When Dave set out with his wife from Washington DC a couple of years ago, they were headed to El Salvador, from where she hailed. But that was not to be the end of the road trip, which continued across Central America, and down along the west coast of South America, crossing 12 borders (one of them twice, it’s a story for him to tell) ending at an estancia, a working ranch, in Argentina, where Dave took over as the chef, whipping up meals for staff and visitors alike. A change in ownership left him jobless, and they headed into the big city, Buenos Aires, where fortuitous circumstances and diligent work came together in the creation of 13 Fronteras, Perú 1092, San Telmo (as of August 2020, El Salvador 5720, Palermo). [Closed August 2024, moving to Paraguay]

Here, at a gleaming stone counter, Dave and his team whip up amazingly creative and beautifully presented fare based on the indigenous ingredients and dishes he encountered on his journey to la Gran Manzana. A solo visit one day recently, after watching Henry and a dance partner strut their stuff in the qualifications round of the Tango Mundial competition… led immediately to putting this place on the roster for the following week’s Roving Ravenous Horde outing (#36).

A little amuse bouche to wake up the palate, with little fried balls of yuca starch filled with “poor man’s cheese” – a fermentation of bulgur wheat, a leek puree, and a couple of little accompaniments. On the second visit, with the group, it was just the little ball with its leek sauce, on a spoon.

Apparently, I made the braised pork belly with housemade kimchi and a sopa paraguaya (basically cornbread) flavored with blue cheese and caramelized onions, sound so good from my first visit, that two of the five at the counter opted for that. Hey, Dave and company are the ones who made it sound and taste so good, if you like pork, this one’s a must.

Two of us ordered the surubí (Brazilian tigerfish) tacos – it’s been a long time since I’ve had a good fish taco, and these are excellent, from their crunch tortillas made from a mix of white and purple mote corn (the big Peruvian corn kernels), properly treated and ground in-house. The ricotta and peanut filled frying pepper was tasty on its own, I’m not sure that it paired perfectly with the tacos, but it was pretty….

And, on their menu of nine dishes (no appetizers, just main courses), there’s a weekly “exotic special” (I’m not fond of the word exotic in this context, as there can be an implication of something that “normal people” wouldn’t eat – not Dave’s intention I’m sure), this week it was a reinterpretation of the classic Bolivian silpancho, using seared llama with Andean potatoes, a poached egg, and hollandaise. Yum.

You all know I’m not much of a dessert person, but hey, in a group, it’s not just me, and Dave kept pimping for his two dessert selections, so we ordered one of each to share. The Mendoza, an intriguing, and very offbeat mix of carrots, licorice, and green olives, is the sort of dessert I might play around with offering at Casa S, but I’m not sure any of us was quite convinced.

On the other hand, the other end of his journey, the El Salvador, was a winning combination of honey and cocoa and nuts and little cubes of what is apparently the world’s only edible wood. Yes, wood. I have to admit, I’d never encountered yacataría before, but I’m now intrigued.

Overall – love the space, I really like food counters where you can chat with the chef. Not all that conducive to groups of folk headed out together, we managed with a quick message to them asking if we could get ourselves seated flanking the corner, at least making it a little easier to chat, but 2-3 folk together, or solo, love it. The food, flavorful, colorful, fascinating. Service – I like that the three folk cooking the food are also the ones explaining and serving it. It’s my kind of place – were I to open a “regular” restaurant, it’s the way I’d like to approach it. Pricing? Dishes range from 335-405 pesos, or $11-14, with a ? for the weekly exotica, but it was in line with the others, and for the creativity, quality, and quantity of food – it’s a bargain. Highly recommended.