Fernando Trocca: where to eat in Buenos Aires

Fernando Trocca: where to eat in Buenos Aires

Having been taught to cook by his grandmother, Fernando Trocca has been working as a chef his whole life. He’s done stints in kitchens all over the world, working at top restaurants in Italy, France, the Basque Country and New York. He opened his first restaurant in Buenos Aires in 1997. Since then, he’s been consulting executive chef for Gaucho and opened restaurants in Uruguay, the Hamptons and New York. He opened his most recent restaurant, Sucre, in London’s Soho, two and a half years ago, where he turns out top-end plates of Latin American-inspired food cooking on the parrilla grill. We talked to him about the best places to eat in his hometown of Buenos Aires.

Don Julio

Most people here have barbecues at home, and on the weekends, there are lots of asado family-style get-togethers with beef, blood sausage and sweetbreads all cooking on the grill. For tourists coming to Buenos Aires, one of the best places to try beautifully cooked Argentinian meat is at Don Julio. They only use grass-fed beef, and they do their own charcuterie sausages. The ribeye is always excellent, but when you’re there you should order off-menu and ask for a skirt steak. If you’re lucky you’ll get one.

Guatemala 4699, C1425 CABA; parrilladonjulio.com

El Preferido de Palermo

Argentina is different to the rest of Latin America. We are less Latin, more European. Across the rest of the continent they use coriander as the main herb, but in Argentina we use parsley. At El Preferido they do the classic dishes of Buenos Aires, which have a strong Spanish and Italian influence, and they use great ingredients, grown on their own farm. It’s a casual place and the food is simple, but brilliant. They do whole fish on the grill, and a great Milanese, which is like the Italian one but with an Argentinian twist. When you’re there you must try the ice creams – they’re the best in the city.

Jorge Luis Borges 2108, C1425FFD CABA; instagram.com/elpreferidodepalermo

El Pobre Luis

El Pobre Luis is another steakhouse but it’s very different toEl Preferido. It’s not expensive but the food is very good. They have the best sausages in Buenos Aires and they’re famous for their sweetbreads, which are glands from the heart, and are a great speciality of Argentina. The restaurant has a lovely, relaxed atmosphere, and it’s very popular with football players, who all sign shirts when they eat there, and the owner hangs them on the walls.

Arribeños 2393, C1428APE CABA; parrillaelpobreluis.com.ar