisingly good – just one bite and I was brought back to childhood mornings with my mom at the stove. Served alongside scrambled eggs and bacon, this dish is not for the faint of heart.

Service is friendly and attentive without being too overbearing, which is what you want when you’re lounging in the sun, chatting with friends and in absolutely no rush at all.

The verdict? If you’ve been to the original Crespin, or have heard raves about it but have serious fiaca when it comes to waiting for ages to get a table, or are just looking for a new breakfast / cafe spot beyond your typical “bubble” – you’d be missing out big time if you didn’t cross the border and visit CCVL (that is the new abbrev, obvi. Don’t worry, I’ll show myself out).

Cafe Crespin
Hipólito Yrigoyen 477 – Vicente López, Zona Norte
4796-0119
Tuesday – Friday, 8am-8pm / Saturdays 9am-8pm / Sundays 12pm-7pm
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Review: Coffee Avenue – Hot Drinks on Wheels

If I could buy stock in my neighborhood, I would (is that even a thing?). As I’ve been blabbing on about for the past several weeks, Retiro is on the up and up in many ways this year, and a new food-related addition is just another jewel in our barrio-fabulous crown.

Coffee Avenue is the first real food truck of Buenos Aires. Yes, indeed, ladies and gents. Let’s just take a moment to celebrate this momentous occasion! Though the truck is obviously mobile (unlike its bondiola counterparts on the Costaneras Norte y Sur), Coffee Avenue has been staked out near Plaza San Martín for the past couple of weeks, brightening everyone’s workday with a warm cup of joe that blows any old corner cafe – or dare I say it, Starbucks (blergh) – out of the water.

The truck itself is fun – a giant owl greets you as you pull up to place your order – and customers can see how their lattes are made in the moment, as if there were any other way. Friendly owner Carlos – “Carli, el Méxicano” – is more than eager to chat up his clientele, and when you finally get your hands on your morning beverage, all seems right with the world. No, I am not exaggerating in any way, shape or form. Let’s blame it on my caffeine buzz.

Customers can order up a cafe latte, cappuccino, latte (hazelnut or caramel), mocha, herbal tea or hot chocolate (for the man child who still lives with mom and dad? or a real child) in either Regular (Avenida) or Large (Boulevard) sizes. Carlos takes pride in their individual roasting process for the different types of coffee beans, resulting in a cup that is never burnt or bitter.

My cafe lattes have always been nice and foamy on top, with smooth and rich coffee that you really can’t find at many places in this city, despite the overwhelming cafe culture that abounds. Add to all of this that the truck is just a block away from both my home and my office, and I am sold.

You can follow Coffee Avenue on Twitter – @thecoffeeavenue – for up-to-date information on the truck’s whereabouts, but they usually tend to hang around Retiro and some parts of Downtown most days. Yes, this means you Palermitanos and Belgrano denizens are going to have to wake up early and brave the elements to get your paws on this liquid ambrosia. Trust me, it’s worth it – and then some. Let’s just hope that this is the first of many food truck endeavors that BA sees this year. If Coffee Avenue is any indication, things are headed on the up and up.

Coffee Avenue
Monday – Friday, 8-11am
Av. Maipú 1200 – Retiro (*for now)
Twitter
hola@coffeeavenue.com