One of my coworkers loves Argentina, but he generally diets before he goes, because he knows he is going to be eating large quantities of beef!

Oh curses! I love Buenos Aires. I lived there in xxxx-yyyy. It's beef heaven. Coming into the city from the airport way out in the country the highway is lined with people cooking meat. It smells great. It is quite common for a waiter to illustrate the many cuts of beef available by karate chopping at parts of his body as if he is a cow. I've never seen that elsewhere. Even if you are fluent in Spanish the cuts of meat are not called the same things from country to country.

Bella Italia is in Palermo, a great barrio for restaurants. You will love it.

Bella Italia. Republica Arábe de Siria 3285, in the main section of Palermo, near posh Libertador Avenue. The restaurant occupies an old house, gutted down to the brick walls, to become a small, cozy, upscale Italian spot (whose owners, interestingly, have a venture in Fort Worth TX).

I hope you have a great trip! I've heard amazing things about Argentinian beef.

Have a side of beef with your beef for me! And soak up some of that sun - it's gonna be a long winter in Baltimore! But, EL most of all have a great trip!

Just to be contrary I made vegetable soup tonight with roasted leeks, parsnips, shallots and potatoes. With lots of fresh ginger and garlic, sweet curry, cayenne, white, black and green ground pepper, shiitake mushrooms and some secret ingredients in organic chicken stock. It's awesome.

Oh - have such a great time. I have friends who went to a wedding in Argentina a few years ago. It sounded amazing - about 15 hours of reception and more meat than imaginable...

EL, hope you have a LOVELY trip! Isn't Argentina heading into summer? So come back with a nice tan so your co-workers turn "pea green with envy" (thanks, Scarlett!).

Buenos Aires is a wonderful city, enjoy! Another terrific restaurant in Palermo is called Bar Uriarte.

Ms. Large,

I happened upon your blog as I was searching for a restaurant to celebrate Christmas dinner with my family. We are visiting Buenos Aires from Victoria, BC, Canada. Coincidentally, Bella Italia is one block from the apartment we are renting in Palermo. Could you please advise if they are taking reservations for December 25th, or are you attending a closed function?

Wishing you a warm and wonderful trip to Argentina - we are loving it here!

Kind regards,
Katy Hutchison

Wow. I don't know anything except that I'm invited for Christmas dinner there. Sorry I can't be of more help. EL

Ok, I'm just sitting here in awe at the thought of someone from Victoria asking a journalist in Baltimore about a restaurant in Buenos Aires.

Every so often something happens that reminds me just now the net has changed things.

Yes, that sort of freaked me out, too. Especially as she's in BA. EL

But, since she's only one block from Bella Italia, why not just walk over there and check out the reservation situation, instead of depnding upon the word of a complete stranger?

Eve, the same thought occurred to me.

Perhaps Ms. Katy doesn't speak Portuguese, or thought EL had insider knowledge of the place?

I'm not sure Ms Hutchison has arrived in country. We are visiting Buenos Aires can be read as future tense.

They speak Spanish in Buenos Aires. Brazil is where they speak Portuguese.

According to my first Spanish professor, the Argentines speak God's own Spanish. According to everyone else I've known who speaks Spanish, they speak an incomprehensible and bizarre dialect.

Point still holds, though. Our Canadian friend may not read Spanish. Probably because they don't have it on the cereal boxes in Canads.

I am dreadful at languages. I think it's my dyslexia, although my short attention span could be a factor. Really, I'm a good mimic. That said, I have always understood that most business people in most major world cities speak some sort of rudimentary English. (Although I have never been to the aforementioned cities, I am counting on this to be true, since the cute from my Pepe Lepew only lasts a moment or so.) Seems to me that a restaurant would have someone who could, at least, give out the basic information to tourists. And, if these people cannot communicate well enough to find out when the restaurant is open, how will they order?

RtSO -- while Mrs. Hutchison could have made a more unambiguous declaration as to her current whereabouts, my interpretation is that she was already in Buenos Aires when she made her post. After all, if Mrs. H. had not yet arrived there, then it would have made no sense for her to state that "we are loving it here!"

hmpstd, once again you have shown the value of reading, and remembering all the words. 'We are loving it here' does rather change things. Oh, well, I tried.

