Cafés | Wander Argentina

Las Violetas Cafe: Elegance in Almagro

Historic and elegant, Las Violetas café, patisserie and restaurant is an essential stop on any Buenos Aires café tour.

Now over 125 years old, Las Violetas remains extraordinarily popular. Every weekend afternoon tea-hungry diners form an orderly line outside its curved-glass doors to wait for one of the marble-topped tables.

Declared a Buenos Aires’ Heritage Site in 1998, Las Violetas is one of those Argentine institutions that refuses to die. Twice restored, and at one point practically abandoned, its struggles and subsequent revivals are emblematic of Argentine history itself.

High-Profile Visitors

The Felman and Rodriguez families founded the illustrious café, with its French stained-glass windows, ornate woodwork and Italian marble columns, in 1844.

Refined literary and political figures such as Carlos Pelligrini, who later became Argentine President, attended the grand opening. Other notable people who have rendezvoused here include tango great, Osvaldo Pugliese and politician, Felix Luna.

Uruguayan jockey and renowned sweet-tooth, Irineo Leguisamo was a regular at Las Violetas as noted by the cake bearing his name. A favorite on the menu today, the ‘Leguisamo’s’ mouthwatering ingredients include dulce de leche, meringue and almond cream.

Others had to visit more discreetly. The abuelas (grandmothers) of the Plaza de Mayo famously held meetings, disguised as birthday parties, at the café in order to plot retrieving their kidnapped or ‘disappeared’ grandchildren.

Las Violeta’s Revival

In the late 1990s, Las Violetas was hit hard by a combination of economic factors and was shut down for three years. The building was restored in 2001, and looking grander than ever, reopened that same year.

A birds eye view of the bustling, historic Las Violetas cafe — photos: Hernan Jourdan

Bustling yet sophisticated, white-jacketed waiters serve food on silver platters while visitors struggle to choose from a vast array of delicious cakes and pastries. Aside from their famed sweets, other options include savory snacks, an extensive wine list, cocktails and beer, plus a range of restaurant dishes thrown in for good measure.

Featured are the typical Argentine plates such as a tenderloin steak with mushrooms, grilled chicken, and some fish dishes such as simple hake, salmon with roquefort cheese and a three-colored vegetable pureé, and the ‘Martin Carrera salmon,’ served with shrimp, mushrooms and bacon. In a nod to the many foreign tourists, Las Violetas also features an American-style breakfast with bacon and eggs.

One classic yet pricey tea-time favorite is the María Cala, a cake, sandwich and pastry platter piled high with tempting goodies accompanied by fresh orange juice and tea, coffee or hot chocolate.

A better option for those looking to soak up the Las Violetas ambience without spending a fortune is an aromatic tea or coffee with a medialuna (croissant) or three. Penny pinchers should note that hot drinks come with a sweet treat, so there’s no need to order separately to sample a bite-sized cream or dulce de leche (sweet milk spread) laden pastry.

Those after a longer-lasting souvenir can step through a separate, yet equally ornate doorway to a crowded shop bursting with pastries, candies and ostentatiously wrapped gifts.

Las Violetas is open around the clock on the weekends and also has a delivery service, but this isn’t recommended for first timers. The building, complete with colorful stained-glassed windows, Italian marble floors and gossiping grannies is an essential part of the Las Violeta’s charm. —Rosie Hilder

⇒ Take a Three-hour private tour of Buenos Aires’ most historic cafes

Las Violetas-$$$$
Av. Rivadavia 3899
Almagro
Tel: 4958-7387

• Cafe and Confitería hours:
Sun -Thurs: 6 a.m. – 1 a.m.
weekends & holidays: open 24 hours

Panadería (pastry shop) hours:
6 a.m. – 10 p.m. daily

•Credit cards accepted
•Getting there: Castro Barros stop on the subway’s A line.

*Note: There are two prices on the café menu. Las Violetas is more expensive after 4 p.m. on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. It’s no coincidence that the costlier menu coincides with the perfect time for a spot of afternoon tea.

Nonna Bianca—Grandma’s Gelato in San Telmo

For ice cream in San Telmo, near Plaza Dorrego area, skip the fancy Freddo and Perisco chains along Defensa Street and head just a few yards down Estados Unidos to grandma’s authentic alternative, Nonna Bianca, specializing in homemade Italian-style gelato.

With its outdoor benches and homey wooden interior you’ll feel like you stepped into a rustic locale in Bariloche, an effect only enhanced by some of the fruits such as cherry and blueberry incorporated into the creamy concoctions. Among the 80 flavors made on premises are a variety of chocolates, tiramisu, mate in cream, watermelon, quinoto (kumquat) soaked in whiskey and Argentine favorite, dulce de leche.

