Rare Steak

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I Can’t Believe I Did That

   My friend Venetia is back from her long vacation in Europe, so on Saturday we spent the day wandering around downtown, enjoying the spring weather. When it came time for lunch, we happened upon a lovely bodegón, the Argentine equivalent of a French bistro.

Love the sign pointing to the washroom!

When we went inside we were delighted! It was classic old Buenos Aires, down to the furniture, the way they displayed the bottles and the tiles on the floor. It also had a distinct tango vibe, with pictures of the old tango masters on the walls. When we had been there about ten minutes, and before we had begun lunch, a young guy sat down and started to play the bandoneón — that soulful, concertina-like instrument that gives tango its distinctive melancholy sound. Well, that was the icing on the cake. Venetia pronounced herself happy to be back in Buenos Aires.

Venetia took these photos and the video, so you can probably see the improvement from my usual ones!

But my feet were itching to dance tango!

Along the wall were several tables, most of which were occupied by groups of people. But the one closest to us was occupied by a man on his own. He looked to be in his sixties. I don’t know what got into me, but I gave him the classic mirada, the flirty glance that’s used in the milonga to entice a man to ask you to dance! He looked a bit startled – not surprisingly — and before I could think twice, I pointed to the small space in front of the bandoneón and said, “Queria bailar tango?” (Would you like to dance tango?)

Venetia nearly fell off her chair!

The man smiled and said he was sorry but he didn’t dance tango, but he thanked me very much for asking. I looked at Venetia and said, “I can’t believe I did that!” She said she thought it was very brave of me, but in retrospect I just thought it was a bit daft. But I’m sure the man will dine out on it for a while — I’m sitting in this bodegón minding my own business and this crazy woman asks me to dance!

Venetia’s steak was tender and juicy, but unfortunately mine was tough as old leather and I couldn’t eat it. I didn’t complain, but just told the waitress it was very tough. When the bill came there was no charge for mine. That’s good customer service, so I would go back.

But I won’t ask any more strange men to dance!

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The Best Steaks Are at This Place!

Of course we all know that Argentina is famous for steaks, and Buenos Aires is chock full of great parillas where you can enjoy them. When I first came here, I heard that La Gran Parilla del Plata — popularly known just as La Gran Parilla — was one of the best. I wouldn’t doubt it, even though there are many I haven’t tried yet.

La Gran Parilla is in the lovely old barrio of San Telmo, which still retains its character despite little pockets of gentrification, and is a typical Argentine steak house. People don’t go here to eat other types of food — it’s all about the steak. They have a variety of cuts and we all have our favourites. Mine is the bife de chorizo, which is sirloin. Many prefer the lomo, or filet mignon, and there are several great ones.

Although I grew up eating my steak well cooked (some might say burnt), here I’m learning to eat it rarer. I now order it a punto, which is medium leaning to the rare side.

As you can see from the photo, they don’t skimp on the servings! We were four women. Lola and Venetia both like theirs bleeding all over the plate, so they shared the smaller one furthest from the camera, which was lomo — actually it’s just the angle of the camera that makes it look smaller but it definitely wasn’t. Lucy used to be one of the group here, but last year her company transferred her to Boston, and she was back for a visit. She hadn’t had a Buenos Aires steak for a year and she didn’t want to share! So she and I each had one of the monster ones at the front — but I brought home what I didn’t eat and it was sliced up in my salad at lunch today and finished off with a plate of homemade chips for dinner!

Truly, if you’re a steak lover, this is the place to be!

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Sick Weekend, but…

On Friday night I came down with a rotten cold, woke up with streaming nose, sore throat, the lot. Obviously I wasn’t going to the milonga on Saturday as planned. Funny how a summer cold can make you feel like death heated up.

I stayed close to home and behaved, mainly because I wanted to be well enough for Sunday night.

First, I had what was supposed to be the last class in my Fileteado Porteño class. I didn’t want to miss that, because I didn’t know when my teacher would be able to take me again. So I stayed at home again all day, and in the early evening I took a taxi to his studio. It wasn’t easy, painting and sniffling at the same time! And the charming Martin didn’t say a word, happily bringing me water to take my paracetemol!

He had a friend drop by and, in true Argentine style, he just stayed and we all chatted while I learned! The friend also brewed up some mate, so that was another element added to my struggles — although I did enjoy it. Tango in the background, painting Fileteado and drinking mate with two good looking men — doesn’t get more Argentine than that!

As it turned out, I didn’t quite get my painting finished, so I am having an extra class in two weeks to get it done. I’ll post a picture of the finished product.

Fortunately, the next event of the evening wasn’t far away from Martin’s studio. My friend Raul was having a birthday, and it’s kind of a tradition that a bunch of us celebrate birthdays and other events at La Gran Parilla, a fantastic parilla, or steakhouse, in San Telmo. Raul, the birthday boy, is the one on the right with the big smile on his face!

I have to say I didn’t do justice to the wonderful steak, and Venetia expressed her amazement that I didn’t finish my champagne. “You must be sick!” was her comment.

But it was fun, and I’m feeling a bit better today. Hopefully I’ll be well enough to go to the milonga next weekend!

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This Is A Half Portion!

Yesterday I went to an early evening event of InterNations, which involved meeting about a dozen people and sitting outside on the terrace at La Biela. It’s a lovely way to spend a summer evening.

But when it was over, it was about 8 pm and I didn’t feel like going home to cook a meal. So I walked down the street to Clark’s, one of the oldest parillas in the area.

Just look at this steak! This was what they call a “half portion” — can you imagine what the full-size looks like? I cut it in two and brought half home for today’s lunch — which is a good thing because I’m going out tonight with another group and dinner will be empanadas and other picadas (snack foods). It’s all go in Buenos Aires!