Boasting that you have found the ultimate steak in Buenos Aires is risky, especially if you haven't tried them all. Nevertheless, I'll make that claim for the steak I had at Piegari, a classy restaurant in an area known as La Recova. Located near the Four Seasons Hotel, it's a quiet spot where restaurants and shops cluster beneath an overpass.
My steak, the cut known as bife de chorizo, was much thicker than the same cut at other restaurants. Crusty black on the outside, it was moist and rare from crust to center, not a bit overdone. The flavor, enhanced by grilling over charcoal, was so outstanding that I rejected the spicy chimichurri sauce on the side. I didn't want anything to interfere.
Piegari sets a nice table.You get delicious cheese bread sticks and rolls, as well as a sweet relish of corn kernels, onion and tomato, and another of red, green and yellow bell peppers with onions.
From the guarniciones (side dishes), I chose potatoes with onion and white wine, expecting a casserole of sliced potatoes and onions simmered in wine. Instead, I got French fries topped with braised onion slices and parsley. It seems Argentinians have to have French fries with their meat.
At other tables, men were drinking Cokes with their steaks, perhaps because it was lunch time and they had to go back to work. I ordered a glass of Bianchi Genesis Malbec 2005 from Mendoza. Not as jammy, sweet and soft as some Malbecs, it was a good match for the steak.
Piegari attracts a well-heeled clientele and is rather pricey. Still, my ultimate steak cost less than $13, and the entire meal, including Eco de los Andes agua gasificada (sparkling water) came to about $27.
Piegari, La Recova, Posadas 1089, Buenos Aires. Tel: 4328-4104.
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