Marce turned the big 2-9 on November 1st and we celebrated for a full week - complete with lots of food, drinks and a surprise party.
Friday, the night of Marce's actual birthday, we had a glass of champagne and a birthday treat at home to celebrate and then headed to a surprise dinner at Tegui, a closed door restaurant not too far from our apt.
Marce being playful for the camera.
One passion we share is eating...and trying new restaurants - we had been waiting for a special occasion to try Tegui as it is named the top restaurant in Argentina based on the Latin American Top 50 restaurant list (number 9 on the full list):
http://www.theworlds50best.com/latinamerica/en/the-list.html.
What a better way to celebrate Marce's birthday?
We started with a cocktail at the bar and waited for an inside table to become available since the weather was not what we expected that evening. While the bartender admitted to not actually being a bartender, the drink he concocted from my "vodka and citrus, not sweet" instructions turned out to be quite delicious. However, it was quite a disappointment not to have the regular bartender available, especially on a busy Friday night.
Next stop, our table for two. We really wanted to go the tasting menu route, but they sold out right before they came to take our order. Instead, we opted to order a couple of appetizers, entrees and a bottle of wine. Ok - and a dessert too.
To start, I chose the oysters, panceta and oyster flan with green apple. Too much just blah oyster flan but otherwise tasty - the oysters were to die for!
Marce always wins. This time it was with the rabbit, winter vegetables and pate app.
I heard really good things about their pasta, specifically the gnocchi, but I had to go with the artichoke ravioli with mandarin and pistachios, as suggested by our waiter. Heaven in a pasta dish.
However, I must say that Marce won again, this time in the entree department, with the quail, confit potatoes and goat cheese. Just the presentation alone is enough to make me swoon (and also why I had to post two, not retouched photos)
And now time for dessert - again, per suggestion from our waiter, we ordered the pineapple with a salted cookie, chocolate and vanilla. The flavors worked well together, however, I would try something else next time as there are soooo many amazing sounding desserts.
Tegui is definitely a place for a special occasion type of dinner. Although it is not my favorite restaurant in the city, I am dying to give it another shot …hopefully, when their tasting menu is available.
This brings us to Saturday. I told Marce that even though his actual birth day was over, the birthday celebrations would not stop until lunch at his parents' house on Sunday. We laid low most of Saturday but I told him I wanted to take him on a birthday pub crawl early that evening to drink some of our favorite artisanal beers. The first stop was Antares, a brewpub born out of Mar del Plata with a few locales in Buenos Aires.
After we each had two beers (and, mind you, artisanal beer has a higher alcohol content than normal beer) we headed off to the next stop: The Temple Bar. Little did Marce know (or maybe he did since I was acting a bit nervous) but 40 of his family, friends and coworkers were waiting for us there. When we got to the entrance I stopped him and told him that I really wanted to make his birthday special (he still had no clue) then we walked in together and BAM! he was blown away by all of the people who came to celebrate.
Below is a little photo montage of the evening. I apologize in advance for such a long post but I could not pick and choose - this is as far as I could narrow it down. Enjoy!
Last photo of the night.
The weekend ended with a fun, intimate birthday lunch at the Pratto house. Susi made pasta and cakes and we relaxed outside in the yard. All in all, a perfect end to a wonderful birthday week!
Beautiful day in the city!
Even prettier day in Temperley!
Happy Holidays to everyone! I will post (a lot) more after I return to BsAs! xoxo