Business has boomed here in the five years since a then 70 year-old Blanca Real opened up the business with her culinary-inclined family.

To satisfy the breakfast and lunch crowd Nonna Bianca offers pastries and snacks such as paninis, quiches and delicious milkshakes. The front area with its picnic type tables is a nice place to linger over a coffee with friends. Those flying solo can grab a window seat looking out onto Estados Unidos and read one of the many magazines laying around or take advantage of the free wifi.

A basic cone costs less than at the nearby chains and comes with two flavors. The art is making sure you chose two complimentary flavors — many of hose on offer — in line with Argentine taste buds — are quite sweet, so ask for samples before making the all important decision.

Nonna Bianca-$
425 Estados Unidos
San Telmo
Tel:4362-0604

• Hours: Sun-Thur from 9:00 AM —12:00 AM
Fri & Sat 9am-2 am
• Delivery
• Wifi

Libros del Pasaje — A Hip, Cozy Bookstore & Cafe

If you’re looking for a cozy spot to relax or nourish the brain after a wild night of partying in Buenos Aires, check out Libros del Pasaje in Palermo. This is a charming bookstore and café with high ceilings and dark wooden bookshelves displaying carefully chosen literature.

In Spanish, you can find highbrow genres such as Eastern philosophy, poetry, Argentinean literature, and film theory. The store has a modest section of literature in English, equipped with an ample amount of classical novels, various types of dictionaries and travel guides. Books range in price from reasonable to jaw-droppingly expensive. This family-friendly place also has a substantial children’s literature section.

The store staff of young and stylish porteños is friendly and accommodating, so if you can’t reach that book you want, someone will climb up on a ladder and grab it for you. Upstairs, there’s a cozy nook, well stocked with literature on art. There are always good tunes playing in the background here — a nice cherry on top of a great ambiance. Most of the music played is available for purchase in the store’s music section.

After browsing, take a seat on the antique couch positioned in front of the store’s centerpiece: a large white wall with graffiti and clever expressions doodled on it by visiting authors throughout the years. To find out about store events, such as author lectures and gallery nights, you can check out the large-sized calendar at the front of the store, along with a variety of flyers that advertise interesting happenings around town. Information on store activities can be found on their website as well.

To get some work done or to flip through some exciting literary finds, slip into the store’s sunroom and settle in at one of the many tables with a good cup of coffee or tea.

The bar also has a well-priced but basic alcohol and food menu. This attractive area showcases some carefully selected local art for sale to maintain the hip vibe of Libros del Pasaje. Take in some good people watching here, as artists work on their Apple laptops and students discuss radical politics while chain smoking. As for the less hip, have no fear! There are all ages and types of patrons here, so even if you’re not up on your lunfardo, you will feel comfortable in Libros del Pasaje.

Be sure to stroll down Russel Street on your way out to see some of Argentina’s more impressive street art, or better yet, book our graffiti tour to get the back story on the artwork.

— by Avery White

Libros del Pasaje
Thames 1762 (at Pasaje Russell)
Palermo
Tel: 4833 -66 37

Store hours:
Mon-Thurs: 10am-10pm
Fri & Sat: 11am-11pm
Sun and holidays: 2pm-10pm

• Major credit cards accepted.

La Poesía: A Literary Cafe in San Telmo

Do you remember the cafe La Poesía, that magic night in San Telmo? Buenos Aires devised our meeting, so romantic and sweet, Lulú
—Horacio Ferrer (from the song, Lulú)

La Poesía is a place to toast the writers of Buenos Aires in a bona fide San Telmo literary venue.

Housed in a turn of the 19^th century building, the cafe preserves the traditional tiled floor and dark wood bar. The shelves are lined with books and artifacts and an upstairs wall is packed with black and white portraits of some of Buenos Aires’ notable artists and literary figures.

Originally founded in 1982 by journalist and poet, Rubén Derlis, La Poesía became a place for the artists and thinkers of San Telmo to contemplate democracy after the end of Argentina’s military dictatorship. Here well-known musicians and writers congregated for discussion and critique and held workshops such as ‘Poesía Lunfarda’ (Lunfardo Poetry).

The bar closed in 1988 but was never forgotten by the 1960’s-era socialist writers and San Telmo intellectuals who gathered there. The wooden tables have embedded brass plaques noting the literary heavy weights whom wrote or held court at these tables in the 1980’s.

It was here that the Uruguayan poet and lyricist, Horacio Ferrer, mostly known for his work with Astor Piazolla, met the woman who remains his wife to this day, Lucía Micheli. The meeting is immortalized in his 1992 song, Lulú.

