Category: restaurant reviews buenos aires

Algodon Mansion – Buenos Aires, or when Argentinian Tradition Marries French Cuisine

Posted on February 21, 2011 by fromBAtoParis

What happens when American investors meet Argentinian soil and the savoir-faire and energy of its people…and both fall under the influence of French style in architecture and cooking..? Algodon Mansion ! the latest and the best (in my opinion) “boutique hotel” of the capital.

The adventure started with Algodon Wine Estates, in Mendoza, the cradle of our world famous Malbec, and it has ended here, in a Buenos Aires neighbourhood called Recoleta, where French style “petit-hotels” galore. One of these buildings, from 1925, has been recently renovated, to house Algodon Mansion, an exclusive, almost intimate hotel of only ten suites, where French refinement blends with modern luxury and attention to state-of-the-art details.

Lucky girl that I am, I was kindly invited by Executive Chef Antonio Soriano, for a private tour of the hotel that would end in a “tête à tête” lunch !!

I was kindly ushered by Camila, to visit the only room free, (for a question of minutes!) all the others being occupied… I was more than impressed by the exquisite taste in decoration, since it is sober, deprived of unnecessary flashy frills, but only the best materials have been used…and this is the style that I love ! Et oui…The Italian Calacatta marble, French limestone, and Argentinian wooden “lapacho” floors make an impressive statement as soon as you step in….You can take a peek of the spacious rooms here….

After the visit, I was ready to have lunch at their Chez Nous Restaurant…which is representative of a French/Argentinian fusion in cuisine and decoration ! I loved the “bordeaux” colored walls, and the ondulating gold-leaf painted ceiling, that create a perfect cozy atmosphere, far from the bustle and hassle of the city….

Due to my “overdose” of meat since my arrival in Buenos Aires, I decided to go for a more fish/vegetarian menu….but different menus are avalailable to please all tastes…this said, the chef’s personal history is reflected in his cuisine, making of Chez Nous, the perfect balance between French cooking and Argentinian tradition…
I decided to have a salad with home-made gravlax, organic sprouts, edible flowers, grilled asparagus, roasted almonds, greens, and an egg perfectly cooked at 63°C on a bed of portobello mushroom purée. Then, home-made tagliatelle, with Patagonian morel sauce and truffles, and for dessert, fig and pistachio frangipane tart, with its mango sorbet !

Interview with Executive Chef Antonio Soriano: Born in France, of Argentinian father, he was brought up in Buenos Aires. He attended the Franco-Argentin Lycée Jean Mermoz (my kids were also there in 2007-2009), then he started Law School at the university of Buenos Aires. After three years, he realized his real passion was not the law but cooking. He starts cooking school in Buenos Aires, where he meets Chef Beatriz Chomnalez (this sort of fairy that has changed the life of many…including mine!) who tells him to go to France, to study there. Chef Soriano graduates at the Cordon Bleu, and begins working in the best Parisian restaurants and hotels, like Hotel de Crillon, etc.

Back in Buenos Aires, he is not only responsible for whatever happens in the kitchens of Algodon Mansion, but only for the philosophy behind it ! The overall project will be not only a cuisine that uses the typical products coming directly from the wine estate in Mendoza: wine, olives and olive oil, but something more ambitious: to provide clients with a cuisine where every single product comes directly from AWE (Algodon Wine Estate), and is therefore pesticide free, natural…chickens living freely in a natural environment, and the Chef pointed out, a cuisine made only with seasonal products to guarantee freshness…

Ready to travel to Northeast Spain, specially invited to the Gastronomic Forum, Girona 2011 (where he will meet Chef Ferran Adrià, among others) Chef Soriano confessed admiring and using molecular techniques but not from beginning to end of a dinner experience, but only for some products or a special effect, texture…”It is a technique to be mastered, but used with moderation”

I was pleasantly impressed not only by the chef’s mastery of cooking techniques but also by his knowledge of arts, music, literature..He told me: ” a chef ‘s knowledge of Fine Arts will inmediately have an imprint on his cooking…I can say my dishes changed after I visited Andy Warhol ’s exhibit…, for instance. Now there are brilliant colors in my dishes…”

I left Algodon Mansion feeling proud, of all these young people of my country, that are working hard and seriously, to raise the bar of Argentinian hotels and restaurants to first-rate world levels…

A stay at Algodon mansion will surely be an experience to be remembered!

