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A Taste Of South America
HOW TO CAPTURE THE FLAVOR OF AN ENTIRE CONTINENT? PACE YOURSELF — AND CARRY A BIG APPETITE. LET’S BEGIN BY SAMPLING ARGENTINA, CHILE, PERU, AND BRAZIL.
BY NICOLE ALPER
 Tango music fills the air as chef Michelle Bernstein frantically dishes out beer-battered sweetbread beignets and a risotto with batatas, the local Argentine sweet potato. It’s lunchtime at the Salentein winery in Mendoza, and this A-list chef, heralding from Michy’s in Florida, is cooking for a ravenous, discriminating crowd — all participants in the Masters of Food & Wine, South America, a four-day Bacchanalian feast held annually in Argentina.
Sometime around the turn of this century, intrepid travelers started consulting a new compass: their stomachs. Food tours, wine routes, and culinary festivals began to weave an intricate web connecting palates to faraway corners of the globe. Gastrotourism has become a consummately 21st-century way of rediscovering already-trodden swaths of the world, one bite and sip at a time.
On the culinary globe-trotting map, South America is a relative newcomer, defining its epicurean boundaries with the broad strokes of tradition and reinvention, its culinary heritage infused with the flavors of ancient ritual and foreign conquest. In Peru, Spanish influences dance on your tongue to the accompaniment of Inca staples such as quinoa. In the cosmopolitan quarters of Buenos Aires, culinary wizards such as chef Germán Martitegui of restaurant Casa Cruz are creating daring, innovative cuisine, being dubbed the “New Argentine Kitchen.” Best of all, as South America finds its modern footing, new luxury offerings — from wine hotels to upscale lodge-to-lodge treks — are emerging, offering worldly travelers fresh ways to devour the continent.
Come along, then, and sample just a morsel of the smorgasbord that is South America.
ARGENTINA
In the kitchen at the Park Hyatt Mendoza, chef Christophe David, hailing from the Park Hyatt Chicago’s award-winning restaurant NoMI, is staring into the depths of a potato ricer, trying to figure out how this single small instrument will produce mashed potatoes for 300 people. Meanwhile, two- Michelin-star chef Nicolas Le Bec is tearing through the kitchen preparing the gala dinner’s main course, marinated grilled lamb shoulder. Neither has slept in many hours.
After two decades of a very comfortable existence in Carmel, California, the Masters of Food & Wine celebrated its second year in Argentina, with events hosted in both Buenos Aires, the country’s capital, and Mendoza, the country’s booming wine region. Bringing top chefs and winemakers together in two distinct Argentine cities halfway around the world poses challenges, but these pros are thriving. It’s easy to shrug things off when you’re cooking at a state-of-the-art winery at the foothills of the Andes.
In addition to luring top talent such as Bernstein, David, and Le Bec, not to mention local South American stars such as Brazil’s chef Rodrigo Martins and Argentine chef Maria Barrater (whose Buenos Aires restaurant, Restó, should not be missed — reserve a table ahead), the Masters of Food & Wine is a chance to showcase Argentina’s two major gastronomic areas, Buenos Aires and Mendoza, in a mind-blowing series of events. Courtyard tables are laden with candles, figs, and every imaginable cheese, along with Argentina’s top vintages. There are intimate lunches at world-class wineries, even a gala dinner followed by a private fireworks display.
At some point, one must break away from the Masters and venture beyond the Park Hyatt’s grounds to explore. Buenos Aires is experiencing a growing taste for sushi, with funky sushi bars popping up all over town, as well as the emergence of Latin-fusion cuisine. At chef Fernando Trocca’s Sucre, a sleek industrial space with exposed pipes, fire — fueled by quebracho, an Argentinean hardwood — abounds, perfectly crisping house specialties like matambrito de cerdo (pork flank).
“By far the most popular style of restaurant you will encounter in Argentina,” says Maximiliano Pazo, general manager of La Cabaña steakhouse in Buenos Aires (a requisite stop for carnivores), “is the parrilla — a meat barbecue grill, usually visible from the dining room.” For trendy dining there’s no better place than the Palermo Viejo district (made up of two neighborhoods, Palermo Hollywood and Palermo Soho, chock-full of edgy restaurants showcasing big tastes in small turn-of-the-20th-century houses) or the burgeoning Las Cañitas neighborhood, with a thriving new gastronomic scene.
Of course, one of the most essential aspects of Argentine cuisine is its wine. “Next year I will be the first person to travel to all the Argentine wineries,” insists Carol, a dark-haired Londoner whom I met over cocktails at Salentein winery. “Nobody has done it — not by car, not even by plane. That’s because there are 759 wineries in Argentina, and the taxi men are the only people who know where they are. I’m going to do it on my own — by bicycle.”
