Francis Mallman 1884 Restaurante (Mendoza)

Francis Mallman is Argentina’s most identifiable chefs. His signature restaurant, 1884, in Mendoza is the preeminent restaurant for meat in the world’s most preeminent meat country. His book, Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way, is basically the bible of cooking Argentine meat. The emphasis on the food here is rustic. Many dishes are cooked over an open fire or in a clay oven. Mallman gravitates not toward the European influenced kitchens of Buenos Aires, but the gaucho ways of Patagonia and beyond. Many come here with high expectations of fine cuisine, but some leave disappointed, as they don’t completely understand the chef’s ideology. This is cuisine that can be traced to the very heart and soul of Argentina. It’s presented beautifully, but don’t expect molecular gastronomy here or tiny bite size dishes with foams.

The food is earthy and seasonally based. In fact the menu changes every two weeks. It utilizes Mendoza’s rich cornucopia of produce to pair with the meat and wine. It’s the perfect trifecta. A recent visit saw a salad of roasted pumpkin and a perfectly cooked and seasoned Ojo de Bife (Rib Eye) with chimmichurri over crispy Andean potatoes. Service is proper but not stuffy. The restaurant tends to attract a considerable amount of gringos. Prices are reasonable for the quality and celebrity and are on par with most bodega lunches in Mendoza. Portions are big and hearty and are paired with a wine list that extends to 75 pages (probably more by the time I finish writing this).
1884 is set in a corner of the Escorihuela bodega, in the Godoy Cruz neighborhood just outside of the center of Mendoza (a cab can get you there in 15 minutes). Upon entering the Romanesque building you find the narrow bar area to the right and a large garden area with a few tables to the left. You can sit for a drink at either section while waiting for your table to open up (reservations are a must). In the garden courtyard you can watch the chefs stoke the wood fired grill and clay oven and slice up beautiful cuts of flesh. The restaurant is the most iconic Mendoza food experience.

Francis Mallman 1884 Restaurante
Belgrano 1188
Godoy Cruz
Mendoza, Argentina
Tel: 261 424 2698
Daily 8:30pm-12am

La Rosa Nautica Headed to Bogota

Lima, Peru’s famed seafood restaurant La Rosa Nautica, which is set on a pier that extends a hundred meters from the city’s shore into the Pacific ocean, is opening its second restaurant in Bogota, Colombia.The restaurant should be open by mid-December 2010. They are also planning to open a third La Rosa Nautica franchise in Argentina. The restaurant in Lima sometimes gets knocked on by critics because the high number of tourist buses that frequent it, though the setting is spectacular and the food, most notably the ceviches and fish dishes, are always consistent. When I have family in town, it’s usually the first or last place we go. This is not the first Peruvian restaurant to expand to Bogota. Gaston Acurio’s La Mar and Astrid & Gaston have established themselves in the Colombian capital, as has Rafael Osterling’s Rafael.

St. Martin: Home away from Home?

Barbuda was our last real stop before arriving in St. Martin, on February 3^rd. As always we enjoyed our pretty and peaceful environment in Low Bay. There seemed to be more sailboats than last January, but we didn’t feel crowded. Once in a while, we took a break from work, for a walk on the 11 mile beach, sinking into the soft sand up till our ankles. Darwin loved it here, we missed his joyful presence, and this time around, the weather was just wonderful, even a bit chilly to swim.

One afternoon, I convinced Mark to join me in the dinghy towards one of the reefs. He remained in the rubber boat, bopping around, enjoying the sunshine, while I braved the cool water and snorkeled around for a bit, seeing multiple colorful fish on the damaged reefs and two stingrays. On the way back to Irie, we passed over large patches of grass. We could see big white spots from above the water and I joked that they were probably all conch. Mark urged me to put my mask and snorkel back on to check it out. Indeed! Tons of conch!

Within seconds, I donned my fins again and went diving for dinner, only picking the adult ones with a big lip. Twenty minutes later, I found enough sea creatures for a few meals. We felt happy and successful to finally find some food in nature. Every fishing attempt this season has failed miserably. Even worse: we lost all our lures in the progress! Once back aboard, Mark cut the animals out of their pretty shells and cleaned them up a bit. They would turn into delicious meals over the following weeks.

Publish Post

Now we are back in St. Martin with mixed feelings. It is the third time we will be spending four to five months in Simpson Bay Lagoon, focusing on our business and other work. The Wirie “factory” is back in production. The list of boat projects is long again and so are the chore and the grocery list. On the other hand, it is great to see all our friends again and spend some fun evenings together.

Mark and I also have a wedding to plan and our friend Karmen, who is an aspiring travel and wedding photographer (www.meanderingmoments.com) is practicing on us, as we speak. So, just like previous years, it is all about finding the perfect balance between work and pleasure. St. Martin is not a bad place to achieve such a thing!

Hotel reservation agent: “I feel very guilty about lying”

Mary is an in-house reservation agent for an upscale, full-service hotel in a major American city.
I’m not using her last name for reasons that will become obvious in a moment.
Mary has a lot on her mind. People who call her hotel to reserve a room are getting ripped off, and she wants to come clean about it. Here’s our interview, which was conducted by phone this morning.
Tell me about what you do.
I work in the in-house reservations department of [a hotel]. When people call the hotel to book a room, they’re put through to me.
What do they say when they’re connected to your department?
Normally, they ask for the best room rate.
And what do you tell them?