October Monthly Dinner

Posted on October 13, 2012 by dawngill

This month’s BAIN dinner will be held on Wednesday, October 17 at “Mundano.”

Mundano is a beautiful restaurant that has live music most weekend nights. It has an inviting outdoor patio area (covered, in case of rain!) where those who wish to do so can enjoy a glass of wine at 8:30 or so. Event organizer Jim Isaacs has arranged to have Pianist Luciano Pletener come for part of the evening; Luciano plays show tunes, popular music, and tango. Dinner will be at 9 p.m., inside.

Here are the details:

Time: Wednesday October 17, 2012 (start time: 8:30 p.m. in the patio; dinner 9 p.m.)

Location: Mundano, Corner of Malabia 1401 (corner of Cabrera) in Palermo.

Cost: 125 pesos per person, inclusive of everything (a three course meal, a glass of wine, one gaseosa or water, service/table charge and tip).

RSVP by Tuesday night to Jim Isaacs at jisaacs61@hotmail.com

Finally, the menu:

First course (pre-selected to keep the evening on schedule, Jim pledges that this will NOT be a late night event)

Mundano Salad (greens, tomato, capers, artichoke, mushrooms and Parmesan cheese, with a light pesto type dressing)

Second course:

Pacu (fish) seasoned with lemon, with potato
or
Pork tenderloin
or
Trout wrapped in bacon, spinach tortilla and tomato cream sauce
or
Dark (black) risotto with shrimp and red caviar
or
Wok sauteed seasonal fresh vegetables over greens

Dessert:

Apple tart with “american” (vanilla) ice cream
or
Kiwi soup
or
Chocolate volcano with red fruit and ice cream

Ladies Night Out

Posted on October 6, 2012 by dawngill

Ladies! Join us on Wednesday, October 10 for the next Ladies Night Happy Hour at DOGMA terrace bar located at the Recoleta Design Center. This bar is located outside and across from Zafira Design Store.

Also, bring your cash to purchase your End of Year Party tickets! They will be available for purchase at this event. We hope to see you there!

End of the Year Party!

Posted on October 4, 2012 by dawngill

BUENOS AIRES INTERNATIONAL NEWCOMERS DOWNTOWN CHAPTER

ANNUAL END-OF-YEAR COCKTAIL PARTY

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Date: Wednesday, November 14

Time: 7.00 to 10.00 p.m.

Venue: Pur Sang in Recoleta, Quintana 191 (corner Montevideo)

Cost: Members – AR$100

Non-Members – AR$200

TICKETS MUST BE PURCHASED IN ADVANCE

(see any Board member at any BAIN event)

This stately French-style residence was built in 1904 in the heart of the charming neighborhood of La Recoleta. Pur Sang is currently owned by the Cooperative Association of Thoroughbred Breeders, Ltd. The name, Pur Sang, comes from Pura Sangre. In English, Pure Blood.

Join us for BAIN’s most popular event of the year! Enjoy a sumptuous selection of canapés, hot and chilled appetizers, sweets, various juices and soft drinks, red and white wine, and champagne!

Plus tap your toes to Bossa Nova rhythms by the Adriana Rios’ Brazilian Band performing throughout the evening!

Want more information? Email bonniekraft@yahoo.com

October Morning Coffee

Posted on September 30, 2012 by dawngill

The next BAIN Morning Coffee is coming up! Mark your calendars!

Date: Tuesday, October 9
Time: 10:30am-12:00
Where: Recoleta

Come spend a morning making new friends and catching up with old ones. This is a casual, fun way to mingle and meet new people and it’s open to all BAIN Downtown members.

Never been to a coffee event before? New to BAIN or Buenos Aires? We’d love to have you join us. Let us know in your RSVP if you have any questions!

Please RSVP to Sheridan Pidcock: sheridanpidcock@gmail.com
*Exact address provided upon RSVP. We hope you can make it!

November Book Club

Posted on September 25, 2012 by dawngill

To all fellow readers,

Many thanks to a truly insightful discussion at the last Book Club get together where we discussed the work of Andre Brink, a South African author.

For those of you who have never attended the monthly bookclub, please feel free to join our next get together:

Title: The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong child, her American doctors, and the collision of 2 cultures. (available on Amazon Kindle)

Author: Anne Fadiman
Date: Thursday 8 November 2012
Time: 14h00 – 16h00
Location: Recoleta

Here is the Amazon review of the book:
The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down explores the clash between a small county hospital in California and a refugee family from Laos over the care of Lia Lee, a Hmong child diagnosed with severe epilepsy. Lia’s parents and her doctors both wanted what was best for Lia, but the lack of understanding between them led to tragedy. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest, and the Salon Book Award, Anne Fadiman’s compassionate account of this cultural impasse is literary journalism at its finest. The current edition, published for the book’s fifteenth anniversary, includes a new afterword by the author that provides updates on the major characters along with reflections on how they have changed Fadiman’s life and attitudes.
Please RSVP to Lydsmiller@gmail.com to confirm your attendance and to
receive the directions.