You're right Lissa, my bad.

I had my sides of South America switched in my head.

Easy to do, PCB Rob. After all, lots of things are backwards in the Southern Hemisphere.

Goodness, I did not expect my query to generate such concern and speculation from your readers!

When I made the enquiry we were vacationing on the coast 400 km south of Buenos Aires. I was simply looking ahead at what our options were for Christmas dinner once we arrived back in Buenos Aires.

We ate at the Bella Italia Cafe across the street from their restaurant two nights ago and the food was the best we have eaten in Argentina. We will be returning the cafe for dinner this evening, December 25th.

Thank you Ms. Large for bringing these restaurants to our attention through your blog.

Merry Christmas and enjoy your trip!

Ms Hutchison, you've now a regular to the Sandbox. Please continue to visit and give us a report on your dinner. Happy Christmas.

Glad you had a good meal, Katy. Feel free to stick around. Hope the mess at Vancouver airport gets cleaned up before you head home.

Do not forget upon your return that you can feed your newly acquired beef addiction with the same beef, differentiated only by a political boundary, (from Brazilian Pampas not Argentine-same Pampas) back in Baltimore at Fogo da Chao. It is pretty much the equal of Argentine beef.
Happy holidays

Since you're in the Southern hemisphere, don't forget that the toilets go backwards there ... so stand back.

Interestingly, the Fogo de Chao website contains a review which says, "There's also much praise for the beef they've found here in America. "Here the quality of meat is better. There is good meat in Brazil, but not every cut is good. The beef in Brazil is grass-fed. Here it is grain-fed. We hear it's different, but it doesn't taste different.

(The person being quoted is a Fogo de Chao employee. You can follow the link, above, to read the entire review.)

That would indicate that you won't get "the same beef, differentiated only by a political boundary, (from Brazilian Pampas not Argentine-same Pampas)..."

It would seem that you'll get good ol' American stock-yard beef.

Ted? Is all the beef served at Fugo de Chao imported from Brazil or is it American beef?

Grass-fed and grain-fed beef is wildly different in flavor. If you can't taste the difference then you are Fogo in the Chao.

There is also beef that is grass-fed and grain fattened, meaning that it is pasture raised, but fattened up on grain at the end to get it marbled. Purely grass-fed aninals are much healhties, but I have had some grass fed beef that is just awful. Not a pleasure at all. I also had a discussion with someone who knows beef and his mother is from Argentina last night. He dismissed Argentine beef by saying that it's not dry aged. I'm lacking in knowledge on that subject.

Dry aging does in fact add a certain something to the flavor of beef. Additionally, I hear it tendorizes it. Alton Brown's Prime Rib show explains how to dry age in one's own refrig. Not terribly high tech and great results. Not that I could do it now, cause I can't remember what he said to do. Might be on TFN website somewhere.

Dry aging does three things to beef.
1. It makes it taste a little gamier.
2. It makes it more tender.
3. It makes it A LOT more expensive.

Here is the way to dry-age at home. Not sure if I would go to all that trouble though...

Cosmo Girl(s)--no way am I going to go to all that trouble--especially when it creates bloody laundry to boot!

Dahlink - I wish I could remember/find Alton Brown's show on dry aging. It was really simple and didn't involve bloody laundry. I think it involved placing the meat in it's butcher package with a rip in it on the bottom shelf with the fridge at some certain temp that I can't remember either. I did do it at the time though (it was either last Christmas or the year before). You just cut off the outside icky looking part and then cooked away (he likes to oven sear and then slow bake, I like to pan sear and then slow bake.)

If I get a chance, I'll keep looking to see if I can find it!

Found it!

Remove any plastic wrapping or butcher's paper from the roast. Place the standing rib roast upright onto a half sheet pan fitted with a rack. The rack is essential for drainage. Place dry towels loosely on top of the roast. This will help to draw moisture away from the meat. Place into a refrigerator at approximately 50 to 60 percent humidity and between 34 and 38 degrees F. You can measure both with a refrigerator thermometer. Change the towels daily for 3 days-

I used paper towels, as I think he did on the show.

The following links include Alton Brown's dry aging techniques:

Dry-Aged Rib Roast

Transcript of show which featured the above recipe