Stretching from Salta in the north to Patagonia in the south, the epicenter of the country’s wine region is Mendoza, a large city in the western section of central Argentina. This is where bonarda and malbec grapes are grown, eventually the crimson elixirs flowing into glasses at a host of new state-of-the-art wineries such as Bodega Septima (noted for its “Pirca” architecture, which utilizes natural stones from the Andes mountain range), the cruciform Salentein winery, and Catena Zapata, where the owners are focusing on single varietal, microclimate blending.
Along with the explosion of Mendoza wineries is a rapid growth in “vino-centric” boutique hotels, where wine and elegance mix as effortlessly as a vintage Bordeaux. Set on 35 acres at the foot of the Andes, the Cavas Wine Lodge is within a cork’s toss of 25 wineries — guests can tour nearby cellars or sip from more than 150 Mendoza wines the hotel has on hand. Some choose to get their wine a different way: at the spa. Guests can soak in a burgundy-colored bonarda (red wine) bath, or release dead skin cells to the vitamin-packed force of a Crushed Malbec Scrub.
CHILE
From the semi-arid Limarí desert to wetter southern valleys of the Bio Bio, Chile is blessed with a near-perfect climate and optimum soil conditions. Snuggling up to the foothills of the Andes, Chile’s repertoire of wines has expanded in recent years, now including gewürztraminer, riesling, and viognier as well as lesser-known reds such as cabernet franc, petit verdot, and old-vine carignan.
According to Liz Caskey, of Liz Caskey Culinary & Wine Tours in Santiago, a boutique tour operator specializing exclusively in custom-made food, wine, and cooking-oriented itineraries in Chile and Argentina, there is a growing consciousness and emphasis on Chile’s unique appellations. “A Maipo cab sublimely divulges its origin with a cassis-laden, menthol nose,” says Caskey, “as does a bolder cabernet from Colchagua with a jammy smell and fuzzy velvet mouth feel.” There is also great buzz surrounding ultra-premium blends, or “icon wines.”
Fortunately, many of Chile’s best wines are available in the U.S. now. Kingston Family Vineyards, for example, a lovely boutique winery by an American-Chilean family, is available by mail order. “Its syrah has caused a serious following,” says Caskey. Others to watch: Matetic Vineyards, Casa Marin, Clos Apalta, Almaviva, Montes, Neyen, and Altaïr. “Virtually all these wines can be found in the United States,” says Caskey, “and in countries such as Brazil, where high-end-wine lovers consume them by the case!”
As Chilean tastes grow more sophisticated, exquisite boutique hotels are emerging. One property at the helm is Awasi in the northern Atacama Desert. Surrounded by stunning mountain ranges, dry salt lake beds, and volcanoes, the eight-cottage hotel is just a few blocks from the town square, and an ideal launching pad to Atacama Dry Lake, a national reserve where flamingos illuminate the arid landscape.
“We vary the hotels,” Caskey says of her tours, “but always stay in places like The Ritz-Carlton, Santiago; Casa Higueras in Valparaiso; and private villas in the wine country, such as Clos Apalta. Trip extensions include Remota in Patagonia and Awasi and Tierra Atacama in San Pedro de Atacama within Chile, both far-flung destinations with a definite emphasis on local food and wine.”
With good wine comes good food and, thanks to an economic boom, Chile is witnessing a significant culinary revolution. A multitude of restaurants have opened, including Santiago’s Mestizo, serving up old-school dishes with European technique. In historical Valparaiso (home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site), five-star boutique hotels such as Hotel Casa Higueras serve gourmet cuisine. “It’s like Napa in the early 1980s,” says Caskey. “There’s a movement happening centered on valuing the richness of what we have.”
While a handful of eateries experiment with native ingredients in nouveau-style combinations (such as Agua restaurant in Santiago, highlighting innovative preparations of top Chilean products like Magellanic lamb, king crab, and tuna from Easter Island), there is also a newfound interest in boutique foods — everything from duck, to morels in the south, and premium olive oils such as Las 200 and Olave that rival Italian.
 PERU
The Orient-Express company is a major player in Peru’s luxury hotel market, and a new addition to their collection, Las Casitas del Colca, is in the heart of the Colca Valley. Las Casitas is set in the midst of what some consider Peru’s breadbasket — a landscape teeming with meticulously stepped vegetable-laden valley terraces, a horticultural style of alternating crops along hillsides that dates back to the Incas. The gardens at Las Casitas include five greenhouses where you can find all manner of aji, or chile (a Peruvian staple), ayrampu (a red cactus seed), and huacatay, an herb related to marigold with its own sweet, unique flavor.
On my visit to Las Casitas del Colca’s sleek new demo kitchen, the executive chef mixes together ingredients for a local Solterito salad — bright green fava beans, fresh cheese, and enormous boiled corn kernels, while narrating each step. I don’t speak a lick of Spanish, so it’s a good thing we share the common language of lunch.
