Time once again for the Wayback Machine. All the way back to April 14th of 2006, almost exactly 13 years ago… and a visit to Don Chicho, in Villa Ortuzár. A place I visited numerous times after that first visit, because of the incredible fresh pasta. The gimmick, except it wasn’t really a gimmick, was that there was no menu, everyone knew (once they became regulars) that there were half a dozen pasta shapes available, and a few sauces. Now, it may be that, given my still nascent Spanish at the time, that I misunderstood the extensiveness of the menu, because if the menu at the newer branch of Cantina Don Chicho en Palermo, Honduras 5710, which is an actual printed menu, is the same, they have a bit more than I always assumed. The menu has the look of one that’s been in use for a long time, and I wonder if there really was a printed menu at the original spot, if you insisted… Pasta is still the mainstay.

Now, unlike the original, here, the pasta isn’t made to order. Though, it’s still pretty close. Someone comes out of the kitchen and rolls out a bunch of batches of different noodles apparently roughly every 1-2 hours, depending on how busy they are.

 

 

With six of us at the table, you’d think we could manage a bit more variety… but sometimes it just doesn’t happen…. I’m also taking the comments of my fellow diners, since for some reason, it was a very non-sharing group this time – I gave a shot at passing mine around for others to try, no one else reciprocated. It happens.

We started off with two orders of fried calamari (385 pesos). It’s a nice tangle of fresh squid, dusted with flour instead of battered, and quickly fried. With a touch of lemon and salt, it’s as good as I remember. Maybe a little skimpy for the price – at most places for that, we’d get a platter of battered and deep fried rings and tentacles. But I like this style more than with all the breading.

One person ordered up the tallarines, or linguini, with putanesca sauce. One of the things I recall from numerous visits to the original, is that a good number of the sauces are simply their base fresh tomato sauce, with stuff added in. This is not exception – it’s tomato sauce in which they’ve scattered some chopped anchovies, capers, olives, and a pinch of chili flakes. Two other folk ordered fussili with the same sauce, to split. 340 pesos an order.

The closest to the base tomato sauce was an order of fusilli with scarparo sauce, the base tomato sauce with a bit of extra garlic, some oregano, parsley, and basil added. 335 pesos.

One order of cintas, or fettuccine, with calabresa sauce – a nicely spicy version of the tomato sauce with the addition of a good hit of chili, wine, bell pepper, onion, and oregano, and probably the best sauce version on the table, given our choices. 335 pesos.

And, the final plate went to a combo version of fussili with bolognesa sauce (not a great version of it, rather bland), plus gratinado, or, covered with cheese and browned. 345 pesos.

All massive portions of pasta – I don’t remember them being this big – they were always generous, but none of us were able to finish a plate of it. Then again, looking at the photos, I’d venture that the waitress gave me a half order, and I got used to ordering half orders and just don’t recall that.

We also got two orders of their meatballs in tomato sauce – each coming with four whopping big meatballs. Mixed reviews from the group, some of us liked them, some didn’t. They are very finely ground, which gives them an almost sausage-like texture, rather than coarse like a more traditional meatball. Different strokes. 310 pesos per order.

Gift of the house, a couple of orders of delicious flan, with both dulce de leche and whipped cream, plus a round of limoncellos.

Is it fair to compare this spot to the original (which is still there)? Maybe not, since it’s been probably 7-8 years since my last visit there. But thoughts that standout… I like the decor in Palermo more, though the space feels more crowded and noisy, even with very few diners. Service is friendly at both places, but one of the things I recall (and noted in my original writeup) was how fast the pasta came out of the kitchen. Here, it took a good half hour after we’d finished the calamari before we saw the pasta on the table. And, of course, there, they were making the pasta to order, though I’m not sure that making it in batches every hour or two makes it any less good – it was more of the theater of seeing your pasta made in the moment.

Price? All of the above, two bottles of wine (which tacked on 900 pesos to the bill), a few bottles of water, a cubierto of 270 pesos – 45 pesos/person (I don’t recall the original spot having a cubierto charge), and tip, and we waddled out for 4800 pesos, 800 apiece ($107, and $18, approximately, respectively). Just for fun, comparing back to 13 years ago and that first visit…

I had a mixed appetizer of the calamari and some tongue in vinaigrette – let’s say a half portion of each; a half order of fussili with basic red sauce; flan mixto; bottle of water; and tip – 20 pesos, which at the time meant roughly $7.50. The same order today, would come in at 840 pesos (including the cubierto), or $18.50 at the current exchange rate (which has changed from about 2.7 to the dollar to a little over 45 to the dollar over those 13 years).

It’s still a great deal. On the other hand, over the years, I’ve found far better places for pasta in the city. Though the little bit of theater of seeing the pasta made in front of you is always fun!