Posted in algodon mansion, buenos aires, chez nous, restaurant reviews buenos aires | 18 Replies

Portrait of a Lady…Chef ! Hélène Darroze.

Posted on December 5, 2010 by fromBAtoParis

Yes, this is still a food blog…I will not lecture about Henry James…it just happens that thanks to support of my faithful readers and judges, here I am in Challenge 9 of Project Foodblog, organized by Foodbuzz, and our challenge this time is to write about a restaurant experience… And many people who knew about my project asked me: “Why Hélène Darroze”? It is true that in the Parisian culinary scene, there are so many chefs, étoilés or not, to choose from…so why Hélène?

There is excellence in her cuisine, that is undeniable! but maybe I chose her because behind or inside the two-starred Michelin chef (and mind you!! there are only two women in France to hold this distinction, and she is the only one in Paris!) there is a woman, like you and me, that far from believing she is a kind of “cooking diva“, she is engaged with the problems of our times…she does not live in the “golden cloud” of fame and popularity..She is (and this said with all my respect) just a simple girl, who probably shares with us, our dreams, and frustrations…she is courageous, daring…and yet she seems to be calm, “approachable“…she lacks this arrogance, many times typical of stellar chefs...

I will write about a restaurant and the chef behind it, as a kind of essay, trying to show, up to what extent, the signature dish that comes to us is the result of a chef’s personal history, his past, the place where he was born, his personality, his present, his problems….A complete amalgam, no place here for dichotomy…we cook what we are!!!

Here, the “he” is a “she” …et oui!! she was the source for inspiration, for Disney Studio’s “Colette” in Ratatouille.….Portrait of a Lady of our Times: Madame Hélène Darroze!!

Photo kindly given to me by Mme Darroze’s Press Agent, for publication in this post

And nothing better than to quote her own words…to get to know what crosses her mind and her heart!!

“I left the Landes, where I was born, breaking with a family tradition, to open my restaurant in Paris…My only baggage? The culture and the values I grew up with..”

There she is…born in the Landes, south-west of France…, fourth generation of cooks…”easy!” you might think..”cooking was in her blood and genes”. Yes, you have a point there..but Hélène was born in the sixties…”rebellion” was in her blood probably more than “foie-gras”, so after dreaming of being a doctor or an architect, she decides to study business administration, and determined lady that she is, she gets her diploma…First job, she goes to Monaco, to work at the Louis XV, one of Alain Ducasse‘s restaurants…but far from the kitchens, of course, a desk, papers, she even organizes the grand chef schedule, trips….but she withers at her desk…as time passes by, she finds this work unappealing, monotonous…She confesses that to M. Ducasse, who before actually starting, had made her do some months of training in the kitchen…Yes, four months of taking notes, and cleaning lettuce…but contrary to what you might think, Hélène found this experience ” a turning point” in her career..!

After some time, Hélène decides to come back to her home land, to her father’s Relais & Château restaurant, and to start from scratch there..She even envisaged to go to culinary school in the USA, but finally she stays in France! A fast learner, she dreams of a new way of cooking that “cuisine tradition” that her father had got a reputation for… She is terribly proud of the products of her native land: the foie-gras, cooking with duck fat, the “fleur de sel” and the “piment d’Espelette”…but she evolves into something new…using what her farmer friends proudly produce to take it far and beyond…to a new level…Result? Generation gap, conflict between father and daughter…I can imagine the young, inexperienced, audacious Hélène telling her one-starred Michelin dad, that his cooking is great but it has to be changed….

But fathers will always be fathers…M. Darroze decides to retire and leave her daughter at the helm of the family restaurant…Soon, she is awarded the prizes “Best young Chef of the Year”, “Chef of the Year for the Southwest Region”and “Tomorrow’s Great Chef” But not everything comes so easy!! Financial problems…The restaurant is sold, and Hélène bets high…she comes to Paris, leaving behind a tradition, a family name, to open her restaurant in rue d’Assas, in the posh St Germain des Près neighborhood.

