Category: Mendoza

Asado with special guests.

Leave a comment

So it’s been a while since my last update.

I went to a family Sunday asado a few weekends ago (April 3 to be exact) near Rivadavia I think it was. Anyway, it was south somewhere, past Lujan on the way to Tunuyán. This random guy just opens his little farm to anyone who wants to barbecue there for the weekend and take their ATVs out for a spin on these crazy dirt hills next door (assuming it’s on his property too).

We show up to the asado and my friend’s dog is barking and going nuts. I think it’s because of the other dogs around. Then… she goes “oh yeah he’s going nuts because of the llama.”

Excuse me?

That’s right. The llama. There were 2 of them  – a white one and a black one. Just hanging out, roaming around the property. Hanging out in the lemon grove. Being llamas.

Also guests of our little asado were horses, roosters, hens, geese, ducks, pigs, cows (yeah I felt bad about that one), donkeys, mules, and goats… just hanging out, roaming around, crapping everywhere. Making me feel bad for eating their tasty friends.

It was a really fun day – didn’t get to ride the ATVs although I was offered – it looked a little too hardcore for me. But the asado was great and I got to meet my friends’ family, which is always a cool experience.

Bodegas Twitter Event

Leave a comment
A week ago today (Saturday March 26), I was lucky enough to have a ticket to attend a huge winetasting event here in Mendoza called Bodegas Twitter.  The event was a fundraiser for Fundación CONIN, which is a charity that works with underprivileged children.

So why was it called Bodegas Twitter? The entire event was supposedly organized using solely Twitter.  And, if you tweeted from the event using the hashtag #bodegastw , your tweet would be broadcast to the entire party via a giant screen behind the stage.

Bodegas Twitter

Held at the Auditorio Angel Bustelo in downtown Mendoza, the event brought together bodegas all around the Mendoza region (and Patagonia), including some Continue reading →

Winetasting on a Saturday

Leave a comment

Last Saturday, a few friends invited me to come along on a bodega-hopping adventure. Bodega, just in case you weren’t sure, is the fancy word for winery/vineyard here.  We had a rental car (a zippy little Ford Fiesta) and a full day to go taste wines in the Mendoza region.

My friend is a sommelier in training, so she knows her stuff. We started on our trip heading to San Carlos (a fairly far-away land from the ciudad) to O’Fournier. The trip was WELL worth it. The bodega itself is breathtaking; it’s super modern but also really uniquely designed to take advantage of the use of gravity during the winemaking process. Plus, it looks like something you’d see an evil villain living in a James Bond movie, or perhaps Dr. Evil’s summer home.

Mr. Bigglesworth loves the view.

It is also home to the largest wine cellar in all of North and South America combined. Pretty freaking cool. The bodega uses its cellar also as an art gallery, so it makes it a bit more interesting than staring at barrels of wine.

Best place to take shelter in an earthquake?

 Lunch at O’Fournier was good, but we had heard it was great, so it was a bit disappointing. This was mostly due to the portion sizes (a shot-glass of two different appetizers were called “two courses”, for example). Still, it was tasty and well done. And the view was spectacular.

After O’Fournier, we made our way to La Azul, but we were 20 minutes late. Turns out, they’re not so much on Argentine time when they’re waiting for you. They were gone, and not a soul was in sight. We knocked on a door of a neighboring house to see if they knew if anyone was there, and they couldn’t help us. Ah well.

Hello? Is it me you’re looking for?

Backup plan: We went to Jean Bousquet, who were very kind and received us as well as they could receive a surprise visitor. We wine-tasted with the staff and had a great day.

Our drive back to the city was interesting, as we missed a main road entrance and ended up on a dirt desert road going up and down hills and having to get out and push the car across a few points. It was really, really fun though. It may or may not have had anything to do with the alcohol. But it was a great day, with a beautiful sunset, and a great time with new friends.

The Best. Steak. EVAR.

Leave a comment

Ok, so coming from Texas and New York, I’ve had some great steaks in my lifetime. I’ve been to some of the best steakhouses in the US, and I have my favorites, but I think I have found my favorite steak in the world.

Here it is, in all its splendor. The Bife de chorizo at Don Mario’s :

Big deal, a hunk of meat. Right? Wrong. Upon further examination, it is awesome.

I still haven’t been to Francis Mallman’s place here, but I’m thinking this will be hard to top.

St. Paddy’s in South America

Leave a comment

Okay, my blog updates are becoming few and far between and I promise I’ll change that. I’ve been working pretty long days (the usual) but my weekends are becoming more and more jam-packed with fun things instead of sitting in my bedroom blogging about random observations, so… forgive me.

Anyway, this year was my first St. Paddy’s in South America. It was my fifth St. Patrick’s Day in a row that I’ve been in a different city.
Here’s a breakdown:
2007 – NYC
2008 – Austin
2009 – Paris
2010 – Las Vegas
2011 – Mendoza

Let’s rank these now from most fun to least fun experience:
1. NYC
2. Austin
3. Mendoza (can’t decide whether it’s better or not as good as Austin)
4. Paris
5. Vegas (we were out really late the night before and none of us were in the mood to party)

So, as you can see, Mendoza St. Patrick’s day is pretty legit. Here’s why. There is one Irish pub here. One. And it’s called Believe Irish Pub.  However, since it’s the only one, you can say “the Irish pub”when you get in a cab, and everyone knows where you’re going. It’s on Av. Colón and it’s the place to be in Mendoza for St. Patrick’s.

The night featured some random guys playing the tin flute and other traditional instruments, but instead of being dressed like leprechauns or something, they were dressed like medieval serfs in brown and drab colors. They had on weird hats. And it was just strange.

No Guinness for me this year, because they only come in small bottles here. Instead we drank Stella Artois and Andes Porter (a Guinness substitute at best) because they come in the liter-size bottles and the bar was so crowded, we ordered 4 or 5 liters at a time.

The turnout was amazing – it seemed like every expat in Mendoza was there – plus any Mendocino ready to party. I’ll post some pics in a few days of the crowd and you’ll see. The normal size patio in front spilled over to the front of the shops on either side, and we took over the street in front so that one full lane of traffic was blocked by people standing around.

While there was no music outside other than Peter pan and friends, it was a great night out. They could do with some satellite bars for the occasion, but all in all, a solid experience.
Erin go bragh!

Restaurant review – Sushi Club

Leave a comment

Ok so today, my roommates informed me of a lunch deal at the local sushi place. When I say local sushi place, I mean one of like 2 in all of Mendoza…just the closer one.

Turns out, pretty great deal. The sushi itself leaves a little something to be desired (not even being an Uchi snob here). The rice is sweet, or something, so that the whole roll tastes sweeter than it should. That being said, I could see that if you’re craving, it’ll definitely do the job.

Anyway, here’s the deal. For 65 pesos, which is roughly $16.25 you get all of the following:

– an amuse bouche – in this case a ceviche on one of those fancy ceramic spoons
– 5 pork gyoza
– 12 pieces of sushi of your choice. I opted for the Buenos Aires roll and the Crazy roll (both have salmon, cream cheese, and vary from there)
– a glass of Mumm Brut champagne
– a bottle of agua con gas
– Coffee
– petit fours

It was great! Minus the Haitian waiter unabashedly hitting on me, and just trying harder when I told him I have a boyfriend in Spanish AND in French. Meh.