Bares Notables

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A great night of music and company!

What a lovely night we had on Friday! Venetia had tickets for yet another wonderful free concert at the Kirchner Centre. A friend of hers is visiting from England, so he came along and I also invited Cecilia.

The concert featured the Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Argentina, and for the second half there was also a huge, amazing choir. You can just barely see them on the level above the stage in this photo.

Like most people who see a performance here for the first time, Ian was blown away with the place, the concert — and the fact that it’s free!

I just pinched this photo from Venetia’s Facebook page!

The concert finished just before 10 pm, but this is Buenos Aires so the night was still young and we weren’t finished yet. Cecilia lives quite far away, so she left, but Venetia, Ian and I went on to one of our all-time favourite places (which I’ve written about here before), La Poesia. It’s one of the old Bares Notables, and has the most wonderful ambiance as well as food and — if you’re lucky — entertainment. Tonight we were lucky.

As we were finishing our dinner, a woman came in the front door and I asked Venetia if it was the woman who sings. She doesn’t look anything like an entertainer, so I wasn’t sure, but Venetia said she thought it was. Sure enough, a few moments later the woman took up her place in front of the door and began to sing. No accompaniment, no stage, and plenty of ambient noise, but her beautiful voice rose above it all. My late husband would have said she had a “whisky voice”, which is just what you need to sing tango. I asked her to sing Cancion de Buenos Aires, one of my favourite tango songs, but I didn’t like to video it as she was standing right in front of me. Maybe next time I’ll ask her if I can. In the meantime, I hope this video will give you a taste for her singing as well as the lovely old place itself.

If you ever come to visit me in Buenos Aires, La Poesia will definitely be one of the places I take you to!

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Catching Up on a Rainy Day

We’ve had thunderstorms all night, with very heavy rain, and so far it looks as if it’s on for the day. I had plans to go to an afternoon milonga, but if this keeps up I’ll be staying home.

In the meantime, it’s a good day to catch up with my blog. Not in any particular order, here’s some of what’s been happening for me in beautiful Buenos Aires over the past week or so.

Bares Notables Research

La Poesia is one of my favourites of these lovely old bars, and in fact it might top my list. That’s because it has an old, traditional Buenos Aires kind of feel to it, and the food is excellent. You can also often be unexpectedly entertained, sometimes by wandering professionals, sometimes — like this time — by enthusiastic amateurs. The pianist came up to our table and asked if we would like to sing and he would accompany us. We assured him he didn’t want to hear any of us sing, but we would happily listen. This lady took up the challenge and we thought she did well.

La Biela

Last Sunday was one of those glorious spring days that felt like summer. I met up with a bunch of friends on the patio of La Biela, a favourite summer spot for almost everyone. After quaffing some wine and chatting, Venetia, Sasha and I went up to wander around the artesan market, where we all managed to get some money spent.

On the way back, we passed La Biela again and came upon this man singing opera. We listened to him for quite a while, although I just videoed his last song. These ladies at the table beside him were clearly Italian (many Porteños are of Italian heritage) and joined in heartily especially in the Neapolitan love songs.

Free Concert at the CCK

Last night Venetia and I went to a beautiful concert at the Central Cultural Kirchner, known as the CCK. I didn’t take any photos, but simply sat back and drank in the wonderful music. It was the Buenos Aires Philharmonic Orchestra, who are always a pleasure. They had a guest clarinetist, who raised the roof with the last piece, a blend of classical music and jazz. Even the other musicians were mesmerized with his amazing clarinet solos.

And as always, I’m amazed that we can enjoy this calibre of concert absolutely free!

Well I see it is kind of drying up just a bit outside, so I must take advantage of this lull to go out and buy some groceries. The milonga is still in doubt, but I do have to eat!

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Exciting Publishing News!

I’m so excited about this news I have to tell you! Yesterday I had a meeting with Argentinidades, an Argentine book publishing company. I first met them in April 2018 at the huge Buenos Aires Book Fair, where I gave them a copy of Rare Steak, Red Wine, Hot Tango. They showed a lot of interest, but nothing happened after the fair.