Photo kindly given to me by Mme Darroze’s Press Agent, for publication in this post

“I have been kneaded with the land and my ancestors’ traditions..Then, meeting new people, friends, trips have made me what I am..”

Where do we find her land? Well, in the ham, that proudly presides her Salon (place in her restaurant for an informal, and cozy lunch/dinner experience) But it is not any ham…it’s the ham from the pigs of Monsieur Oteiza…and sea-food? Well, that comes from St Jean de Luz, from Dima…and the piment d’Espelette? You can buy that chez Isabelle, in Biarritz…In her book, “Personne ne me volera ce que j’ai dancé“, she gives you the name, address, even the telephone number! of each of her suppliers…and this makes her cuisine more accessible, more real…

In her Salon, you can taste “her menu Tapas” for only 28 euros!! (€ 35 with a glass of wine) Don’t be confused as I was the first time: her tapas are not exactly linked to what we eat in Spain…rather, each of her tapas is almost a signature dish…in miniature! But probably, remembering the days of her youth, when she used to go to Pamplona, Spain, to party, influenced her choosing this informal way of cooking, with the Spanish philosophy behind it: one little bit of this, another little bite of that…friendly atmosphere, “décontracté” (casual)..As you see, the Salon d’Hélène is a place to indulge after Parisian shopping…It is refined yet unpretentious! Only a few tables…this gives you a quiet, almost private “boudoir” atmosphere…also, seeing the cooks doing their job is great! Of course, you can eat in her “Salle à Manger”, but there food and prices are different.

Photo kindly given to me by Mme Darroze’s Press Agent, for publication in this post

I visited Mme Darroze’s restaurant for the first time in 2008…at that time, the menu Tapas was presented in porcelaine dishes…Why this change? Why this plastic, canteen-like tray? I asked the Head Waiter, Monsieur Nacer ( the most charming AND efficient person I have seen serving in a restaurant) about it…He told me it was a move to “democratize” fine dining! Yes, “the experience of a étoilé restaurant becomes here as inexpensive as having a hamburger or pasta in a normal place“….but new flavors and textures will dazzle you, leaving an impact on your memory!
I wondered if many Michelin starred chefs around the world did something like this…Some étoilé restaurants seem to be there only to be appreciated by ”a privileged few”. Is the fact that Madame Darroze is French (you know…”liberté, egalité, fraternité“) the inherent drive to this “fine dining for all” experience….

This is what I had last Tuesday! (and mind you! the Tapas menu changes almost weekly!)

1. Velouté de Crustacés (Seafood velouté): My opinion? Powerful to the senses, refined…You look at it and you think “just another velouté…” You will change your mind after the first sip…

2. Tempura de homard et Crème Aigrelette (Lobster Tempura with a delicious “à l’ancienne” mustard)

3. Saint Jacques poêlé, gnocchi de pommes de terre, et emulsion à la noisette du Piemont (sauté scallops with potato gnocchi and Piemont hazelnuts emulsion )

4. Royale de potiron et châtaigne (pumpkin purée with cream and egg, sprinkled with crumbs of chestnuts) Frankly, “royale” in texture…!

My photos, with flash! Food was much better than this!

5. Parmentier de Boeuf et Espuma de Pommes de Terre (Beef Pie with Potato Espuma) To think I was proud of my own beef pie….!!! Here they don’t use minced meat…Meat is braised until it becomes threads, full of spices ! and the purée is so light….
6. Foie Gras Confit au Epices douce et Chutney de Noël (Foie Gras from her homeland, sweet-spiced and a chutney made with figs, apricots and walnuts)
7. Mousse de citron vert, feuillantine chocolat, coriandre, et glace vanille Bourbon. ( An incredibly aromatic lime mousse, on the fine layer of chocolate parfumed with coriander, and Bourbon vanille icrecream)

“A meal without chocolate is incomplete…It lacks something…”

Optional:- a Cheese Selection, from the Southwest of France: * Trappe d’Echourgnac (cheese made by women-priests, the crust is rubbed with Périgord walnuts) * Chèvre frais de Touraine (fresh goatcheese) * Tome au Jurançon (crust “washed” with Jurançon wine) with a Piment d’Espelette gélee * Cabrie Ariégeois (soft goat cheese, quite powerful in aroma) I really enjoyed this selection, “off the beaten path”, and you know me…so the Espelette gélée…mouthwatering!
-Coffee and chocolate Financiers.

