I usually don't hang out in super fancy restaurants, but it was my birthday and I'm in Buenos Aires! So my girlfriend and I treated ourselves to a full tasting menu at chef Jean-Paul Bondoux'
"La Bourgogne", which is supposed to be one of the best gourmet joints in Latin America.
I took some pictures and added images of wine pairings... my failed efforts to neatly pack lots of information into a small space led to this post looking like a cheap Chinese take out menu... oh well:) To see more detail click on the images.
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The theme of the dinner was French food cooked with fresh Argentine ingredients and paired with local wines. We started out with a crab appetizer prepared with chamomile and violets (didn't know you could eat those). It came with Torrontes Finca Domingo 2008, which for me was one of the more interesting wine discoveries here. Torrontes is a white grape variety exclusive to Argentina. Young, sharp, unique; think Australian Savignion Blanc, but shorter and more explosive... lots of flowers, tangerine and mango.
Then we had frog legs with garlic and parsley, paired with Mendoza Chardonney. The frog legs were delicious and gianormous... Chardonney didn't do much for me... buttery oak, new world average. The third course was a vapor cooked Patagonian sea bass paired with Luigi Bosco Gala 3 Viogner 2006. Both were splendid; the wine is actually a mix of Viognier 50%, Chardonnay 40% and Riesling 10%... very complex and satisfying: lime, wood, vanilla.
"La Bourgogne", which is supposed to be one of the best gourmet joints in Latin America.
I took some pictures and added images of wine pairings... my failed efforts to neatly pack lots of information into a small space led to this post looking like a cheap Chinese take out menu... oh well:) To see more detail click on the images.
.jpg)
The theme of the dinner was French food cooked with fresh Argentine ingredients and paired with local wines. We started out with a crab appetizer prepared with chamomile and violets (didn't know you could eat those). It came with Torrontes Finca Domingo 2008, which for me was one of the more interesting wine discoveries here. Torrontes is a white grape variety exclusive to Argentina. Young, sharp, unique; think Australian Savignion Blanc, but shorter and more explosive... lots of flowers, tangerine and mango.
Then we had frog legs with garlic and parsley, paired with Mendoza Chardonney. The frog legs were delicious and gianormous... Chardonney didn't do much for me... buttery oak, new world average. The third course was a vapor cooked Patagonian sea bass paired with Luigi Bosco Gala 3 Viogner 2006. Both were splendid; the wine is actually a mix of Viognier 50%, Chardonnay 40% and Riesling 10%... very complex and satisfying: lime, wood, vanilla.
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Finally, the pièce de résistance: cranberry sauce venison served with Alta Vista Malbec Grande Reserva 2004. I thought the malbec was good, but needed to breathe... it kept opening in the glass, mostly blueberries, oak and plum. I prefer more structure, but I think this goes for malbec in general. This was a very polished, well crafted, Bordeaux style wine, perhaps a bit too polite for the venison steak...The tasting ended with an Argentine cheese plate, raspberry tart and a glass of dessert wine from Luigi Bosco (which I can't say much about because I was pretty drunk already:)
Over all this was an amazing experience, which would cost 4 times the price in NYC. Definitely recommended. And Mr. Bondoux is quite a character!
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