A Short Food Diary in Buenos Aires with Sara Faring, author of The Tenth Girl

​At least once a year, I come to Buenos Aires to spend time with family—usually in October, to celebrate my grandmother’s birthday (this year she turns 90—there will be dancing until seven in the morning!). It is a magical city full of secret hideaways—I love that you can step through a door and be transported into the Buenos Aires of the past. I like to roam the streets and linger over long dinners with the women in my family (my grandmother calls us the matriarcado). We will usually cook together at home, making empanadas, ñoquis, or milanesas together, but some days, we will go out for a very special treat… Shall we go?
 

​In the morning, we would visit the bakery my mother loves best—Dos Escudos—to pick up at least a dozen hot facturas. My favorite one is the vigilante (a straight croissant that often has creamy, not-too-sweet, yolk-yellow crema pastelera baked into the middle). 

​Always snap a photo on Calle Borges…

​For weekend lunch, we like to wait in line for a seat at La Carnicería, near my grandmother’s apartment. It’s a tiny, smoky restaurant that sends out huge slabs of charred beef just like this one. 

​It’s probably all a bit much to be around for a vegetarian (the walls are even decorated with images of hanging beef), but for what it’s worth, their vegetables and their provoleta (barbecued cheese) are delicious and crave-able, too.

​Full to bursting, we would need to take a stroll… and a book break at El Ateneo—one of the grandest, most beautiful bookstores in the world.
 

​Looking for an afternoon drink, we happened upon this townhouse off of a park that offers some of the most creative cocktails I’ve seen. 

​My family would debate ordering the “David Bowie” or the “Gustavo Santaolalla”  cocktail… and then order red wine and/or mate cocido. But the best surprise waits just inside: a room decorated with books dangling from the ceiling.

​After a day of eating like this one, my brother and cousins would want to pick up empanadas and eat them at home. But my grandmother would insist we all come over to relax, chat, and linger over slices of her world famous flan…

​Gracias a todos—find more Buenos Aires stories & learn more about my Argentine debut, The Tenth Girl, @sarafaring !