This “Menu Tapas” amuses me so much…I find it even playful…Every time I go there (confession? I go there quite often..) is like those daring games we played like children? As if I said: “Ok, Hélène…let’s see if you can impress me this time”..and she always does!

But Hélène does not nourish her cooking only with French products..We feel also the influence of Asiatic cultures…..there is “tobiko“, wasabi, foie gras “dim sum”...lemongrass, ginger…

“My cooking follows my heart, my emotions…and it is in constant change..Change is necessary to keep only what’s essential”

The link between Hélène and Asia has been sealed for life…Hanoi has seen her arrive one day, to adopt her first daughter, and once again, to adopt a “little sister” for the first one…
What happened first? Did her love for Asiatic flavors lead to her decision of adopting in Vietman? …or having a Vietnamese daughter arose her interest in oriental spices and cooking? Who knows…?
How does a celebrity chef manage two restaurants (the one is Paris, and the more recent one, at the Connaught Hotel in London) being the single mother of two daughters? One imagines Hélène, after late nights, getting up early to take the girls to the kindergarten…dealing with suppliers….oh, rush to the stationer’s!! My daughter told me to get her “crayons” (pencils)…what? the sous-chef is sick? …parents’ meeting at 6pm!! Yes, decidedly, a woman of our times!!

“Even the smallest detail in my dish evokes a “souvenir”(memory)…a feeling I once had…!

“My cooking reflects my personality and what I value most: independence and freedom”

Her commitment with her beliefs and social issues led her to accept participating in a campaign for awareness in breast cancer early detection…and France has seen Hélène , together with some other stars of French cinema or television showing their naked breasts..And do you know what I thought? I said to myself “this woman has guts!!” It is much easier to appear like that when you have the body of Claudia Schiffer, or you have had surgery…but to be a normal woman in her forties…with a normal body…Brava, Hélène!!

Why do we, clients, prefer one restaurant over another? If you ask me…I want to “see” the personality of the chef in my dish…Also, I hate restaurants where the chef is “the show”..This is why I love Mme Darroze’s cuisine...because the stars are the ingredients, one way of cooking, faithfulness and pride for her home-land, emotions, beliefs...she chooses the low profile for her image…you see her walking in Paris, making the line at the bakery on Sunday mornings, to buy her croissants!

“What do I have in common with Colette (Ratatouille)? Discipline, setting the bar high for myself…yet, staying open to others..”

When one has a passion for cooking, like you, like me…one tends to consider these starred Michelin chefs as “demi-gods”, unreachable, too perfect to have things in common with us..Thanks to research, and interviews on French television , I discovered this lady chef, that is also a mother, and a daughter, a lady that adores designer clothes, that has done great things but maybe also mistakes..that has problems or dreams unfulfilled…and there, when she steps down from the pinnacle where WE have put her, she becomes more human, and by this, an example for us..of a dream that can become true…Thank you, Hélène ! You’ve become a source of inspiration!!

I have noticed that many restaurant reviews nowadays come with a recipe by the chef...We all want to reproduce at home a “masterpiece” by a famous cook!! So, I looked for a recipe in Hélène’s book, suitable for the Holiday season….This ice-cream is part of a more complicated recipe…but I think, for us is more than enough ;D

Marrons Glacés / Whisky Ice-cream, with Chocolate Sauce !

I hope you have enjoyed reading this post, that was meant to show you not only what to expect in a restaurant (culinary speaking) but also “the human being behind a signature dish”….If you consider that this real-life story was worthwhile…if it set you thinking, or just gave you pleasure!, please vote for me…as from Monday 6th!
A million thanks!!