But a few weeks ago I had an email from them, asking to meet with me to talk about the book. I have to say the meeting was hilarious, because Juan’s English was barely as good as my Spanish, which is pretty good for everyday life, but challenging for a business meeting. He kept hitting his forehead and exclaiming, “Ay, my English!”, while I did the same while muttering, “Ay, mi español!” Funny.

But the outcome is that they are going to translate the book, publish and distribute it in Spanish throughout South America! Not only that, but when I told them about the new book I’m writing about the Bares Notables, he jumped on that too.

I am adding two new chapters to the first book, as I want to make it a second edition. I need to have that finished and the manuscript of the second one finished by February, so that they can do the translation and get the books ready to promote at the 2020 Book Fair. How exciting is that?!

But there’s more! (I sound like one of those late night knife commercials!) They are kicking around a new book project about Buenos Aires, and they have invited me to be one of the authors on the team! That one hasn’t been finalized yet, so it’s fingers, toes and eyes crossed. It won’t make me rich, but it will help build my reputation as someone who writes about Argentina with love in her heart, which is what I want.

Couldn’t wait to tell you. Tonight we are doing another Bares Notables research dinner, so we will be hoisting a glass of champagne to celebrate!

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Research at the Black Cat

These are the spices that create the wonderful aroma

We had a fun research lunch at El Gato Negro on Thursday. We were five: Lina, Joanna, Gayle, Venetia and me.

El Gato Negro is one of the old, classic Bares Notables, and it’s typical of old Buenos Aires. It looks small when you go in the front door, but if you keep walking past the bar you find it opens up into another seating space at the back. Apparently there is more upstairs, but I haven’t ventured there yet.

We pushed two very small tables together to accommodate us, and it was definitely cozy. But the place was packed, so that’s the best we could do.

 

Venetia’s fish fortunately tasted better than it looked!

Not quite sure what to call this beef dish in English but it was yummy.

Joanna and I had lomo salteado (kind of a stir

You can tell Lina was happy with her choice of salad.

fry/stew of filet) which was delicious. Lina was very noble and had a salad. Venetia’s fish left something to be desired in terms of presentation, but she said it was very good. Gayle asked for a croque madame, but they brought a croque monsieur and she sent it back to have the eggs removed! Everyone was happy with the food.

El Gato Negro is also famous for fresh spices, not only in the food but available for purchase, as well as a huge variety of teas. As a result, when you open the door you are enveloped in a delicious aroma. I’ve bought tea there before, and I’m always tempted by the spices, but as I’m not an ambitious cook I think the effort would be wasted. But Lina bought a special Moroccan spice which she was dying to try.

I have the email address of the manager, and I’m going to set up an interview sometime soon. Lovely little place, and everyone would be happy to go back.

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Bar Notable “New Brighton”

New Brighton, Bar Notable of Buenos Aires

This is a Bar Notable of Buenos Aires? It looks more like a high-end gentlemen’s club in England. There’s good reason for that, and it goes back to the place’s history, but I’ll talk about that in another post.

It’s much bigger than it looks from the outside, as the whole space is long and narrow. The dark wood paneling is lustrous and elegant. The mirrors, of which there are many, are polished to within an inch of their lives. The table linen is blindingly white. Two stag heads are mounted on the wall, but even these are understated in an English kind of way.

Lina and I select a bottle of wine. When the waiter brings it, instead of asking one person to taste it, in the usual way, he asks us both. I wonder what would happen if one liked it and the other didn’t! A nice touch though.

Lina selects a risotto of spinach and smoked salmon. When she takes her first forkful, her eyes close and she utters an ecstatic “Mmmmmm!” I can’t count the number of times she pronounces it delicious before it’s done.

I have the Spanish omelette. In Canada they always seem to smother them in tomato sauce, but here they serve them as they do in Spain—stuffed with potatoes and no sauce needed.  It’s one of my favourite dishes and the one I often choose in Bares Notables. It gives me a point of comparison to see who does it best. So far it’s a tie between New Brighton and Los Galgos. This one is very large, and before serving the waiter asks if I would like to have it cut in two. I do. I’m sure he knows from experience I will want to take half home with me.

