Buenos Aires Cafe

Buenos Aires Cafe

2414 S. First, 441-9000

Monday-Thursday, 8:30am-9:30pm; Friday-Saturday, 8:30am-10pm

Ever since cinephiles and foodies fell in love with the Paradise cafe in the film Big Night, the discovery of the exquisite and scrupulously authentic unknown restaurant has become a culinary quest. Who wouldn’t want to stumble upon an establishment where the cuisine is painstakingly created with an artist’s skill? Of course, you’d want the joint to be more successful than the Pilaggi brothers’ place, and in our version of this fantasy, the cafe’s cuisine is rewarded with lines of appreciative patrons who eschew the mediocre fare at plebeian restaurants.

Buenos Aires Cafe, a newly opened venture on South First, comes as close to this “Eureka!” experience as any we can imagine. Housed in a modest building next door to a pawn shop, Buenos Aires has only seven tables indoors and a handful on the outside patio. At breakfast and lunch, meals are ordered at the counter and delivered to your table, while at dinner there is full-service dining. At all meals, the food is superlative.

Breakfast might begin with a pastry or two; lunch and/or dinner will more likely conclude with one. The sequence isn’t important: Just get some! The array of glistening treats look as tempting as any French bake shop’s. The gorgeous visuals are only part of the pleasure, though. The puff pastry base shatters in the mouth as layers upon layers of pastry yield to your teeth. There are Argentinean-style croissants (smaller than typical French ones and just as good, $1.39), filled pastries (dulce de leche is the favored filling, $1.39), and Danish-looking treats like “facturas” and the curiously named “vigilantes” ($1.59 and $1.39), plus assorted cakes and tarts. They’re divine and make for a most sumptuous breakfast spread.

Dinner was a revelation, too. The options are limited to six entrées and a handful of starters. We sampled a couple of the empanadas options ($2.19): the carne picante (spicy beef) and the verdura (spinach). Both were encased with a flaky, golden crust that enveloped savory fillings perfectly seasoned. The empanadas are not overly large, and it would be easy to knock back a half a dozen or so, but then you’d be too full for the entrées. And that would be tragic.

Our group sampled the Pastel de Papas (shepherd’s pie, $9.99), the crepes ($9.99), and the Pollo al Horno (roast chicken, $12.99). Served in a large ramekin and covered with a frosting of mashed potatoes, the “pie” was as hearty as any served up in countless English pubs, but infinitely tastier and better seasoned. The crepes are filled with a puree of portobello mushrooms and eggplant and topped with bechamel and cheese which makes for a silky, rich, and delicious dish.

The roast chicken, however, is where the gauntlet was thrown down. Served improbably as a nearly boneless breast, my first impression was one of disappointment. A solitary breast does not a roast chicken make! One bite, however, revealed this was no frozen slab tossed into an oven to dry out. The juicy, succulent meat is imbued with the flavor of herbs and sits in a pool of green flecked jus. Our attentive waiter revealed part of the process: a whole bird is brined overnight and then roasted. Most of the bird is used in empanadas, soups, etc., while the breast is boned and served as this entree. Divine. It should be noted that a beer and wine license is in the offing, so until further notice, BYOB.

A lunch visit was rewarded with two of the tastiest soups ($4.19) we’ve experienced in some time: a cream of spinach that was as green and fresh as spring itself, and cream of corn, so unseasonably corny it was like gnawing on a cob. Sandwiches are served on homemade bread and salads are tossed with house dressings. And none disappointed.

Buenos Aires claims to authentically capture the cuisine and atmosphere of Argentina. Having never been there, we’re no more qualified to confirm this assertion than the gangs that thronged the inferior meatball house over the exquisite Paradise in Big Night. But, like the guests at the dinner that gave name to the film, we know excellent food when we taste it – and a jewel of a restaurant when we find it.

This article appears in February 3 • 2006.