For the recipe, see below…

For the Marrons Glacés / Whisky Icecream, you will need:

* marrons glacés, 200gr * whisky, 100ml * milk, 500ml * whole cream, 500ml * sugar, 180gr

For the Chocolate Sauce

* water, 100ml * brown sugar (cassonade), 40gr * cocoa powder, 26gr *butter, 10gr

Put in a saucepan, the milk, the cream and the sugar, and take it to a boil. Let cool and add the whisky. Put it in the icecream machine, and churn for 20′. Cut the marrons into not so small pieces. Combine the icecream with the marrons.
For the chocolate sauce, put in a saucepan, the water, sugar, and the cocoa powder. Take it to a boil, whisking vigorously. Add the butter. Let reduce for some minutes.

Posted in foodbuzz, helene darroze, project foodblog, restaurant reviews buenos aires | 86 Replies

Buenos Aires/Paris: une histoire d’amour / B.A. Restaurant Review

Posted on February 25, 2010 by fromBAtoParis

The Argentinian writer, Jorge Luis Borges, said once that “Argentinians were Europeans in the exile…” Why? What did he mean?

At the beginning of the XXth century, Argentina, former Spanish colony, like the rest of Latin America (except Brazil), receives thousands of European inmigrants, escaping from war, poverty and hunger…and while inmigrants were coming from the whole of Europe, the biggest numbers came from Italy and Spain. All these inmigrants left their imprint on our personality…some say we are “Italians that speak Spanish”, which is partly true, since we are boisterous people, that speak waving our hands, we are friendly, prone to exaggeration and drama…certainly Italy has given us more than pizza and pasta…what we are is partly this Italian perception of life….But then, we have always admired German efficiency, the business sense of the English….but our real “love affair” has unmistakably been with a beautiful and refined lady called “France”..For those Argentinians living in a “nostalgic exile”, so far of Europe, in a new land…the new country had to be molded but that would be under the model of what they considered artistic perfection, beauty in shapes and architecture…consequently Buenos Aires was built in homage to France….

The Alvear Palace Hotel, on Alvear Avenue, in the neighbourhood of Recoleta, the most glamorous neighbourhood of the city.

Alvear Avenue has been dubbed “The Faubourg St Honoré of South America”. The French Embassy had to be on this street, of course! (building at the far end)

How were we going to call the most beautiful park in the city? Plaza Francia..bien sûr! (of course)

The National Museum of Fine Arts, in front of Plaza Francia.

In 1910, for the 100th anniversary of the Argentine nation, we received this incredible marble sculpture, from the French goverment….

Well, this is only a glimpse of one part of my city….Buenos Aires is tango, so the music that came to my mind, while looking at these photographs is “Balada para un loco” (Balad for a madman), music composed by Astor Piazzola (who revolutionized tango music with his compositions), sung by Amelita Baltar. The song tells the story of a woman, who, in the streets of Recoleta, comes across a madman, a “piantado” (argentine slang), and she falls in love with him, and succumbs under the fascination of his world full of dreams, of colours, of music…..One of my favourite songs, maybe because I am also a bit “piantada” (crazy) =)

If you ever visit Buenos Aires, you will be surprised by the quality and variety of its gastronomy….I would recommend you stopping by these places…

For Argentinian beef…”asado”

* La Cabrera, in the neighbourhood of Palermo Soho, excellent beef quality, excellent price-quality rapport…One beef serves four people !!!

* La Caballeriza, staged on former horse paddocks, next to the San Isidro Horse Racing Track…

* Cabana Las Lilas

Northern Argentinian Cooking

* La Querencia, Junin and Juncal str: locro, tamales, best empanadas in town.

Best pizza and “empanadas”

* Los Inmortales, the “cathedral” of Argentine pizza, more than 30 different options…walls painted with caricatures of Argentinian musicians, actors…

Best Ice-cream

(mind you!!, Argentinian “helado” (icecream) should be rated as one of the best in the world!)

* Freddo

* Un’ altraVolta

* Persicco

French Cuisine (French fusion)

* Tegui, by famous chef, German Martitegui, the avant-garde of Argentinian gastronomy, French technique, global flavors, South American accent.

* Freud & Fahler

* Tomo Uno

* Sirop

Others:

*La Parolaccia (Italian)

* Sushi Club (Japanese) Biggest and most creative rolls, maquis ever!