Buenos Aires is the one city where it’s possible to go around the world in 8 blocks; one minute you’re on Peru, then next United States, then Sicilly. Walking down the more bohemian quarter of Palermo, gazing through the vast array of boutique stores with all manner of pretty things for sale, I finally found La Cabrera, a highly regarded purveyor of local and traditional cuisine. I was told, however, that they were closed for a private function, but that I could still get some lunch at their sister restaurant – one that was 4 doors down from them! It goes without questioning, that having two restaurants serving the same menu side by side is marginally indicative of its popularity. Once again, a menu with all manner of meat was flashed before me, as was a lengthy wine list that luckily had a few wines available by the carafe, but it wasn’ t quite meat that I was after on this occasion and I soon spotted my next victim.
La Brigada, Buenos Aires, Argentina
This is THE land of meat and honey! With steak of legendary renown and, of course, the wine needs no introductions either. Buenos Aires is a city that absorbs you, falling more and more in love with it with each passing day. As far as the food is concerned, there is an eatery to suit every taste, but really, what one should be eating, is all matter of the moo-cow, and there’s one restaurant that will put even Fergus Henderson to shame when nose to tail eating is concerned. La Brigada in the neighbourhood of San Telmo is full to the brim of locals who come here for the only offering on the menu – carne! Not to mention the astounding wine list of bottles from every bodega in the country. The restaurant too, is a delightfully cosy and comfortable space full of pictures and football memorabilia and extremely friendly waiters who carve the meat with a spoon (yes! a spoon – tender beef or sharp spoons? I think the first option is definitely the case!)
The Meat People Islington, London
Meat seems to be a trending name in London with Meat Liquor and Meat Easy having already grabbed a good steak, and then along came The Meat People in Islington, a small and retro outfitted restaurant, that mostly prides itself on being a steakhouse, and I was probably the only person who decided to go in for a fish dinner! In that, was my mistake and downfall! Who goes to somewhere called Meat People and orders fish? A hungry and not very alert chef, apparently. Then again, even my negroni was too sweet! I mean, it’s a negroni, the simplest of all cocktails! Anyway….
The Cut, 45 Park Lane
Celebrity chefs…one doesn’t quite know whether to trust them entirely or not. Will the food be worth the name? All too often we’ve experienced restaurants under the name of a celebrity chef that just doesn’t quite get it, and naturally, with celebrity comes no-show. A no-show by the chef in his own restaurant. It was with slight trepidation that such an experience of celebrity-chef-downer might take place, I nevertheless ventured into Cut, 45 Park Lane, London home of the American chef-idol, Wolfgang Puck, having received numerous criticisms on both sides of opinion. Well, I was in the area, I was hungry and I quite fancied a steak, and they had a table when I walked in.
