Author: hwilkie@mhwcom.com

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Research: Bar El Federal

We started the research again last week into the Bares Notables for my upcoming book. The first outing was for dinner at Bar El Federal, one of the oldest ones in San Telmo. There were just three of us – Lina, Wendy and me — but it was a fun evening and I got opinions from everyone. All good.

Here are a few of the photos I took.

The Menu

Behind the bar.

Lots of chorizo for the ever-popular picadas

Wendy and Lina

As you can see, the iconic portrait of Che Guevara graces the bar, so I thought I’d talk about him to add some spice to the book. For example, did you know his name wasn’t Che? It was actually Ernesto. “Che” is a very Argentine word that can mean many things, from “hey you” to “friend” to just a filler word that doesn’t really mean anything. When

Lovely old cash register on the end of the bar

he went to Cuba to join the revolution, as an Argentine of course he kept saying it. One of his comrades starting referring to him by it, and it stuck. Hence: Che Guevara. See — every day’s a school day!

Tomorrow we are going to Caffee Tabac, quite different from Federal, but also a Bar Notable. Stay tuned.

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More tango togs!

Here are two more of the tango outfits I bought last week.

The first one is actually a dress, not a skirt and top. It’s stretchy velvet. Tango clothes have no zippers and they are worn very tight. You have to allow for that when getting dressed — it takes me a while to struggle into them!

You can’t really see the skirt to advantage here, but it’s shocking pick with a thin black lace overlay — and a waist-to-hem black lace fish tail! I hesitated over that one, but I’m glad I got it. It swishes as I dance! The top is again tight stretchy velvet, with lace sleeves.

I think I may have said this before, but the milonga is the last bastion of over-the-top dressing, where you can be as fancy as you like. You can wear clothes you wouldn’t wear anywhere else, and I have to say I enjoy the whole experience more when I’m in these fabulous outfits!

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That’s Just the Way We Do Things Here!

This week I bought a curling iron — or hair straightener if you prefer — and I thought the experience was worth posting here.

After I said I’d take it, the assistant opened up the box, took everything out and compared it with the “what’s in this box” list to make sure everything that was supposed to be there was there. Then she plugged it into the wall to make sure it worked before packing it all up again for me.

I think this is a great idea. Saves the store from being ripped off by people saying things don’t work, and saves the customer a trip back to the store if it really doesn’t work. Takes a few minutes, but I think it’s time well spent.

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Tango Togs!

Well you already know about my tango shoe obsession, but I’ve recently been updating my tango clothes collection.

  When my friend Venetia came to Buenos Aires a few years ago, she thought she would dance tango. So she went out and bought this beautiful (and obviously very expensive) black silk chiffon skirt. Then she decided tango wasn’t for her, and she forgot about the skirt. She recently unearthed in in a cupboard and gave it to me. I love it! It’s cut on the bias and swirls beautiful when I pivot!

I bought this skirt on Friday afternoon and wore it Sunday night! Red crushed velvet with a fishtail — the milonga is the last bastion of over-the-top dressing!

At Sueño Porteño, where I went last night, they take random photos of the dancers for their Facebook page. This is me with one of my first partners of the evening. What a great dancer he was!

As if all this weren’t enough, I went shopping again today and bought more! My challenge tonight will be deciding which outfit to wear.

And today I secured another new client — so you know what that means! Stay tuned for photos.

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Two Dinners

This week I went out to dinner a couple of times.

After my tango lesson every week, I go to a little local place called El Sanjuanino, because I can’t be bothered cooking when I get home. This week, Cecilia’s sister Adriana was visiting and she wanted to see me. So we killed two birds with one stone, and here we are eating some of the best empanadas in Buenos Aires. They also serve the house wine in what they call a pinguino, which you can see on the table. You can’t see it very well here, but it’s a big wine jug shaped like a penguin.

Yesterday there was supposed to be a street fair featuring all the provinces of Argentina. It was a lovely sunny day, and I planned to meet some friends and go. Lina arrived on the scene first and WhatsApp’d to say there was no sign of a fair. Apparently it was cancelled, no idea why — oh well, it’s Buenos Aires!

But it was so nice I wanted to go out anyway, so I met up with Lina in San Telmo and we had a late lunch in La Poesia. This is one of my favourites of the Bares Notables, about which I am once again writing a book. The official “research” starts next week, but I’ll take any opportunity to go to La Poesia.

Lina is a steak girl — the rarer the better. I think this one walked into the restaurant and jumped on her plate. I went with lighter fare, as I prefer my steak at dinnertime. These cold plates, with cheese and olives and cold meats etc. are called picadas, and I could practically live on them.

This wall is typical of the kind of things you find in these old bars. I’ll be writing more about La Poesia when we come here for the research night. (I’ll be glad when Venetia gets back and we get some decent photographs — not my forte!)

 

 

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No new tango clothes!

