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© 2007 Dan Perlman
Casa SaltShaker
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Chef: Dan Perlman
Host: Henry Tapia
November 15-16, 2007
Lhamo Döndrub may have been born at an opportune moment… or, depending on how one looks at life, an inopportune one. Arriving into this world on July 6, 1935, he was the fifth of sixteen children born to a Tibetan farm couple. His life was pretty uneventful for his first two years… at which time he was declared by the powers that be to be the reincarnation of Thubten Gyatso, the 13th Dalai Lama, and thus began a life of being trained to take on the duties that he would eventually assume - at his coronation as both the ruler of Tibet, and spiritual leader of his particular sect of Tibetan Buddhism (not of all Buddhism as some often believe, though obviously he’s the most recognized figure in the Buddhist world), and renamed Tenzin Gyatso - on November 17, 1950 - a mere five weeks after the Chinese invasion of Tibet, setting the stage for his tenure as 14th Dalai Lama for the past 57 years. In honor of that event, I decided on an evening of Tibetan influenced food… and no, it was not to be a vegetarian meal, the Dalai Lama himself is not a vegetarian, much to the surprise of many folks who first encounter him…
Thoughts from some of our guests:
"Muchas muchas muchas gracias por todo -- no teníamos ni idea de qué encontraríamos y lo que encontramos nos sorprendió excelentemente bien. Muy grato el encuentro con la gente que gue ayer, y en cuanto a la comida + los vinos... un banquete realmente, que sin duda recomendaremos! Aplausos para vos y tu equipo, y saludos." - E.T."I have nothing but raves about the entire experience. Great atmosphere, great food, great conversation. I've been telling everyone I know that if they are ever in Buenos Aires, they need to pay you both a visit. After two weeks of food that was light on spicing, it was the perfect menu and way to end my trip to South America. Oh, and great wine pairings as well! Thanks so much for a fun night and a great meal to remember." - A.G.
"A note of pre-thanksgiving thanks for the splendid meal on Saturday. It truly was a pleasure--and truly a marvel that you come up with these extraordinary menus every week--presenting cuisines from so many real and perhaps invented countries it seems likely that you've had about ten thousand past lives cooking around the world. I really thought it all worked wondrously--each dish was delicious--and surprising--the assortment of people was fine enough--an incorrigible restaurant eavesdropper like myself was in complete heaven having permission to ask complete strangers what how exactly they found their way to those particular tables and what were they doing before and after. conversation never flagged--everyone was thrilled with the cooking and the care that was clearly put into everything. I don't think anyone was disappointed. You really do provide an extraordinary evening--and provide an experience that is unique and fun! Good work guys!" - N.G.
"I’ve been meaning to e-mail you to thank you and Henry for opening your home for the dinner. N..., J... and I thoroughly enjoyed the meal and the conversation. I really didn’t know what to expect when it came to Tibetan fair, being a simple boy from Arkansas and Texas. However it was a great experience with great food to boot. I chuckled when I read your blog about preferences. Hopefully our preference (Coca Lite for N...) wasn’t too wild. The others are bizarre. I can’t believe people would even ask such things. It’s apparent good etiquette seems to have fallen to the wayside. Personally I don’t think people appreciate the experience you and Henry provide for the evening. The conversation was great and it served as a good start to our week in BsAs." - R.B.
"I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed my time and dinner at your place. What an incredible evening. Wonderful food, company and conversation. It was one of the highlights of my 8 days in Buenos Aires. I arrived back in Little Rock on Thanksgiving morning (AND ON TIME) and have spent the last 3 days recovering, but am back at work this morning. Having never had Tibetan food I found it to be wonderful or more precisely you prepared it wonderfully. Should I ever make it back to Argentina and you are still doing these dinners, I will be there. Thanks for a such a great evening." - N.H.
"We had a great time, thank you so much for the experience. The food was amazing, I would not change a thing!" - C.K.
"We really enjoyed the evening at Casa Saltshaker. Really nice setting, outstanding food, and interesting people. D... and I were happy to be there, and it was a great way to start off our little vacation adventure." - G.L.
