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© 2006 Dan Perlman
Casa SaltShaker
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Chef: Dan Perlman
Host: Henry Tapia
December 21-23, 2006
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.
Link to my writeup (in two parts, continued on the following day's post)
Link to one of the guest's writeups
Comments from some of our guests:
"We really had a wonderful night. The food, wine and the company were all fabulous and I will definately be recommending Casa SaltShaker to my friends passing through BsAs. Thank you again for a great evening and best wishes for the holidays to you and Henry." - N.K. (link to her blog post)
"I had a wonderful time last night. Not only were the food and the environment (lovely wine glasses!) lovely, but the chance to meet really wonderful people was truly enjoyable." - J.R.
"I had a really nice time on Thursday -- the food was amazing and great wine, and I enjoyed the company as well. Casa Salt Shaker was a great experience and I was very impressed with the menu, I will certainly be recommending it to others and might even like to return another time. Thanks for a great evening! Best wishes in 2007." - A.V.
"Superb! I wouldn't know which course to pick as my favorite but they were all great." - M.V.
"Empanadas. Highlight of the evening. Wonderful combination of ingredients. You could have given me a dozen of those and nothing else for dinner, and I would have been thrilled. Was served piping hot and fresh just the way it should be. Sauce was perfect accompaniment. Don't lose this recipe--you should really repeat this item and if you are saving "hits" for a future restaurant, this should be one of them. Shrimp ... Also an excellent dish. Nothing to change here. Shortribs. Excellent sauce--the richness of the nuts matched the richness of the meat and subtlety and blendings of flavourings were excellent..... Chocolate lasagna. Very inventive and excellent.... Could have been dressed up visually a little too--perhaps some dark chocolate shavings on top? Also a "keeper" recipe.... Henry was very simpatico and understatedly efficient--perfect as 'host.'" - S.M.
"Okay, the concept was so great that you could have served up "Spaghetti-O's" and it still would have been an awesome time...but really, it was fantastic to have some spice (finally), like the chipotle in the soup and the picante kick in the brochette w/shrimp dish. Coming from 2 Texans, Mexican food is familiar, so it was nice to try some different renditions of comfortable dishes, like the mole. The chocolate lasagna was spectacular. I can't remember the last time I literally wanted to lick the plate. Do you give out recipes?? It was a shame that the others were sitting at the 4-top table, because our table didn't get to interact with them much. Good thing I've previously met M... and M.... But, our table did have great onda, and even exchanged info to keep in touch. Otherwise, this was such a wonderful experience, it was just what R... and I were looking to have: an intimate dining experience with foodie strangers, always resulting in friendships; I love how food brings people together! And, I will be recommending Casa SaltShaker!" - R.H.
"reeeeeeeeeeeaally enjoyed it, was the perfect start to a great night! Actually everything was spot on, you guys have it down! Look forward to coming again sometime, with friends, and meeting new ones!" - G.D.
"We had a lovely time at Casa SaltShaker and it was a wonderful experience. I hope you have a wonderful year!" - R.I.
