“The press is the best instrument for enlightening the mind of man, and improving him as a rational, moral and social being”
– Thomas Jefferson, 3rd U.S. President
Buenos Aires – Although we had advance notice, it was still exciting to see Casa SaltShaker show up in print in The New York Times, in tomorrow’s Travel section (page 4, from what friends back in NYC tell me). Part of an article written by local freelancer Ian Mount on the new trend in Buenos Aires for opening private clubs, speakeasies, and closed door restaurants, we were singled out in the last category:
But perhaps the most exclusive place to flaunt one’s status are the puertas cerradas (or restaurants with closed doors) that have recently boomed in Buenos Aires.
Among the insiders’ favorite is Casa SaltShaker (www.casasaltshaker.com), held twice a week at the ground-floor rear Recoleta apartment of Dan Perlman, an American chef and sommelier, and his Peruvian companion, Henry Tapia. The five-course menu is built around a theme, often wacky, like the Great Moon Hoax of 1835, or the film “Babette’s Feast.” Dinner is 60 pesos and up to 12 can be seated.
“There’s something kind of cool about knowing what’s behind the secret door,” Mr. Perlman said, “of being in on something that no one else knows.”
[Addition: I haven’t been able to find a copy of the NYT here today – doesn’t help we’re in the midst of a major thunderstorm. If kind souls would be willing to either scan a copy of the printed article and e-mail it to me, or, even mail a clipped out copy of the article or the page, I’d be delighted. Even in the modern world of digital media, there’s something pretty cool about a real newspaper clipping…] Found!
All this news gives me fits.
What a nice mention this is, Dan. Bookings are about to pick up dramatically.
[…] Buenos Aires – And a good morning in English as well. I decided to split the Casa SaltShaker dinner this week up into parts. Not for the people eating it, they get to dine continuously on the five courses, but in terms of presenting it. That way I avoid the long, meandering post that I usually do on Sunday or Monday mornings, and it also responds to the apparently quite eager folk that I’ve been getting e-mail from in regard to one of the courses. This weekend, the event that caught my eye as a theme was La Noche de Rabanos, or The Night of Radishes. I don’t know alot about it, other than it doesn’t seem to involve the eating of radishes, but more the looking at them. Local artists in various Oaxacan communities in Mexico apparently carve the radishes into fanciful scenes – some of them quite elaborate – many of them related to christmas and the nativity. If you do an internet search, you’ll find plenty of fascinating examples. From there, I simply took a look at some of the multitude of Oaxacan dishes and came up with a menu. What I’m going to present today, are two of the five dishes – the two which are being cooked and presented identically all three nights that we’re doing this festival at the Casa (we expanded by a day, there was much demand for both this week and next during “the holidays”, boosted by the New York Times article that appeared about us last weekend. […]