Last weekend I did a review of my tango wardrobe and decided there were some gaps that needed filling. So on Monday afternoon, after my day’s work was done, I set off to the shop where I bought my last stuff.

I had checked their website and seen a dress I liked, but when I saw it in the shop, I didn’t like the colours — kind of drab I felt. I told the woman I like vibrant colours, and she told me she would be getting some more in next Monday. So I made a note to go back then.

But I still yearned for a sleek, tight tango dress with long tight sleeves, so back to the Internet I went. I discovered there’s a tango dress shop not far from me, so this afternoon I set off there. I found the shop, but the lights were out even though the hours said 2 – 8 pm Monday to Friday and it was 3.30 pm on Tuesday. A sign said “ring the bell”, which is quite common here. I rang twice but nothing happened, so I left — dejected.

Along the street is a cafe with outside tables, and today there was a definite hint of spring in the air (remember, Southern Hemisphere), so I sat down and ordered a nice glass of white wine.

I pulled out my phone and went to the shop’s Facebook page, where I sent an enquiry via  Messenger. I said I had been there at 3.30 pm and asked what their hours were, perhaps on Friday — thinking I couldn’t do anything else today. A few minutes later I got a response, and the following conversation took place (in Spanish):

Her: We are open from 2 – 8 pm Monday to Friday. You have to ring the bell.

Me: I did ring the bell, twice.

Her: Silence.

Me: I’m quite close. If I come by at 4 pm will someone attend me?

Her: We’re not open today. But we’ll see you on Friday.

I smiled, shrugged and said to myself, “It’s Buenos Aires!” Then I went back to enjoying my wine and the sunny afternoon on beautiful Avenida Santa Fé.

 

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Another Night Out with Cecilia

A few weeks ago a few of us went to a lovely concert at the Colegio de Escribanos in San Isidro, described in a post called Our San Isidro Adventure. Last night Cecilia and I went to another event there, this time a folkloric group called Otro Cantar.

I usually love South American folkloric music, with all its bright costumes and guitars. This was a bit of a different take on it, and I must say we weren’t too keen. You’ll see the video clip is much shorter than usual — that’s why!

Otro Cantar

The concert ended about 10.30 pm and we hadn’t had dinner, so we headed back to Olivos, where Cecilia lives, for pizza. I’m showing you this photo of Cecilia because, even though it’s just a pizza joint, not even a bar or cafe, it does serve wine—Cecilia thought it strange that I would even question it! Anyway, we drank a bottle and ate a pizza and then went home to bed — I slept until the 9 am alarm woke me!

Not every concert is great, but you can always have fun!

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Cowboy Music in Buenos Aires!

Last night I joined a group of folks at La Dama de Bollini to hear our friend Cliff do a program of Cowboy Songs and Poems. This is a funky little place that often has interesting shows you wouldn’t necessarily find anywhere else.

This video is longer than the ones I usually post here, but I wanted to give you a feel for the variety of the music. There was Johnny Cash and Elvis, as well as some songs by people who, not being really a country music fan, I didn’t know — but I did enjoy them. And then Cliff read a couple of his own cowboy poems, and I’ve included one here. There was also some singalong, which is always fun.

Altogether a fun night — thanks Cliff!

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Concert at Centro Naval

Last night my friend Lina and I went to a beautiful concert at the Centro Naval in downtown Buenos Aires. The program consisted of just some popular and well known arias from various Italian operas — in other words, just the good bits and none of the boring bits! Lina is an opera fan so she might disagree!

It is, as it sounds, a building belonging to the navy and it is absolutely beautiful. Here are a couple of shots of the room where the concert was held.

In a city full of beautiful doors, this one is my personal favourite. Besides the photograph, here is a sketch of the door that I did on one of my early visits here. I sat at the cafe opposite, on a sweltering hot summer day, drinking white wine and sketching.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It turned out that the pianist and the tenor were the same people we heard sing a few weeks ago at a concert in San Isidro, and they were maybe even better here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, I shot a video of Nessun Dorma, one of my own favourites. Even though we were very close to the performers, I couldn’t get a clear shot, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

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Fun Food and Wine Tasting in a Cool Bar

Last night I went with some friends — Lina, Lola, Wendy and Tomas — to a cool Middle Eastern bar called Fayer in the barrio of Palermo.

They have a regular menu I think, but last night it was a tasting menu with suggested wine pairings. We had falafel, kebabs, roasted cauliflower and a couple of fishy things I didn’t have. They had wines from various parts of the country and we agreed they were all good.

Again, it was a little dark for photographs and I didn’t take one of our group, but these will give you an idea of what the place and the food looked like.

Veal kebabs with flatbread

Grilled (or it might have been fried) cauliflower

Maybe the best falafel I’ve ever tasted

I chose a second red instead of the white and all three were good

 

General view of the bar area

Apparently the place had a photographer at work and they sent us a few photos of our table group. Lola, me, Lina, Wendy and Tomas.