As I take the first bite of my bife de lomo, a popular beef cut
served at the traditional steak house El Trapiche, located in the
trendy Palermo Hollywood district, I think to myself that I must
have died and gone to heaven. Doused with chimichurri, a
mouthwatering accompaniment of many variations, frequently made
from parsley, garlic, hot peppers, bay leaves, oregano, basil, and
vinegar, the dish could turn any vegetarian into a cattle farmer by
meal's end.
Argentines actually eat more beef per capita than any other people
in the world - nearly 40 pounds per person per year more than
Americans - so any trip to the country is sure to be a diet killer
(though Atkins would have been proud). The local populace obviously
knows a good thing when it's got it and sees little reason to eat
much else. One dinner at the right parrilla (Trapiche, La Brigada,
La Cabaña - there are more than 10,000 to choose from) and you'll
see little reason to argue.
That night, I lay my head down at
Buenos Aires's newest and hippest
digs, the Faena Hotel+Universe, where
Philippe Starck has created
an übermodern Imperial-style design hotel - it's dripping with
sultry reds and rich blacks - inside a former grain warehouse in
Puerto Madero Este. I fall asleep wondering: Can one survive on
Malbec and beef alone?
Mendoza
I arrive at Carlos Pulenta's brand-new boutique winery in the
Vistalba district of Mendoza's Lujan de Cuyo wine region - the
oldest grape-growing area in this high-altitude wilderness - long
after the sun has set over the Del Plata range of the
Andes, which
cuts across the western outskirts of Mendoza. But this is okay, as
Pulenta, an Argentine wine legend, has two beautifully appointed
rooms available to visitors at his dream winery (one of the few in
town not funded by foreign investments).