I know some people think omelettes should be runny, but I’m not one of them, so I always ask for it cozido (cooked). When he cuts into it, he notices it is quite liquid, so he thinks I would probably like it cooked a little more. I agree. Pro-active — I like that.

Before leaving, I ask to speak to the manager, Mariela. I explain what I am doing, and we arrange for me to go in by myself next Wednesday at 11 am for coffee, when she will talk to me about New Brighton. Before the lunchtime crowd arrives I will also have free rein to sketch. I’m looking forward to it.

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Bares Notables Research—Los Galgos

Los Galgos is one of my favourite places to have lunch or merienda, but this was the first time I’d gone with the book research in mind. I was joined by Lina, Joanna and Joanna’s husband Gary.

Galgos means greyhound, and the motif is used very effectively on the menu, as well as in the rest of the decor. I took a couple of photos of the inside, but they don’t really show the greyhound theme well. I’m going to go back there on my own and chat with the manager. I’ll go when it’s not too busy and then I can sketch and take better photos.

The food is very good. I like Spanish omelettes, so I eat them a lot and can compare. So far, the one at Los Galgos is the best. The others had meatballs, some sort of steamed dish that contained fish and veggies, and milanesa. Milanesa is a very popular “cheap and cheerful” dish here. It’s a flattened piece of beef or veal or chicken, breaded and fried. Gary’s came a caballo, or on horseback, which is what they call it when it has fried eggs on top—I was familiar with that term as they also use it in Portugal. Everyone proclaimed their food delicious.

In fact, all in all, Los Galgos gets top marks from everyone.

I haven’t scheduled next week’s events yet, but everyone is looking forward to them.

 

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More ‘Research’

Starting on my right, Lola, Gail, Gillian, Lolly, Lina, Wendy, Joanna — the usual suspects!

Last night I went with seven chicas on another research dinner for my book. This time it was Caffe Tabac, which I hadn’t even realize was a Bar Notable. It’s in a different part of the city, which is good because I don’t want to go only to the ones in San Telmo — even though they are the best.

I’ll have to go back to take photos of the place, as we were kind of hemmed in at a corner table. It’s sort of mid-century modern in style, with lots of light wood paneling and lovely donut chandeliers.

 

Yummy canapes

The food was OK, but nothing to write home about. Ditto the service, although our waiter was nice. But we all agreed the canapes were delicious, and in fact some of us had little room for dinner!

 

 

 

I don’t indulge in cocktails often, but as the others were I decided to go for a Bellini, which made a nice change. We also ordered a different type of red wine called Bonarda, which is often blended with Malbec, and I quite liked it.

Some of the others had been to Tabac for lunch or merienda and all said that was better. So my plan is to go back when the weather gets warmer and sit outside for merienda. I’ll take more photos and maybe do a sketch. I also hope to interview the manager, who wasn’t there tonight.

Next event is on Friday for lunch. I’ll have to start watching my waistline!

 

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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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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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Started a New Book!

As I told you a few weeks ago, I am leading an online group of people who are determined to get their books written, some after quite some time. Because part of the process is that they are held accountable for doing what they said they would do, I decided I should too. So I’m writing another book.

I actually began it last year when I was down here. It’s about a series of very old, very typical bars or cafes (in Buenos Aires they are the same thing) called the Bares Notables. Some of my friends enthusiastically agreed to join me in the “research”, which consisted of eating and drinking in several of the establishments! But I didn’t really follow through and all I have is a series of notes.

But now I have the motivation to actually write it, so I’m picking up where I left off. Three of my friends who will definitely want to help again with the research — Venetia, Joanna and Sally — are on vacation right now, so I might wait a couple of weeks for that part.

But while I was out for another purpose this week, I had lunch in one of the bars. It’s called Los Galgos, which means greyhounds, and there are pictures of those dogs all over the place. Curious to know why? Stay tuned — I’ll let you know after I interview the owner.

They did, however, have absolutely delicious bread. As a rule I don’t like Argentine bread, so this was very welcome. They make everything in house, and these were crusty on the outside and soft and light inside — yummy. I asked if I could buy some to take home, and the waiter said unfortunately no. But when he came back with my change, he brought these two in a paper bag — free of charge. Nice, eh? And very Argentine!