Bares Notables

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La Farmacia

The other day I went for a morning of shopping with Venetia and Lina to a great old barrio called Flores. It’s old and a bit run down, and there are lots of people selling goods on the sidewalk. But there are bargains to be had, which is why we go! This time we were a bit unlucky, because there was a fire at the end of a street, and the street that was blocked off was the one with the higher end stores with good prices—have to go again, that’s all! But we did manage to, as my sister-in-law Elise always says, “get some money spent”.

Then we went for lunch to an old Bar Notable called La Farmacia. As the name suggests, it used to be a pharmacy a long time ago, and in the tradition of the Bares Notables, they’ve kept a lot of the artifacts from that time.

Venetia and I had been there before and remembered having a marvelous provoleta dish, which we had again. Provoleta is a very Argentine dish that’s based on baked provolone cheese with added seasonings. The only problem with the traditional ones is that if you don’t eat them fast they cool down and get a bit hard. But at La Farmacia they have a special version which they cook in a cast iron escargot pan. The pan stays hot, so the cheese stays gooey and delicious right to the end! I’m including Venetia’s photo of it before we dived in and devoured it. Of course, as a vegan I’m not supposed to eat cheese, but I’ve decided to relax my rules a bit when I’m out because sometimes there aren’t many vegan options. And sometimes there are mini provoletas!

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Another Bar Notable Evening

If you’ve been reading this blog since before the pandemia, you might remember the “research” visits to the Bares Notables, a collection of old traditional Buenos Aires bars, about which I was going to write a book. I put the book on hold because a number of these old places went out of business. I don’t know if I’ll ever finish it, but that’s no reason to stay away from the bares!

Last night, four of us went to a venerable old place called Bar Roma. We started with a group of eight, but there was some high wind activity yesterday and the others begged off. But Venetia, Gillian, Christine and I had a good time and we didn’t get blown away!

Bar Roma has an interesting story, which was the reason I really wanted to go. For many years it was owned and operated by two cousins, Jesus and Laudino (can’t find any reference to their last names), who in latter years were in their nineties and still working. Not surprisingly, it was a bit too much for them, and the place had become run down and not very inviting. They began to look for successors, and eventually this small group of friends took it over in late 2018. They spent four months renovating it, had their grand opening which attracted lots of people in the neighbourhood—and days later the plague came upon us and we went into lockdown.

Some people might have been defeated by this, but not these guys. The bar reopened a few weeks ago, and last night when we were there it was full. They specialize in pizza, and judging by the number of boxes piled up on the counter, their delivery business is going strong too.

I’m happy for them—Viva el Bar Roma!

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Exciting Initiative

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you may remember that before the pandemia struck I was working on a book about the Bares Notables, a series of old, historic bars and cafes here in Buenos Aires. I put it on hold indefinitely, because the lockdown affected the economy so badly that we knew some of these places wouldn’t open again.  We still don’t know what the picture will look like in the end, but today I heard about a wonderful initiative that may help.

The Library Association has partnered with ten of the Bares Notables to make books available to patrons to read why they are there! They will be kind of mini-libraries, and you’ll be able to select a book and read it while you sip your coffee or wine, or have a meal. When you leave, you put the book in a special cuarantena bin, where it will stay for a week before coming out to be read again by another patron. Isn’t that great?

As it turns out, most of these Bares are not among the ones I know or have visited, so even though the book is still on hold, the “research” can resume! I’m sure there will be no problem getting friends to go out with me to check out the books and the bars—stay tuned!

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I’m Feeling Down

I haven’t posted for a week simply because there has been nothing much going on to write about. But today, I feel more down than any time since all this started on March 20.

Today, two iconic Buenos Aires eating places announced they would not be able to open again after the quarantine is over. One is La Biela, the famous cafe around the corner from me that I’ve talked about a lot in these posts. I can’t imagine the area without it, especially in the summer when so many of us spend so much time on its legendary patio.

Then, to make matters worse, the government is mulling the possibility of going back to phase one of lockdown. We have reached 1,000 deaths, most of them in Greater Buenos Aires, and the numbers are going up. But people are already losing patience, and there were huge pot-banging demonstrations on the weekend. Everyone has been patient and, for Argentines, remarkably obedient up till now, but that is changing.

