Journalist + sommelier / Argentina + Latin America
(The Points Guy) Tucked high into the Andes, in Peru’s Sacred Valley at 7,970 feet above sea level, the mysterious Inca citadel of Machu Picchu is an architecturally breathtaking UNESCO World Heritage Site and absolute South America bucket-list must. Constructed around 1450, this vital religious, political and administrative center was abandoned some 130 years later when the Inca empire […]
(AUREA) La conversación con Mauricio ‘Tony’ Couly Ventimiglia arranca con un piropo food porn que hace saltar el ritmo del corazón de esta fanática del queso: “Te vas a volver loca por el cheddar azul que estoy haciendo.” Todo indica que se viene una gran conversación apasionada. Cocinero por profesión, quesero por vocación, Tony nació […]
(The Independent) Latin America’s food capital Lima is known for award-winning fine-dining restaurants Central, Maido and Astrid & Gastón, but a new wave of highly trained young cooks are opening their first establishments and moving away from elaborate multi-course tasting experiences. Cutting back on the likes of fancy white table cloths, the next generation is focusing on sustainable Peruvian produce and succinct daily […]
(New Worlder) With a constellation of Michelin stars under his belt, a string of restaurants around the world, including Spago in Beverly Hills, and as the man responsible for feeding Oscars winners (and losers) at the annual gala dinner for two decades, Wolfgang Puck’s CV has chartered many corners of the world. Except South America, until now. […]
(Rough Guides) “Keep pulling,” shouts fisherman Sergio Carrera, to make himself heard above Patagonia’s ubiquitous wind. “There’s about 80 more metres of rope to go!” On board a small inflatable craft in the middle of the Beagle Channel, I’m about to catch my first centolla (king crab or spider crab), an orange-hued decapod crustacean prized by chefs […]
(Fine Dining Lovers) Fresh from picking up the first Sustainable Restaurant Award presented by Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants, Fine Dining Lovers had the chance to chat with chef Rodolfo Guzmán, who explained how sustainability was born out of necessity at his restaurant Boragó in Santiago, Chile. WORKING WITH SMALL PRODUCERS “My reality is Chile’s geography, that’s to say Boragó has sourced products from […]
(The World’s 50 Best blog) After entering the Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants list at No.50 in 2017, Mishiguene in Buenos Aires climbed an impressive 32 places to No.18 in 2018, earning the Highest Climber Award. We spoke to chef-owner Tomás Kalika about the restaurant’s success. Expelled from the first of four schools starting in second grade, 17-year-old Tomás Kalika’s immediate […]
Tired of seeing women objectified in Argentine media, in 2018 I created a calendar featuring 12 semi-nude male chefs. And, tired of certain media and lists frequently putting male chefs on a pedestal, I’ve compiled a non-ranking database, mapping notable women currently working in Argentine gastronomy or Argentine women working abroad. From their 20s to […]
(Fine Dining Lovers) Why finding monkey poo is like winning the biology lottery; how to rescue an almost-extinct indigenous Amazonian language; why bats are vital to the tequila industry’s survival according to the National Geographic Society; and food’s role in developing memory were some of the subjects discussed by a cast of guest speakers as diverse […]
(La Nación) Unidos todos en el más cálido saludo japonés, el equipo entero de Maido, desde los sushimen hasta los cocineros, me da la bienvenida. Acabo de subir al primer piso del restaurante limeño y me espera una cena ecléctica nikkei de 15 pasos en el lugar que se coronó número uno en el continente, […]