During my lesson, I learn what is at the heart of the Peruvian food chain: quinoa, a powerhouse seed now finding favor in the United States for its high protein, kiwicha and canigua grains, and potatoes (Peru has over 3,000 varieties). After my lesson, I consider ordering a Peruvian classic, cuy (that’s guinea pig). Instead I opt for alpaca medallions, an extremely lean meat that must be cooked very quickly, with prickly pear and elderberry sauce. The finishing touch is a creamy beet-and-carrot ice cream.
Peru is also quickly becoming a notable high-end adventure travel destination, with the only upscale lodge-to-lodge trek in the Andes. Mountain Travel Sobek takes hikers on strenuous multiday treks, staying at the new Mountain Lodges of Peru. One such trip lands you at the iconic symbol of the Inca Empire, Machu Picchu (beeline for Inkaterra Lodge, with a lush garden setting). An unexpected highlight of visiting Machu Picchu is getting there — if you choose to travel aboard the Orient-Express Hiram Bingham train, a three-hour gastronomic journey through the Sacred Valley. Serving such dishes as salmon trout filets with wild mint sauce, this is not the wooden seat rail of years ago. Hint: Don’t miss the bar car with live music and Pisco, a fetching Peruvian brandy distilled from moscatel grapes.
You board the train at Poroy Station in Cusco, the former capital of the Inca Empire, with two must-visits: MAP Cafe, a glass jewel box set in the courtyard of the Museo de Arte Precolombino, and the always-packed Cicciolina. And at the Gregorian chant-filled Hotel Monasterio, you’ll find one of the city’s finest restaurants, The Illariy, where corporate executive chef Marco Alban brags about the number of climates Peru is blessed with. “The variety of products from the earth here is enormous,” he says.
No one knows that better than chef Gastón Acurio, Peru’s beloved celebrity chef who, within the last several years, has amassed a culinary empire including the delicious cebichería, La Mar, as well as his signature Astrid & Gastón, in cities all across South America. With a wildly popular cable television show, Aventura Culinaria, Acurio is the face of modern Peruvian cuisine. “Every cuisine has a flavor,” says Acurio, “that when you close your eyes you can imagine it. In Italy it’s the tomato. In Japan, soy sauce. In Peru it’s the aji, or chile. That’s the DNA of Peruvian cooking.”
Another defining Peruvian chef is Sandra Plevisani who, together with her husband, runs the Italian (her parents were born in Italy) La Trattoria di Mambrino, a must-dine venue in the elegant Miraflores section of Lima. Appearing in her own television show entitled Sweet Secrets, Plevisani makes haute Peruvian desserts for adoring fans. Her favorite? “Suspiro de Limeña,” she says. “It’s called ‘the sigh’ because women in Peru are considered beautiful, but they used to cover their faces. If you hear the sigh of a Peruvian lady, it means the dessert is glorious.”
It was a supremely perfect way to end a meal and a visit to this enchanting country.
 BRAZIL
America’s love affair with Brazilian food — from barbecue to mint-kissed caipirinhas — blossomed in the 1980s. When you think of Brazil, you likely imagine churrascaria, a South American-style steakhouse where you embark on a carnivorous odyssey: endless cuts of skewer-impaled (or, for the more theatrically inclined restaurants, only swords will suffice) beef, pork, lamb, and chicken are sliced directly onto your plate.
Practically synonymous with its yearly skin-baring fete, Carnaval, during which thousands of people descend on the city to take in elaborate parades, Rio is much more than just a place to sun-bronze on Ipanema Beach. By far the most luxurious and historic hotel is the 1923 Copacabana Palace, where you can work on your South American tan beside the city’s nicest courtyard pool. The trendiest newcomer is the 92-room Hotel Fasano Rio de Janeiro, with an airy ground-floor restaurant and Philippe Starck-designed rooms.
Despite its well-earned reputation as the business nexus of Brazil, São Paulo is becoming better known for wining and dining than wheeling and dealing. It is also the location of one of the best restaurants, not just in Brazil, or South America, but (according to Restaurant magazine) the world: D.O.M. Set in the chic Jardins district, superstar chef Alex Atala, hailing from some of the finest eateries in France, has been steadily wowing guests ever since the restaurant’s opening in 1999. Surrounded by lush foliage and with open two-story ceilings, D.O.M. diners can savor either a four- or eight-course (why skimp?) tasting menu. One not-to-miss dish: duck with red wine, asparagus, and sweet banana.
A few other requisite, and far less formal, restaurants: Cantaloup, a converted warehouse space with an art-laden indoor dining area, plus a stunning glassed-in patio — outdoor dining minus the pesky mosquitoes. And if a more traditional Portuguese meal is what you’re after, Antiquarius (the original location is in Rio) delivers great seafood dishes, including codfish moqueca (stew).