As you may know, I have been working on a new book about the Bares Notables of Buenos Aires. La Biela is one of the most famous of them, and now it is gone. I can’t finish the book for now, because I’ll have to wait and see how many of the others will reopen.

I fear for my beloved Buenos Aires.

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Celta Bar

Lunch today was another Bares Notables adventure, this time back to Celta Bar. We had been there a couple of times, once just for wine and once for a cafe concert, but when I realized we hadn’t actually eaten there I decided to remedy that. I was joined by Venetia, Lina, Joanna and Gary, Gerlinde and Thomas — a nice, fun group.

It was a stinking hot, humid day. You would think everyone would be happy to find the place air-conditioned, but no. The waitress gave us the biggest table in the place, which was an interesting old piece of furniture that might have started life as a desk, an altar or just a box. However, the air conditioning unit was above us on the wall. You wouldn’t believe the game of musical chairs we had so that nobody would have cold air blowing on them!
Eventually we settled in and ordered food. We each ordered something different, and everyone declared their food excellent. I had my standby, Spanish omelette, and I chose the mini one to be sure I could eat it. Turned out, in true Argentine fashion, the plate was mini but the omelette was not!
Lina ordered what we call here Vuelta y Vuelta, which is a steak dropped in the pan and immediately turned over so that it is barely cooked at all — kind of like a blue steak I guess. Anyway, she said this is one of the few places that actually do it the way she asks.
Gary had something called Oli Oli, which was a milanesa topped with so many items he could hardly find the meat underneath! Again, he declared it excellent.

Oli Oli

Mini tortilla espanola

Steak vuelta y vuelta

Hamburger Celta

Pasta

Celta is full of delightful old artifacts — including an ancient Canada Dry box!

Old bottles and boxes

Old Canada Dry Box – surprised to find it here!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As always, thanks to Venetia for the photos.

I’m reaching the deadline for submission of my manuscript to my publisher, so I just have to fill in a few gaps. But as we agreed today, just because the book is done doesn’t mean we can’t just go and have fun — I’ll drink to that!

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The Black Cat and the Beatles

The other day a few of us went back to El Gato Negro, one of the Bares Notables I’ll be including in my book. As they are best known for their variety of teas, coffees and spices, we went for late morning coffee.

As I arrived first, I spent some time reviewing the menu, which contained such yummy items as orange and ginger cake and glazed lemon slices. I finally chose the orange cake which, unfortunately, wasn’t as good as it sounded. Gerlinde, however, treated it as early lunch and had a sandwich which she pronounced excellent.

What I had in mind all along was the cafe con leche with cardomom, a beautiful combination of flavours I can never resist.

There’s a staircase in the back corner, which we all assumed would lead to the washroom, but it turned out there’s a whole other room up there and Lina could tell us they have live music on some evenings. So we agreed to watch out for what’s playing and make an evening of it sometime.

As we were chatting, Gerlinde asked if any of us had gone to the Beatles Museum, and none had. I knew about it and had looked for it a couple of times but never found it. It was apparently just across the street, so she and I decided to go. No wonder I couldn’t find it, as it was right in the back of a little mall that opened out into a courtyard featuring a cafe called The Cavern! Beatles photos were everywhere.

The museum itself was quite small, but very well curated with lots of memorabilia, important dates, photos and videos. We thoroughly enjoyed it. Here’s a little video and some photos I took.

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Tango Music at Cafe de los Angelitos

I’ve been to Cafe de los Angelitos a couple of times already, as it is a Bar Notable and there will be a chapter about it in my book. The reason for this visit was quite specific.

I belong to a worldwide expat organization called InterNations, and in Buenos Aires it has a tango group. They organized a little gathering where a professional tango pianist would come along and tell us something about the history and styles of tango music, and a we would be treated to some bandoneon music.

There couldn’t be a more appropriate setting than Cafe de los Angelitos, which is steeped in the history of tango. Photographs of the great tango orchestra leaders adorn the walls, and even the stained glass panels are tango themed.

The bandoneonista was a young woman, and apparently there’s a trend for more women playing the bandoneon. I think that’s interesting, as it may well add yet another nuance to the ever evolving music of tango.

