2011 Fashion

z and i decided to hit the town for our one and only saturday night in BA. destination: puerto madero. she got dolled up. i threw on some heels. it was a balmy, beautiful night.

the only thing missing? everyone else.
where the heck do they all go on the weekends? not that i really cared. ghost town, BA meant we didn't have to wait more than 5 minutes for a table at cabaña las lilas.

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this is where the real action is:

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the folks at cabaña really outdid themselves--they greeted us as friends and were even more generous than before (free champagne cocktails! free sides!). the american girl sitting at the next table was seeing green (we know--she was a loud-talker).

i didn't want to have the same exact dinner i'd had before. so instead of the rib-eye, i (innocently) ordered the steak of the house.

i thought it would be a dainty little filet.
we all had a good laugh when they set this down. but...did they doubt me?

done. and done (almost).

for my encore: hojaldre las lilas con crema y dulce de leche, their version of a "napoleon," which has pastry cream and dulce de leche.
the contrasts here really work: thick, sweet cream set off by crunchy, airy pastry.

they gave us the bonus cookie tray (to go with the coffees, i imagine).

ha! i look spent. but...i won...
(z and i both did. it was, once again, totalmente perfecto.)

mil gracias a cabaña...

all photos © anita aguilar

so day 3 didn't unfold smoothly. but it sure ended that way, with a perfect dinner at cabaña las lilas.

z had read about the restaurant in travel & leisure magazine and it was high on our list of places to dine. though it required going all the way "home" to recoleta (to change, because we were feeling less than lovely) and back on the subway to puerto madero, we liked the area so much (and felt so sure of diego's endorsement of the neighborhood) that we didn't hesitate.

cabaña was hopping that night. the 45 minute wait at the bar was mitigated by this delicious malbec (also the flaky, rich beef empanaditas they offer to tide you over).

like a loving mom greeting her child home for the long weekend, at cabaña they throw tons of food at you. even before we placed our order, they served up this pretty platter: grilled tomatoes, slices of rare roast beef with hollandaise, an egg cake...

for dinner, z opted for octopus; i chose the ribeye. we decided to share a side of farofa--a brazilian dish made of toasted manioc (cassava) flour.

we were giddy--there was a such nice buzz in the full room, the servers so warm and friendly. we were relishing the treats (and the treatment). this was the perfect place, the best idea, so happy we came here tonight. (we repeated those lines all night.)