Argentine Sandwich @ Cafe MALBA, Buenos Aires

After an afternoon perusing the collection at Malba ( Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires) I stopped into the Museum cafe for lunch.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the Argentine sandwich, grilled asada (beef loin) with a chimichurri sauce, grilled red peppers and onion.

The beef here is generally grass fed on the Pampas, and thus vastly different from the growth hormone and antibiotic laced slabs of fatty tissue we get at home. It is significantly leaner, and much more flavorful.

Observant readers have probably noted how predominant seafood is in this blog; if US beef were all this good that would probably change.

Sadly Argentine farmers are moving to feedlots as they shift Pampas grasslands to soy production and to remain competitive with their beef prices in world food markets. That's a shame, because it seems to me that a healthier and tastier item will always remain competitive, among people who care what they eat anyway.

Off to La Cabrera tonight, for more cow...

Cafe MALBA
Av Figueroa Alcorta 3415
Buenos Aires C1425CLA, Argentina

Anchor Oyster Bar, San Francisco

This is the Yellowtail Snapper over fingerling potatoes with sauteed veggies at one of my favorite San Francisco eateries, the Anchor Oyster Bar in the Castro.

I endured a frenzied rush on a rainy night to make it from SFO before closing, which gives you and idea of how significant this eatery is...

I agonized briefly over the snapper, an eco-heinous choice, but yellowtail is significantly better than red snapper, so I gave it a shot.

The food here is beautifully done, fresh, minimally fussed over and always subtly seasoned and delicious.

Plus you can sit on the barstool that Harvey Milk used to perch on, and feel at one with history.

- Will

Anchor Oyster Bar
579 Castro St
San Francisco, CA 94114

(415) 431-3990

Ocean Seafood Los Angeles

This is the shrimp and rice noodle at Ocean Seafood in Los Angeles.   It's my favorite dim-sun place in LA hands down.  (mostly because of the emphasis on fresh seafood - huge tanks with live critters line the entry hallway, and if you've a mind to you can choose your lunch from the tanks.) 

This seems to be something of a theme with this blog - I've noticed that the last ten posts or so are all seafood places.   Hmmm... 

I went by myself this time.  I had just gotten back to LA, and was craving dim-sun after a few months on the Cape. (Great seafood there, but not a lot of dim sun, if any.)   Going by myself was a bit overwhelming as the carts were circling like sharks and the little plates piled up pretty fast...

Very tasty though...

- Will

Ocean Seafood

750 N Hill St

Los Angeles, CA 90012

(213) 687-3088

Cap't Elmers -in Orleans, MA

Cap't Elmers, on Old Colony Way in Orleans, MA has been serving what I consider the best lobster roll on Cape Cod for 32 years. Elmer's consistently delivers a classic Cape Cod lobster roll. (I grew up eating this particular lobster roll, which may partially explain my fondness for it.) When I was a teenager they were $5.99 - imagine that!

A few worlds on the lobster roll -

It MUST be on a New England style hot dog roll, ideally split and buttered, and toasted to a golden brown on the grill. A hamburger bun is NOT ok, nor is (gasp) a bulkie roll, a grotesque perversion of the New England classic common to expat New Yorkers. (The Bulkie is way too chewy, and overpowers the lobster meat with its floury-ness.)

All that goes into the lobster roll is lobster meat and a leaf or two of lettuce, ideally Boston lettuce, but butter lettuce will do in a pinch. Romaine is icky in this context, and Mesclun way too gourmet, and thus liable to incite ridicule. A generous gob of Mayo is traditional (and yummy) but may be omitted by the phobic. It is usually served in a white cardboard sleeve, and may be accompanied by fries, onion rings or chips.

If the lobster has been too salad-ized with the addition of celery or God forbid scallions the proprietor should be spanked. When I make them at home I will veer from tradition just slightly by adding a bit of fresh tarragon.

Elmers meets all these criteria admirably. I am sure other things there are excellent, but I have to confess that other than the great clam chowder - in 32 years I've never had anything but a lobster roll at Elmers.

Cap't Elmers
18 Old Colony Way
Orleans, MA 02653

(508) 255-3350

Cooke's Seafood, Orleans, MA

Cooke's wins awards for their fried clams nearly every year. The place is the antithesis of the ramshackle beach seafood shack we all dream of, but the fried seafood here is excellent. (It's a vast fluorescent lit, air conditioned space more reminiscent of a chain fast food place than a local joint.) To be honest, it is a chain, with three or four locations around the Cape, one in Hyannis, One in Mashpee Commons, and the one in Orleans, which I think is the best.

That said, these folks have an amazing touch with the fryer, the clams are perfection, never greasy or heavy, more like clam tempura in their delicacy.

PS: Get the whole clams, that clam strips thing is strictly for rubes...

I've never understood clam strips, why would you have the best part of the meal removed?

Cooke's Seafood
1 S Orleans Rd
Orleans, MA 02653
(508) 255-5518