My Fourth Night and Fifth Day in Buenos Aires

After work yesterday I was driven back to my hotel and I spent about 15 minutes feeling tired and lonely and sorry for myself and thinking I'd just order room service and curl up with a book and the TV remote.  Never fear - I kicked my own ass, got changed and headed out for some dinner.  Maybe it was all of the security alerts the company had sent me before I left, but I was a bit hesitant about being out on the streets of Buenos Aires at night.  (In retrospect, probably no more dangerous than doing the same in Chicago, and that never stopped me!)  At any rate, I consulted my guidebook and chose a restaurant that appeared to be about two blocks away from the hotel. 

Once I got out on the streets, I realized that there were all kinds of other people out there too and that made me feel much easier.  Good thing too, as either I had read my map wrong or the map WAS wrong, but I didn't find the restaurant where I expected it to be.  I continued down about three blocks until I was sure I was too far, then turned right for two blocks, then right for two more.  By that time I was almost back at my hotel, and in the meantime, I had seen several promising looking places to eat.  So I double backed to go to the one of those restaurants, when I suddenly found myself right where I intended to be.  The restaurant, Filo, was set back from the rest of the storefronts and considerably smaller than I expected, with the only indication of its name being painted in black nearer to the sidewalk than eye level.  I saw a few persons inside and went on in, knowing I was yet again too early for the crowds.

Filo was described in the guidebook as a retro 60's pizza place that Madonna, Coppolla and other celebrities had frequented.  To me it was sort of a cross between a typical Italian restaurant (complete with golden-washed walls) and....I'm not sure what.  The light fixtures looked like silver branches with different colored frosted shapes (some looked like pears, others like cones) but which didn't hold the lightbulbs - the lightbulbs were attached to the opposite ends of the globes.  As a decoration, there was a female mannequin wearing a leather skirt and high heels (and that's all!) doing the straight-leg-bend-over, but with the back arched and her arms held behind her.  Her long hair was all that kept her from being obscene, and I was delighted to hear a woman pass by and remark in English "Put your clothes on!".  I ordered a beer and a pizza rustico - mozzarella, bacon, spinach and "parmesan chips", which turned out to be absolutely delicious.  Most of the people eating at that time (around 8:00) were English speaking.  After dinner I walked around a bit - there were still a lot of people out on the streets - then came "home" to the Plaza, read for a bit, and hit it early.

One thing I found on my walks through Buenos Aires is that trash is left on the sidewalks - I assume to be picked up at some point.  Before the trash is picked up, however, people go through the bags and remove anything recyclable, especially cardboard.  It's a bit disconcerting to be walking downtown and have to make your way around a family surrounded by open trash bags, often sitting on portable chairs they bring for that purpose. 

So tonight, I set off for one of the other restaurants I saw on my walk last night, that had also been written up in my guidebook, called El Establo.  I ordered something that was described as "loin medallions with potatoes in cream".  I expected something rather small - medallions usually are - but when the waiter brought the food I found 1) the loins were tenderloins, a.k.a. filet mignons, 2) they were about 2" by 3" and an inch thick, and 3) there were three of them!   They were grilled with peppercorns and served with a rich brown gravy and the potatoes were baked in a buttery cream sauce - I was a goner from the first bite!  I can eat a lot of meat - I've been known to eat an entire 8 ounce filet, and I made a mighty effort, but only managed to eat 2 1/2 of the medallions.  What a meal, and it cost $43 pesos - about $14, including a beer, bread and butter and a plate of olives!