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© 2008 Dan Perlman
Casa SaltShaker
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Chef: Dan Perlman
Host: Henry Tapia
April 12-13, 2008
It was clearly time for our second annual Thai/Cambodian New Year’s festival dinner. First of all, the dates were right, and second of all, last year it was so popular that we had to add an extra dinner and nearly another. This year, the response wasn’t quite so vigorous, and, in fact, only a few locals came, the two evenings were almost entirely peopled by visitors to the city...
Thoughts from some of our guests:
"I realize my opinion means nothing in the world of fancy food critiques... but I love pineapple, warm, cold - drenched in syrupy sauce with tofu sans rice. I was all about it... total Thai comfort food. The quail eggs were great... showed your hardcore side. Call it rebellious, self-righteous or exotic, those 'city' women will have something to gab about. Me too, that was special, for me, for here. I've come to realize that Thai food is a foodie's fare. I mean from the whole western point-of-view. Because it not only takes an everyday American to have the courage to try what could possibly be cat, but it also takes an open palette, an open mind and of course a liking and tolerance of just the right kind of heat. The shotgun blond sitting next to me is a typical example, however she did clean up the crab in that deliciously dirty hot and sour soup. Did you cook that in a cauldron? The wine with that pool named, thank god he put crab in it, was very refreshing, and the Rosé was also nice. I know winter is coming but I'm so over the heavy reserves. That being said I think the barrel really shined through with the coconut and snapper. I'm really happy for you... I mean half the people were there because of some word of mouth and blogosphere reason or another.... including me for that matter. But for someone to fly in for a week and go to your place no matter what you're serving... says a lot." - K.H.
"The setting is terriffic. I loved the welcoming apertif in the living room. The tables are just the right size for conversation. Henry is a really good waiter. He is unobtrusive and very attentive. The wines were wonderfully matched with the courses. Your explanations were very interesting. Now, here's the negative: I didn't get the feeling that you particularly wanted our group there. Granted, we weren't very interesting but it is the hospitality industry. I'm sorry to say this but I didn't find the food to be particularly inspired. We've lived in the far east and it's probably just hard to get the right ingredients here. I liked the first course and the torte best. One of the guys from San Francisco was way too full of himself but you can't control that (As the writer Aristide Maupin [sic] said: "In Los Angeles they have smog, in San Francisco we have SMUG"). Seating is a game of musical chairs and I just happened to get a dud accross from me. His partner was very nice, as were the rest of our tablemates. By all means, keep going. You offer something very special chez vous." - J.D.
"I enjoyed dinner chez vous. I agree with the positive points J... made in his reply but would like to add a few of my own thoughts. I thought the soup was lovely, sparkling clear and very tasty. It is a shame that Porteños don't eat soup. It's so versatile -- it could be a hardy one-dish meal, or a comforting creamy, smooth puree or elegant as yours was. I'm glad to hear you try to do a soup course with most of your dinners. The wine and food parings were interesting. I do love wine but the food part is my speciality and other than the usual parings I haven't the confidence or knowledge to experiment as much as I should so I appreciated your descriptions of the wines along with the food. Your weekend dinners with a set menu and limited diners is like a dream. I loved working in the kitchen but just hated working 6 days a week, 10-12 hours a day, spending more time arranging schedules for my staff and doing paperwork than cooking. I envy what you're doing but in the places we live, I don't think I could get away with it. I hope you continue with it and enjoy doing it. Thank you for the lovely evening." - A.D.
"Estoy con mis parientes de un lado para el otro, no descanso un minuto , por eso no tuve tiempo de agradecerles y felicitarlos por la cena. Yo la pase muy bien , la comida me gusto mucho ( me tome tres sopas! ) y el postre estuvo buenisimo. S... y yo nos fuimos muy contentos y a gusto con la comida que prepararon. Ahora se por que Casa Saltshaker es tan popular. Felicitaciones , Tengo las mejores criticas hacia ustedes." - D.F.
"We very much enjoyed our Casa Saltshaker experience. The food was delicious and beautifully presented. The other guests were great company for dinner. It was the only meal that we weren't on our own. Surely a dining experience that will remain in memory. We would love to join you for dinner again sometime.... Thanks again for the blog, restaurant reviews, the great meal and wonderful hosting. We wish you both the best of everything." - R.G.
"Our experience was excellent! We all really loved it, the food and communal dining experience, the whole package. I unfortunately have no constructive criticism, if that is what you are looking for...The wine pairing was excellent, the swordfish with the light curry was probably my favorite, along with the delightful, rich and light all at once, pumpkin cheesecake dessert. I will advise ANYONE who visits Argentina to make a reservation with you/Casa Saltshaker. It's the absolute perfect thing to do right at the start of ones trip, so as to talk to others about places to go and things to do. Great job! I can't wait to come back." - J.L.
"L... and I had an enjoyable time during the dinner and thank you for having these events.
Pros:
- Wine pairing went well with the food
- Good mix of people from different background and interests
- Service was great and attentive
Cons:
- I wished we could all sit together in one big table
- More background information about the theme of the dinner" - D.W."We wanted to thank you again for the wonderful dinner at "Casa SaltShaker". We had a lot of fun and enjoyed meeting other diners. We're both fans of Thai food and enjoyed your take on Thai dishes. We weren't familiar with Cambodian food but had fun being exposed to new recipes. All the food was very good to excellent. My only criticism, and a minor one at that, would be regarding the soup dish. The recipe contains some very potent flavors (lemongrass, ginger, etc.) and I thought that each could have been toned down just a tad so they would harmonize better. I know everyone's palate is different, and I still enjoyed it - I just thought it could have been even more enjoyable. Otherwise everything else was near perfect. The wine pairing was a great way to try new wines, and we appreciated that you featured Argentine wines. Pairing the red wine with the fish dish was a suprise, but it worked! The price of the meal was a bit more than we spent at restaurants during the rest of our trip, but we didn't have 5 course meals or 5 different wines during those other dinners. Therefore we thought the price was fair and were very happy we went. Regarding the post on Fodors.com from the person who said they left hungry, that certainly wasn't the case with us. We weren't stuff to the point of feeling bad (who wants that???), but were comfortably full at the end of the meal. Thanks to both you and Henry for making our trip to B.A. even more special." - G.G.
