1884 . . . it was a very good year.
Our internet connection of late has been rather spotty so our posts are a bit delayed. But here is another feeding frenzy worth hearing about.
The one thing to do that seemed to be a universal suggestion from everyone I spoke to, every Mendoza site I perused and book I read, was a visit to THE restaurant in Mendoza, 1884 Francis Mallmann. Quoting The Vines of Mendoza - Our Insider’s Guide to Mendoza Issue No. 4, “Housed in a Spanish-style building inside the Bodega Escorihuela, 1884 is the culinary domain of chef-luminary Francis Mallmann, who creates exquisite dishes with seasonal Patagonian ingredients. Opt for a coveted garden table and glimpse the traditional meats and empanadas, in the courtyard’s wood-fire oven. Recently voted the 7th best restaurant in the world by Restaurant Magazine.”
Ok, now our expections weren’t too high!! 
About 10 minutes before walking out the door, we had our hotel make a reservation for us and they gave us directions (it was the LEAST they could do for us!!). Turns out the restaurant was one of the few places that was actually not in the direction of the commercial center and only about 10 blocks from our hotel. They offered to call us a cab but since exercise had not really on our agenda that day due to the bicycle debacle, we opted for the walk.
The blocks were a bit further apart than in the center of town and the street was a bit darker than we would have liked and once again, NOTHING was open. We started to think the hotel gave us wrong directions (which in the end would have been no surprise). But with a bit of perserverance we made it to the end of the block, and sure enough in front of us stood a huge white building. While it looked somewhat like a church, we realized that it was actually a working bodega (which is what wineries are called here).
We gave our name to the security guard and behind an oversized wooden door out came the hostess who directed us to our coveted garden table with a view of the wood-fire oven!!
It was lovely, just as we imagined. While the decor and service is something you would expect in NYC, the atmosphere was definitely not. We were seated under the stars (which we could actually see) surrounded by a lovely garden. It was delightful!!
Our waiter Hugo brought over menus and the wine list. I started with the menu while Mike tried to tackle the wine list. Let’s put it this way . . . the Malbecs started on page 19 while the Cabs started on page 35. It was HUGE!! Thanks to Hugo and Mike’s Spanish, we opted for a bottle of Alma Negra (Malbec with Tannat) 2005 from the Catena vineyard. Great choice!!
The menu, while not nearly as large, had at least a dozen things I wanted to try. Since Mike never did get that awesome steak since arriving in Mendoza, we decided on the Giant Bisteca (rib) with Chimmichurri and Veggies for two. Mike started with the Pea Bean Soup with Parmesean while I opted for the Grilled Goat Cheese with Roasted Onions, Sweet Peppers and Eggplant.
Service was impeccable. Neither our wine nor water glasses ever got empty. The staff never got in the way yet someone was always around. This place definitely was ranking high on our list.
We both devoured our apps and eagerly awaited the steak. But wait until you see what came out when our food arrived. The server approached our table carrying a large wooden serving platter about 3 feet long and about 6-8 inches wide. In the middle was a slab of meat on the bone along with roasted vegetables which filled up most of the platter. (Unfortunately I haven’t been able to upload my pictures yet but wait til you see that one!!)
The platter itself took up the length of the table so there was no room for individual plates. We dove right in and ate our way to the center. With very special steak knives the meat fell off the bone like butter and was grilled perfectly rare like we like it. At first I figured there was no way we would finish it, but who was I kidding. The only thing left would have been to gnaw the bone. But even I thought it would be a bit inappropriate to do that in public. Oh how I wish I could have taken it home. And at least if not for me. . . Flaca would have loved it. We will definitely tell her about it when we get home!!
A dinner like this, no matter how full we were, definitely needed a bit of sweet to polish it off. It was Mike’s night to make up for the previous day’s “goat fiasco” and being the dessert guy that he is, the choice was all up to him. He went for the chocolate profiterole. I somehow managed to forget to take a picture of it as we literally dove in head first as soon as it hit the table.
Sipping his coffee and listening to Tom Waitts. . . Mike was in heaven.
Looks like Mendoza really is starting to look up a bit!! OK, actually A LOT!!
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