She played on a little balcony over the bar, and told us to go ahead and chat and she would just play in the background. I find it very hard to sit when tango music is playing, and I might have invited one of the men in the group to dance, but there just wasn’t any space between the tables. In any case, it was a lovely interlude.

I hope you enjoy this little bitesized taste of Buenos Aires.

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Unexpected Bar Notable Visit

Usually I set up groups of my “researchers” to visit the various Bares Notables to gather information for my book. But this one wasn’t planned.

Venetia suggested we go to a barrio quite a way from the centre of the city called Flores. I had been there before with Lina and done some fun shopping. The only thing was that Lina couldn’t go with us, and I knew I would have trouble finding my way around, as it’s quite a big barrio. It’s also one that has everything from  huge numbers of street vendors selling clothing on the sidewalk (literally) to interesting cafes to funky little shops selling clothes you wouldn’t necessarily find elsewhere.

The truth is, we never did find the shops Lina had taken me to, and we’ll have to go another time with her. But, there was a silver lining. Before we went, I had looked online to see if I could figure it out, and I found there was a Bar Notable there, not too far from the subway station, so we decided to start by going there for lunch. What a find!

It’s called La Farmacia and, as the name implies, it was once a pharmacy selling potions and pills of all kinds. In its present life as a bar/cafe, it still has the old dark wood counters, one of which is now the bar. What’s really fun is that instead of the usual rows of wine bottles on the wall, here they have the old jars that used to hold powders and other medicinal remedies. How cool is that? Here are some shots.

And here was one of the great finds! There’s a typical Argentine dish called provoleta, which is a portion of provolone cheese grilled till it’s soft and gooey, and served in the pan it’s cooked in. Sometimes it has herbs and even veggies. The problem I have with it is that it takes me a while to eat all that cheese, and when it cools down it gets hard again and it’s not so nice. The folks at La Farmacia have found the answer! They make little individual ones in one of those trays you use to cook escargots, and it’s cast iron. So it hold the heat, and the provoletas stay hot and gooey — ecstasy!

So I’ll definitely be going back there with more of my researchers.

We did discover one nice little shop, where I had actually bought a top last time I was there. This time I made an impulse purchase of this spectacular skirt! When you dance tango at the milongas here in Buenos Aires, you have a chance to wear things that would be too over-the-top for any other setting, but this will be getting its first outing soon. I was thinking of wearing it tonight, but the black tops I have are a bit too warm for this sweltering heat, so it might have to wait. But I was delighted with my purchase. Venetia also found a blouse she loved and bought it, so even though we didn’t find the street with the good shops, we both counted it a success!

 

 

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This Bar Wasn’t Notable Enough

Yesterday I went with some friends back to Caffe Tabac, one of the Bares Notables I visited for my book. It’s quite a nice place, although not as old and full of character as some others.

After we had eaten, I approached the senior staff person to see if I could set up an interview, and was told that there was nobody there who knew anything about the history of the cafe! Apparently it had been closed for some time (which I knew) and reopened five years ago under new ownership, and nobody there knew anything about the time before that.

So Caffe Tabac won’t be featured in my book. But there are lots of others to choose from, so no worries.

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Cafe de los Angelitos

This is one of the Bares (or Cafes) Notables I am writing about for my new book. It is well known for its “tango” show, but none of my usual people were interested in going. I personally don’t like tango shows either, because they are more showy choreographed programs and not real tango. However, as I thought it would be useful for my book, I decided to go along anyway.

Two visitors I had recently met, Anneliese from Australia and Aytuna from Germany, were keen to see it though, so we three went together.

The cafe itself is beautiful, and has an interesting (read iffy) past. I will go again to do some sketching and perhaps have a further conversation with the manager, but in the meantime I thought I’d share some photos.

The theatre part of Los Angelitos is quite opulent, as you can see from this shot of the stage.

This lovely stained glass piece over the bar reflects the tango aspect of the cafe’s history.

I couldn’t resist a photo op with the lady who was checking in the visitors, in costume from the early 20th century.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From the video, you’ll see it’s not all tango. It’s more of a reflection of the music scene in Buenos Aires from the early 20th century. For me, this woman was the best part of the show. I should have made a longer videeo, but my phone was running out of juice. I hope you enjoy it anyway. Note the live tango orchestra on a platform behind the performers.