In the two decades since the closing of La Poesía, one failed business after another occupied the locale. Finally La Poesía was reopened at the end of 2008 by Pablo Durán and Laura Carro, the husband and wife team who run three other successful classic corner bars in the city: El Federal a few blocks away in San Telmo, El Margot in Boedo, and Bar de Cao in San Cristóbal . All four of the dynamic duo’s historic bars are categorized as ‘notable cafes’ by the city of Buenos Aires.

The only thing that could use some updating here is the menu — it’s comprehensive but lacking in creativity. You’ll find the standard pastas, uninspired salads, a large selection of sandwiches, hamburgers and omelets. The cheese and meat platters are a good bet — try the Rubén Derlis platter, a selection of the poet’s favorites, along with a pint of the full-bodied handcrafted red beer, brewed on the premises.

From afternoon to night La Poesía is busy with couples sipping wine, writers becoming inspired via osmosis and groups of friends debating in an array of languages.

On the weekends the few tables along the sidewalk allow for good people watching while you sip a cappuccino or beer brewed on-site.

These days, La Poesía hosts many more tourists than it did in the 80’s, but it remains a meeting place for Porteños. Hang around long enough and you’re liable to spot some of the original La Poesía habitués, such as Horacio Ferrer and Ruben Derlis.

⇒ Take a Three-hour tour of Buenos Aires’ most historic cafes

La Poesía
Chile 502 (corner of Bolívar)
San Telmo
Tel: 4300-7340

• Hours: Sun — Thur:  8 a.m. – 2 a.m.
—Fri & Sat:  8 a.m. – 4 a.m.
• cash only
• wifi

Mark’s Deli: N.Y. Style Sandwiches in Palermo

Mark’s Deli and Coffee House brings a taste of the Big Apple to the upscale confines of Palermo Soho. Here you’ll find stacked made-to-order deli sandwiches on home-baked breads, an interesting variety of salads and specialty coffee drinks being dished out to a constant flow of cash splashing Palermo elite and guidebook-toting foreigners.

The refreshing selection of bread at Mark’s includes normally scarce options such as whole wheat and rye and cheese or black olive baguettes.

Two particularly tasty sandwiches, made with the customer’s choice of bread, are the pastrami, cucumber, pickles, lettuce and Dijon mustard and the grilled chicken, made with apples, pancetta and blue cheese. All sandwiches can be toasted to warm things up in the winter months.

The healthier options at Mark’s Deli are the fresh salads. The most exquisite is the fresh Special Salad: smoked salmon, Brie and arugula. Both sandwiches and salads are large; true to American style, the notion of a snack doesn’t exist at Mark’s Deli.

To wash it all down try the homemade lemonade or fresh fruit smoothies, the kiwi is a particularly flavorful. Specialty coffee drinks include the Iced Mocha, or for something with a little more guts, the Absolut Vanilla Coffee.

New York Cheesecake & Other Desserts

A large teatime and dessert menu includes muffins, brownies, chocolate chip cookies and baked tarts. The best on the menu though is the cheesecake. The texture is as thick as you would find in New York and the biscuit base is not too sweet. A zesty fruit coulis finishes off the order and as with everything at Mark’s Deli, the portion is large enough to share.

The U.S.-style business model is so well emulated here that one might suspect that Mark’s Deli is a foreign-owned enterprise, but it is the brainchild of Argentine, Marcos Mantecón who brazenly opened up the cafe in 2002, shortly after Argentina’s devastating economic crisis.

Mantecón’s idea proved to be an immediate success, especially among the growing number of foreigners in the area. Today, waiting for 20 minutes to be seated at Mark’s is not uncommon, particularly between 2pm and 5pm on the weekends. This considering that there are twelve tables inside, a breakfast bar and an outside patio area, accommodating another five tables.

One drawback for the near-sited is that there is no menu that you can hold in your hand here — you’ll have to crane your neck from your table in order to read the menu options, written on two blackboards above the service counter. Another is that the quality of the services varies more than the food.

Although Mark’s may seem on the pricey side for residents (and only accepts cash) the deli is fresh, the portions are generous and in straight-forward New York style, there’s no service charge.

—by Tracey Chandler

Mark’s Deli -$$/$$$
El Salvador 4701 (corner of Armenia)
Palermo Soho
Tel: 4832-62 44

• Hours: Mon-Sat: 8:30am-9:30pm; Sun: 10:30am-9pm
• cash only
• wifi

Cheap Flights

Las Violetas Cafe: Elegance in Almagro

High-Profile Visitors

Las Violeta’s Revival

Nonna Bianca—Grandma’s Gelato in San Telmo

Libros del Pasaje — A Hip, Cozy Bookstore & Cafe

La Poesía: A Literary Cafe in San Telmo

Mark’s Deli: N.Y. Style Sandwiches in Palermo

New York Cheesecake & Other Desserts

Book Airport Transfer

Book Cheap Flights

Porteño Corner

Walter Freiberg

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