For the love of BEEF...

February 13, 2007

A special shout-out goes to Torrey Murphy who helped us figure out how to create links to all of our GPS coordinates. Tmurph is da’ man!

Mendoza, Argentina
S 32°53.353
W 068°50.862

First… let’s start by explaining Mendoza reminds us of what Sanger, Selma, Hanford or other small grape growing Central Valley towns resembled about 20 years ago. Quaint, unpretentious and relaxed…

Last night we headed to a local parilla (house of grilled meat) for dinner to have the Argentina specialty—of course, grilled meat. Not being meat eaters we were hesitant; but when in Rome… We arrived at the restaurant about 10pm and there were still a few empty tables. By 10:30, the place was packed, with no seats left and dinner hour was just beginning.

As we walked in the door, the smell from the grill permeated the place which created a Pavlov type reaction—our mouths started watering. The place had large, rustic wood tables and antique décor such as an old typewriter and a phone with microphone and ear piece. The bar was the main attraction when we walked through the door. There were wine bottles scattered throughout the place, some empty, some full, highlighting some of the top wineries in the region. Some bottles sat on top of wine barrels that were placed with no apparent method throughout the restaurant. The grill was in the back of the open-air restaurant where the owner worked feverishly to cook up the meat for all of his customers. A nice and rarely heard English radio station played in the background with music from U2, Bob Marley, Cake (Sacto represent!), Rolling Stones, etc.; of course, we asked our waitress for the station number and she was more than happy to share the station was 95.3 El Metropolitana.

We reviewed the wine list and decided on a bottle of Malbec Andeluna Reserva after we confirmed with our waitress that the selection was muy bueno. Next, we each ordered a salad—Marc ordered the tomato and onion salad (it’s summer time, so the tomatoes are nice and ripe!) and I ordered the La Barra salad. There wasn’t a description of the La Barra salad, but I was willing to take a risk. We also ordered the Bife de Chorizo medium.

Before the salads arrived we received two bowls and some bread. In one bowl was a tomato, basil, oil bruschetta type mixture. The second bowl contained two small eggs that ended up being very tasty quail eggs cooked to a sweet, salty perfection. The Malbec complimented these unexpected starters nicely.

Both salads were served in wood bowls with balsamic vinegar and olive oil on the side. The La Barra salad ended up being a mixture of tomatoes, green onions, bell peppers, and basil. We also ordered a cheese plate appetizer that was a mix of Argentinean Gruyere and something that resembled a dry jack.

The main course, the beef, arrived on a big wooden slab about 8 inches in diameter. The beef itself was a very impressive, huge chunk o’meat. We were immediately happy we decided to share this massive piece of meat that weighed at least 14-16 ounces. A piece of meat that large is difficult to cook perfectly all the way through and was obvious in our cut of meat. Some parts were medium, others were pretty rare, but we tried the various types and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience.

We mainly came to Mendoza for the wine, weather and grilled beef. I have to say we haven’t been disappointed.