South America: The Essential Eat, Drink, & Sleep Advisor
ARGENTINA
EAT & DRINK
Masters of Food & Wine, South America, www.mfandw.com.ar
Casa Cruz, 011-54-11-4833-1112, www.casa-cruz.com
Sucre, 011-54-11-4782-9082, www.sucrerestaurant.com.ar
La Cabaña, 011-54-11-4814-0001, www.lacabanabuenosaires.com.ar
Restó, El Centro, Buenos Aires, 011-54-11-4816-6711
Bodega Septima, 011-54-261-4985164, www.bodegaseptima.com
Salentein, 011-54-11-4131-1100, www.bodegasalentein.com
Catena Zapata, 011-54-261-413-1100, www.catenazapata.com
SLEEP
Palacio Duhau - Park Hyatt Buenos Aires, from $550, 011-54-11-5171-1234, www.parkhyatt.com
Park Hyatt Mendoza, from $295 per night (for the Masters of Food & Wine, $2,000 per person, includes three nights, transfers during the stay in Mendoza, breakfast, meals, gala dinner, cooking classes, special tastings, and more), 011-54-261-441-1234, www.parkhyatt.com
Cavas Wine Lodge, from $400 per night, 011-54-261-410-6927, www.cavaswinelodge.com
PERU
EAT & DRINK
Astrid & Gastón, 011-51-1-444-1496, www.astridygaston.com
La Mar, Miraflores, 011-51-1-421-3365
La Trattoria di Mambrino, Lima, 011-51-1-446-7002
MAP Café, 011-51-84-242-476, www.cuscorestaurants.com/mapcafe_eng.htm
La Cicciolina, Cusco, 011-51-84-239-510
Orient-Express Hiram Bingham Train, 011-51-84-581-414, www.orient-express.com
SLEEP
Las Casitas del Colca, from $1,000 per night for two (meals included), 011-51-1-610-8300, www.orient-express.com
Hotel Monasterio, from $495 per night, 011-51-84-241-777, www.orient-express.com
Inkaterra Machu Picchu, from $208, 011-51-1-610-04000, www.inkaterra.com/en/machu-picchu
Mountain Lodges of Peru, $2,500 per person for seven-day, six-night package, 011-51-1-421-6952, www.mountainlodgesofperu.com
Mountain Travel Sobek, www.mtsobek.com/mts/mii
CHILE
EAT & DRINK
Mestizo, Av. Bicentenario 4050, Santiago, 011-56-9-747-76093
Agua, 011-56-2-263-0008, www.aguarestaurant.cl
Liz Caskey Culinary and Wine Tours, 011-56-2-632-2015, www.lizcaskey.com
Kingston Family Vineyards, 011-56-3-227-42916 or (650) 854-4146, www.kingstonvineyards.com
Matetic Vineyards, Fundo Rosario, Lagunillas, 011-56-2-595-2661, www.mateticvineyards.com
Casa Marin, Las Peñas 3101, Las Condes, 011-56-2-334-2986, www.casamarin.cl
Clos Apalta, Santa Cruz, 011-56-7-282-5417
Almaviva, Puente Alto, 011-56-2-852-9300, www.almavivawinery.com
Montes, Santiago, 011-56-2-248-4805, www.monteswines.com
Neyen, Santiago, 011-56-2-240-6300, www.neyen.cl
Altaïr Vineyards & Winery, Requinoa, 011-56-2-477-5598, www.altairwines.com
SLEEP
Hotel Casa Higueras, Valparaíso, from $203, includes breakfast, 011-56-32-249-7900, www.hotelcasahigueras.cl
Awasi Hotel, San Pedro de Atacama, from $1,000 per person, two-night program all-inclusive, 011-56-2-233-9641 or (888) 880-3219, www.awasi.cl
The Ritz-Carlton, Santiago, 011-56-2-470-8500, from $429, www.ritzcarlton.com
Remota, Puerta Natales, Patagonia, from $900 for three-night family program, 011-56-2-387-1500 or (866) 431-0519, www.remota.cl
Tierra Atacama, San Pedro de Atacama, from $695, (800) 829-5325, www.tierraatacama.com
BRAZIL
EAT & DRINK
D.O.M., 011-55-11-3088-0761, www.domrestaurante.com.br
Cantaloup, São Paulo, 011-55-11-3078-9884
Antiquarius, 011-55-11-3064-8686, www.antiquarius.com.br
SLEEP
Copacabana Palace Hotel, Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, from $455, 011-55-21-2548-7070 or (800) 237-1236, www.copacabanapalace.com.br
Hotel Fasano Rio de Janeiro, Ipanema Beach, from $620, 011-55-21-3202-4000, www.fasano.com.br
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