Freud and Fahler

Another one of our favorite places was called "Freud and Fahler" and was located in the Palermo-Soho district of the city.  AKA...the shopping district.

This was a tip given to us by a connection of one of S's family friends who currently lives in Buenos Aires.  We met her for drinks one night and she highly recommended a place just down the street that sounded right up our alley.  The best way she could think to describe it was "they serve steak with yogurt on top."  We were sold.

After a 30 minute escapade around the neighborhood looking for this place, which included a venture a couple blocks too far into a "sketchy area" (as Stuart likes to call it), 2 stops to ask for directions in broken Spanish - one with a policeman, and the other with a group of musicians - we ended up one street down from where we started and exactly in the place we were looking for - Freud and Fahler.

It was a tiny little place, with dim lighting and a simple atmosphere.  A small bar and a couple window seats were all you could see when you walked in, but the friendly host ushered us right back through a small doorway into a slightly bigger dining room packed with candle-lit, white-clothed tables.

After getting settled and ordering a great bottle of wine recommended by our waiter (also the host/manager/owner), we opened the menu and were quite surprised to find a setup like we've never seen before.  The pages were very simple, with descriptions printed on clean, white paper, and each description followed by a very detailed, almost architectural sketch of what the dish would look like.  I might add that this was slightly helpful to an English-speaking couple who had a pretty hard time reading Spanish menus.  For example, below is the dish that Stuart decided on:

and here is the real thing:

See what I mean?  Very helpful!  You can see that he ordered the filet with some sort of a potato log, I guess?  Either way...it was absolutely delicious.

To back up a bit, I have to make sure I tell you exactly everything we ordered.  So, in an effort not to leave anything out, here is our appetizer - proscuitto slices served with a sweet cream sauce and dusted with pistachios.  I apologize for the quality of the photo, I was trying not to make too much of a "touristy" scene.

Should I let you guess what I ordered?  

Any thoughts?  

I bet that was hard...spinach ravioli!   But, to my defense, this one was served with some sort of a foam on top.  I couldn't pass that up, right?

Anyway, on to dessert.  As good as everything else was that night, this was the star.

Mini doughnuts stuffed with different sweet fillings, and served with bitter chocolate and a raspberry sorbet.

Our favorite doughnut was filled with with dulce de leche, and that's the only one I can remember.  But, I promise that all of them were still so, so good.  Especially, when consumed with a hot cup of cafe con leche.

This is the meal that I wish I model my dinners after every night.  It started off salty and sweet, then moved to savory and filling, and finished off sweet with a touch of bitterness.  Perfect.  Obviously, this was one of our favorites.

Cumana

One of the "food goals" that I set for myself before visiting BA (yes...I set food goals), was to make sure I got a taste of one of the most well-known local treats - empanadas.  Empanadas are pastries stuffed with basically anything.  There are sweet empanadas and savory empanadas, meat-stuffed, cheese-stuffed or corn-stuffed.  Chocolate-stuffed, coconut-stuffed, or caramel-stuffed.  There are endless possibilities, and that's why I love them!

So, when we were given a tip on some of the best empanadas in BA, we knew we had to try it.  That, and a mouth-watering image of this dish from the same place that we found from an Argentine blogger...

...gnocchi smothered in a gooey, creamy cheese sauce and baked in a 700 degree wood-fired oven.  

YUM.

As soon as we walked in the door, we couldn't wait to sit down and dig in!  We immediately ordered 4 of the 6 empanadas on the menu (chicken, pork, corn, and ham), and quickly regretted not ordering all 6!

We also shared the gnocchi dish above and absolutely devoured every bite.  All complete with 2 bottled Cokes served with a straw.  (I love how the Argentines love their old-fashioned Coke!)

From left to right: Corn, chicken, ham and pork

Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our experience at Cumana.  So much so that we visited their sister restaurant right next door a few days later!

Oh, and did I mention they had paper tablecloths with crayons to keep you entertained while waiting on your food?  Well, you can guess the first thing I couldn't wait to do:

:)

Cooking In

On our third night in Buenos Aires, we decided to cook in.  We were lucky enough to be in our own condo, with a full kitchen, so we knew we had to take advantage of the local ingredients.

Earlier in the day, we walked down a section of Avenida Vincente Rodriguez that was full of different types of food markets.  We passed a meat market, a seafood market, a bakery, a vegetable market, a spice market, and a pasta market!

Given the limited amount of equipment we had to work with in our unfamiliar kitchen, we decided pasta would be the safest bet.  So we wandered into San Jose pasta market and picked out the ham and ricotta stuffed ravioli and the homemade salsa de ajo (garlic tomato sauce).  After a quick stop at a prepared foods store for some homemade tiramisu, we took the pasta and sauce, along with some mushrooms, a couple baguettes, and a bottle of malbec back to our condo to begin cooking our freshly-prepared dinner.

I cannot even describe how delicious this fresh ravioli was.  In combination with the homemade sauce, I don't think I've ever tasted any other stuffed pasta that holds a candle to San Jose's.  The ravioli was soft, with a bit of a bite to it, and had a filling that was out of this world.  Topped off with a tart but sweet, and very well-seasoned tomato sauce.  Ridiculous.

To accompany the pasta, we sauteed the mushrooms in olive oil and salt, and then toasted some crostini along side.  With the wine, it was the perfect combination!

As if that wasn't enough, then came time for dessert - homemade tiramisu out on the balcony.  If we thought the meal could not get any better, we were so wrong.  The pastry portion, that clearly was not made of "lady fingers" as commonly used in the States, was light and fluffy and had absorbed just enough of the espresso to add flavor, but not overwhelm.  And the marscapone cheese mixture was fluffy and creamy and just sweet enough.  Top it off with a chocolate sauce and a dusting of espresso powder, and my friends, you have the best tiramisu I've ever put [shoveled] into my mouth.  

Once again, Stuart and I finished the night off completely stuffed and perfectly satisfied.  If this was a sign for meals to come, this was going to be a very good trip...