Why the best restaurant in this steak-obsessed city skips beef

1 hour ago 1

Ben Groundwater

If you could only eat in one place in: Buenos Aires, Argentina

Where

Crizia Restaurante

Inside Crizia, Buenos Aires.

Why

Do not adjust your television set. Don’t reach for your glasses. This is a Buenos Aires restaurant that does not specialise in steak. In fact, Crizia has two tasting menus and neither has a single beef item on it. You have to go all the way to the bottom of the a la carte offering to find a grudging nod to Argentina’s national obsession, with a single, premium Angus beef fillet. Otherwise, Crizia is not here to do what everyone else is doing. You could walk a few blocks in any direction in trendy Palermo and hit an iconic parrilla, or steak restaurant.

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Patagonian Lamb, roasted eggplant, miso, garden fresh herbs.

Why bother repeating it? Instead, Crizia is a haven for those looking for something a little different, a little more creative and considered. This upscale restaurant has scored one of BA’s few Michelin stars (only four restaurants hold the honour), and chef Gabriel Oggero has done so by focusing on the wide range of high-quality non-beef produce available in Argentina: oysters from Patagonia, baby squid from the Falkland Islands, sea bass from Argentine Antarctica, lamb from the pampas. Each is treated with care and skill, done with a light touch that’s a mile away from the whopping hunks of char-grilled meat Buenos Aires is otherwise known for.

Order this

Centolla (southern king crab) “one of the most precious products of the Argentine sea” served on a flounder tartare.

Crizia offers two set menus: “Puro Mar”, focusing on seafood, and “Tierra Mar”, a mix of seafood and meat. There’s an a la carte menu too, though our advice is to go with one of the tasting menus to appreciate the full gamut of Oggero’s skill.

Eat it here

It’s not Argentinian, but the vibe at Society Melbourne is similar to Crizia, with a matching focus on oysters (societyrestaurant.com). In Sydney, Neil Perry’s Margaret is also upscale with excellent seafood (themargaretfamily.com). In Adelaide, Fuego by the Sea needs little explanation (fuegobythesea.com.au).

Crizia Restaurante is in Palermo, a trendy neighbourhood north-west of the Buenos Aires city centre. Menu prices in Argentina tend to fluctuate as the value of the peso moves, though budget about $150 a person for food and wine. The restaurant is open for dinner Monday to Saturday. Book ahead. See crizia.com.ar

Ben Groundwater is a Sydney-based travel writer, columnist, broadcaster, author and occasional tour guide with more than 25 years’ experience in media, and a lifetime of experience traversing the globe. He specialises in food and wine – writing about it, as well as consuming it – and at any given moment in time Ben is probably thinking about either ramen in Tokyo, pintxos in San Sebastian, or carbonara in Rome. Follow him on Instagram @bengroundwaterConnect via email.