i Latina, a closed-door restaurant experience

Advanced reservations can get you a table at this home-turned-restaurant in Palermo, deemed the “One to Watch” by a group that puts together a list of the 50 best restaurants in Latin America. The menu is already set, a tasting to represent Latin American cuisine, and very much influenced by the Carribean-Colombian roots of the chefs (siblings from Columbia).

They do accommodate dietary restrictions, however, as long as you notify them when making your reservation.

Two days before our scheduled dinner they confirmed our reservation! A hostess greeted us at the door of what looked like a very nice two story home and seated us by the kitchen.

We opted for the wine pairings: seven wines to go with the seven courses listed above. The staff poured tasting size portions of wine, but they were happy to refill our glasses as many times as we liked(!). Dangerous, but certainly delicious.

Highlights of the bread basket included the DELICIOUS olive focaccia (possibly the best focaccia breads I’ve ever had in my life), a butter with lime and pepper (surprisingly great flavor combination with nearly all the breads), and a cacao bread (not the best tasting, but the most interesting flavor profile—bitter chocolate flavor sans sugar).First course was about two very flavorful bites. Carimañolas are small fritters made of yucca, and the shredded lamb on top was quite tender. Perfect contrast and texture balance to have the almonds and pickled red bits on top (sadly, I don’t remember what the red bits were). While I didn’t enjoy the Extra Brut Rose alone, it was much better with the food. I’m no wine expert but the food seemed to tone down the bubbly’s dryness.

The caramelized prawns in the second course were cooked perfectly! Not chewy or dry all and the spice provided a fantastic kick. The server recommended we try to get a little of everything in every bite, which worked well. Went well with the white Torrontés, a blend unique to Argentina. Jon got an alternate option here: grilled goat cheese in place of prawns. Very delicious as well, though it didn’t seem to pair as well with the wine.

For course three, we were advised to take a bite of the sweet potato cubes with each bite of ceviche. One we were done with the ceviche, we drank the ceviche juice (aka “tiger’s milk”/leche de tigre) and finished it off with the spoonful of pickled mango. It was one of the best ceviche’s I’ve ever had, including the one from our cooking class in Santiago. Barú style meant it borrowed from Carribean influences (coconut milk and toasted coconut slices) along with the tropical southeast asian flavor (lychee pieces), as explained by our waiter.

Our fourth course was chupe with a dot of cilantro sauce and grilled octopus (or duck for Jon). Chupe is a pretty generic name for a soup in South America. Ingredients vary by country and who’s preparing it. This version was made with a shrimp base. The waiter recommended that we lift the silver thing, drop the grilled protein right into the soup, squeeze the tiny sliver of lime for a few drops of juice and mix it all up to eat. The chupe soup by itself had a very fishy taste but was much more pleasantly savory when the octopus and lime were mixed in. I was surprised at how crunchy and delicious the octopus tentacles were, without being chewy at all!

A bite of minty mojito ice palate cleanser and we were on our way to the main course.

I say “main course” because it was the largest plate and portion we received in a single serving, but also because it may have been the most beautiful dish there. I don’t believe I’ve ever been served a dish that used a paintbrush to place sauce, but here was a dish that was totally artistic and delicious.

Meat was tender and flavorful and all the sauces went well together. The half a brussel sprout we each received was perfectly caramelized (I saved it for last). We did laugh at the idea that the waiter said “greenbeans,” but perhaps he was referring to all the beans contained in the one stalk.

What more can I say about a chocolate truffle, other than the fact that the olive oil and salt were perfect accentuations to the rich taste? The dessert wine came in a very cute glass. As the wine gets sweeter, the glass gets smaller, said our wine pourer.

A unique dish (and I am also referring to the bowl!). Our second dessert was a rich and creamy sorbet, accompanied by the rich and creamy goat cheese. The crunch of the tuile and texture and tartness of the lemon peel were a great contrast and provided a much more complex flavor to the dish. The merengues were intense, like hibiscus, and light and fluffy. Yet a smaller glass still (like a thimble!) to contain this ultra sweet syrupy drink.

They called the final course a “ceremonial coffee” and it was nice that they prepared it fresh at our table. But it also seemed sorta gimmicky to then offer the 250g of the whole Columbian bean for 250 Argentine pesos. He let us each smell the coffee grounds and then explained that the vortex pattern in the dripper would allow the hot water to contact the coffee for a bit longer, without burning it. For me, the coffee tasted a little weak though (thanks mom!). It was served with an assortment of miniature alfajores with dulce de leche. They were possibly the cutest alfajores I’ve ever seen (the size of a fingernail!).

Very fancy meal, presentation and all!