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© 2007 Dan Perlman
Casa SaltShaker
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Chef: Dan Perlman
Host: Henry Tapia
Cuisine & Vins - October 2007
English translation
Behind Closed Doors
Dan Perlman opens his heart and shares, in an exclusive, what the
experience is at
Casa SaltShaker, the restaurant he opened in his Recoleta apartment
with themed dinners, and shared dining among people who don't know each
other.
By Mariano Fresco - Photograph by Mauro Roll
Have you ever imagined dining in an apartment transformed into an exclusive, closed door restaurant and sharing a table with people you don't know? Perhaps it seems strange, curious, or atypical, but that's the proposal of Dan Perlman, a chef and sommelier trained in New York who was enamored of the porteño gastronomy scene. A lover of locro and the rest of Argentine cuisine, he decided a year ago to convert the living room of his home in Recoleta into a small, private salon with two tables (one for eight and the other for four), and every Friday and Saturday - and also sometimes Thursday or Sunday - it fills with tourists, Argentine gourmets, and adventurers from all over the globe who seek out fun people. "We spread the news by word of mouth. At the beginning, it was totally our friends. As time passed, travelers who were solo, couples, friends of friends, and more began to come," he says. Here, every detail is thought out - Dan prepares the food, and his companion, Henry, greets the diners in the garden, an ideal spot for people to get to know each other at the start of the whole Casa SaltShaker experience. "Ideally, diners arrive between 9:00 and 9:30 p.m. [note - 8:45 - 9:00] and chat a bit amongst themselves before sitting down to begin the dinner. The most fun happens when on the same night we get groups of Argentines, British, French, Spanish, and Americans together. The space transforms into a literal human melting pot! Without a doubt, the experience is enriching," explains Dan, smiling. The menu is themed, a tasting of five courses that can optionally be paired with five different wines, and changes completely every week.So, for example, on Republic Day in Pakistan, Dan prepared Pakistani cuisine, to celebrate New Year's in Thailand and Cambodia, he offered food from southeast Asia, and on the anniversary of the founding of Rome, he laid out an array of Roman delicacies. "In my judgment, the most creative menu I made was one consisting totally of ingredients that began with vowels: basil, chard, artichokes, shallots, tarragon, clams...," he summarizes. [note - the ingredients all start with vowels in Spanish...]