Hope to see many of you there.

Regards,
The Bookclub Organizers

September’s Monthly Lunch

Posted on September 21, 2012 by dawngill

Il Vero Arturito

San Luis 2999, Abasto , CABA

Tel: 4961-4280

The good news is that the owner of one of my favorite restaurants has agreed to let us dine at her restaurant this Thursday September 27th. This is no small concession as the venue is packed to overflowing every day and she does not want to disappoint her regular customers by not having a table available.

The bad news is that we will be limited to two tables of 10 each – so act quickly if you want to attend.

Il Vero Arturito’s is “… in the pantheon of great restaurants in town, one of those endangered places that we like …”. “Arturito … has no competition and things are simple … nothing new-wave… here you eat well and traditional!” The dining is “family” style with platters of food being delivered to share. Although the guides list the restaurant as Italian the specialty of the house is Kid (baby goat) and this is the dish that will be featured for our September luncheon – the Chivito Provenzal with papas espanol.

However, the pasta (all homemade) is not to be overlooked and, in fact, I can say without hesitation that their Vermichellis Carbonara is the best that I have ever had – and you know that I am pretty picky! – this dish will also be on our table. The third dish on the table will be a red sauce pasta – the Fusilli Fileto.

This traditional neighborhood restaurant is a slice of history, linen napkins and tablecloths, a staff of professional attentive waiters and a great menu.

The following quote sums up my feelings: “Excellent, I go quite often and love it. The service is perfect and the food is plentiful and tasty. “

The full menu for our luncheon is:

A welcoming empanada, chivito and pasta dishes to share, water, wine and a champagne toast to finish off.

The cost including tip is 100 pesos.

RSVP is mandatory to: mweldon213@yahoo.com

The restaurant is on the corner of San Luis and Jean Juares. If you are taking the bus it is a 3 block walk from Puerrrydon and San Luis or a 1 block walk from Cordoba and Jean Juares.

This Week with BAIN Downtown

Posted on September 17, 2012 by dawngill

There are so many exciting events this week with BAIN Downtown, it’s hard to choose which ones to attend! Luckily, you don’t have to choose – you can attend them all! Become a member today and your calendar will fill up quickly with lots of diverse and interesting events that are sure to catch your fancy. Start the process by filling out our New Membership Sign-Up Form and one of our Board Members will contact you within the day!

You can always see an updated list of events on our Calendar, but here is a quick view of this week’s events:

Wednesday, September 19

10:00am – 12:00pm: Baby/Toddler Group Play Date – bring your little one and join our play date in Recoleta. This week there will be an extra treat, a sampling of baked goods from the new bakery Lucho’s Homemade Treats. Contact Niccole de Campos niccoledecampos@mac.com to RSVP.

8:45pm: Monthly Dinner at Parilla Donca – Join in our dinner group this month as guest host Jim Isaacs organizes this tasty event. The restaurant is located at Charcas 4799 (on the corner of Godoy Cruz, in Palermo) and for a price of 125 pesos per person you get a three course meal, a glass of wine, one gaseosa or water, service/table charge and tip – not too shabby! For a full menu, visit our Newsreel. Contact Jim Isaacs jisaacs61@hotmail.com to RSVP.

Thursday, September 20

11:00am – 1:00pm: Book Club – This month’s title is Rumors of Rain by Andre Brink, a story of corruption and redemption in South Africa. We will meet at a member’s home in Recoleta, email Sheridan Pidcock sheridanpidcock@gmail.com to RSVP. This group always involves a great discussion and insight into reflections of the book, whether it’s your first time or you are a seasoned reader – come and see what the book club has to offer!

6:00pm – 9:00pm: Ladies Night Happy Hour – Keep your fingers crossed for nice weather as Ann and Margaret have organized this month’s Happy Hour at Primafila in the Recoleta Design Center terraces. If the weather is bad we’ll be inside, but with a nice evening, this location has a great outdoor seating area! Leave the fellas at home and join in this fun, social event. RSVP to Ann Sager: annsager@me.com or Margaret Sauvé: msauve3@yahoo.com.

