Te quiero, La Alacena Cafe
For those of you outside of BA… Pick up the Fork is BA’s biggest food blog and it happens to be in English. The Chicago blonde responsible for it’s hilarious content has been in Argentina for nearly a decade braving new and old restaurants to which she then shares her experiences doing the homework for all of us hungry lazy eaters.
A month or so ago she published an article on new places that have recently opened (NOLA Gastropub included!) and luckily a few of them are not too far from my door.
La Alacena is one of the featured restaurants and my new go-to lunch spot, a treasure in this laid back capital.
Clean natural look, friendly staff and freshly baked medialunas are a few perks of the corner neighborhood cafe. Their dishes are served on pottery (which are also available for sale) and the space has a good bit of wooden furniture, cookbooks and large jars of pickled produce.
Although I must admit the palta (avocado) salad, cheese sandwich and chocolate tart are what really reel me in at La Alacena.
The palta salad is simplicity at it’s best- iceberg lettuce, avocado, cheese, soft boiled egg, homemade croutons all tossed in a creamy mustard dressing. I love this salad. I eat it at least twice a week. I do wish it was a bit bigger, especially for the price of 72 pesos, it doesn’t fill this girl up and it ‘forces’ me to order a side of yuca fries. (Gulp)
The cheese sandwich is like a fancy grilled cheese. The bread. Holy cow I love their bread. Light, buttery, grilled to perfection. This particular sandwich host a mix of cheeses along with pesto and a spread of grainy brown mustard. I could easily eat two if them if a hammock was guaranteed afterwards. A baby jar of pickled veg on the side to cut the richness is the perfect companion.
There is also a plato del dia available Monday thru Friday which is very much appreciated. It’s nice to mix things up a bit, offer something to your regular clients that are always ordering the same things.
I also am a BIG fan of the zucchini sandwich which is packing almonds, broccoli, goats cheese and a few other nibbles. The queso azul sammie is also a winner that’s a mix of blue cheese, pecans, apples and pears (?).
I love these sandwiches. Almost as much as I love their dark chocolate tart.
This tart is just stupid good. The crust is buttery, thin, flaky, it almost cracks just looking at it. Come ooooon chica, share that recipe!! The filling is silky bitter dark chocolate mousse that’s perfectly cut with a sprinkle of sea salt. This tart with a shot of espresso… Does life get any better?
La Alacena, te quiero. You’ve turned my afternoons into a blissful experience that always has my back. No more, ‘where can we eat that doesn’t suck?’. Instead it’s, ‘should we go to La Alacena, AGAIN?’. Yes, I like that way better.
A big thanks to Pick up the Fork and La Alacena for making my life that much more enjoyable, bite by bite.
La Alacena is at Gascon 1401 (corner of Honduras) and is open from 9am -7pm, closed on Sundays.
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