And last but certainly not least, if you haven’t RSVPed for this month’s Spring at the Sivori event, do so now! Email bain.downtown@gmail.com or leave a comment on the event post. BAIN Downtown members are free and guests are $60 (unless you RSVP and join at the event, you can start your membership benefits immediately!). Join us for sweet treats and a champagne toast to welcome the arrival of spring!

Restaurant Review: Dada Bistrot

Posted on September 16, 2012 by dawngill

Dada (San Martin 941: 4314-4787, Retiro) is old school in more ways than one. This little “bistro” has only a dozen tables, a handful of bar stools, no host and instead of reservations they give you a window of time – which they may or may not adhere to. Despite, or rather because of this, the super-casual atmosphere was exactly what we were looking for when we visited for dinner a few weeks ago. Once again, Time Out was instrumental in guiding us to this restaurant, because even though Dada has been recommended to us by multiple people, we never seem to remember it when we’re thinking of a new place to go. We certainly weren’t the only ones that relied on the magazine for a Dada recommendation, here the bartender is actually posing with a copy of Time Out for another patron’s photo.

This is one of the first real bars we’ve been to since moving here. The bartenders are quick, ready to refill your drink and actually interact with the people sitting at their bar. Our “reservation” was at 11:00pm, and though we waited for awhile after that time came and went, we were well tended to and were even asked if we wanted to order at the bar instead of waiting for a table. This is second nature to most places in the US, but rarely, if ever happens at restaurants in BsAs. I ordered a caipiroska (which was delicious) and Jon had a beer, which was served to him in a wine glass – we are still missing out on draft beer. The only draft they offered was Quilmes, which is like asking for an agua con gas.

Since we had some time to get hungry while we waited, it was nice that menu features and specials were written out on chalkboards around the restaurant. The bar features Ruca Malen wines, which is a great quality choice, though somehow not what I was expecting for this more rustic-style place. Dada continued to surprise me with the best hummus and pita chips appetizer I’ve had in Argentina (I should note that I’ve only had this dish a handful of times, not a popular offering in local restaurants) – such a strange collection of items, but somehow it works.

I ordered a steak salad as my main dish, while my husband had the lomo. Both dishes were delicious, and we had devoured them before I had a chance to take any photos. The food was far more elegant than you would originally expect when looking at the bar, but it’s one of the many surprises we had at Dada.

I will say that as the night went on, service got more and more scarce. We asked for our check two or three times before finally receiving it at 1:30am (!!). Considering the food, wine, drinks and bar service were all great, something had to give.

All in all, a great spot that we will return to for future casual nights out.

***This restaurant review was written by BAIN Downtown member and blogger, Dawn Gill. For this and other reviews on expat life, visit her blog: http://www.dawnandjon.blogspot.com.ar/. To contribute a review or highlight your blog, contact bain.downtown@gmail.com.

September Monthly Dinner

Posted on September 12, 2012 by dawngill

This month’s BAIN dinner is being organized by Jim Isaacs, who also ran our May dinner. It will be held at “Parilla Donca.”

Donca is a parilla with a full restaurant menu. It has been well received, and has an on-site attentive owner who speaks decent English and has managed hotels and restaurants in Spain, Italy and Argentina.

Here are the details:

Time: Wednesday September 19, 2012 at 8:45 p.m.

Place: “Donca,” Charcas 4799 (on the corner of Godoy Cruz, in Palermo).

Cost: 125 pesos per person, inclusive of everything (a three course meal, a glass of wine, one gaseosa or water, service/table charge and tip).

RSVP to Jim Isaacs at jisaacs61@hotmail.com

And the menu:

First course:

Spring salad (greens, beets, carrots, tomato, egg, ham and cheese)
or
Rustic sausage with fries
or
Homemade empanada with tomato garnish

Second course:

Ham and Mozzarella sorrentinos (pasta) with tomato/cream sauce
or
Mustard chicken with potato “virutas” (twirls)
or
Tira de asado (BBQ short ribs) with baked potato or green salad

Dessert:

Fruit salad
or
Flan with dulce de leche sauce

Ladies Night Happy Hour at Primafila

Posted on September 10, 2012 by dawngill

Join us as we visit a new venue for this month’s Ladies Night Happy Hour, Primafila in Recoleta.

Primafila is very well located on the terraces of the Recoleta Design Center. This restaurant/bar offers the possibility of using their terrace – weather permitting, and many of the waiters/waitresses speak English.

The event be held on Thursday the 20th of September from 1800 to 2100 at Primafila. (4804-0055,www.primafila.com.ar)

Please RSVP to Ann Sager: annsager@me.com or Margaret Sauvé: msauve3@yahoo.com