San Vicente de Cocineros

On an empty stretch of about four miles along Ruta 10, the coastal road, on the way to Jose Ignacio from La Barra, there's nothing but ocean on one's right and fields and forests on one's left. Except, that is, for the incipient barrio of San Vicente, marked by a simple wooden gateway and one large house visible from the road. The idea is that this will be an exclusive enclave of large estates. For now, the only reason to visit is to try out a restaurant, San Vicente de Cocineros, built entirely of wood, glass and stone and nestled unobtrusively into the woods along one of the interior dirt roads in the barrio. This I strongly recommend, as for my money this is one of the very best restaurants in the Punta del Este area.

We were lucky enough to hear about this restaurant before it was built, as a friend of my wife's cousin was involved in its creation. In early December 2005 my wife was attending asados (cookouts) on the vacant lot where the restaurant was to be built. (She had gone down early to oversee renovation of our house; I had not yet arrived, yet.) Then, within three weeks the entire place was put together for a grand opening before the New Year.

It is very hard to learn about this restaurant, as it does not advertise as far as I know and doesn't even participate in many of the listings of restaurants that are handed out during the season. There's no sign along the road to announce the restaurant's presence, just a beat-up pick-up truck parked on the side of the road at the entrance to the barrio with a hand-lettered chalkboard sign propped up in the truck bed saying (in English) something like "open, grill, sushi." The picture above is the simple sign that greets you as you start to enter the restaurant.

Those I know who have gone during the restaurant's three seasons of operation share our view of its quality. There's a resident chef, but the restaurant also brings in "star" chefs from Buenos Aires and other South American cities for guest runs of a week or so. Because of the rotating chefs the offerings change, but there usually are choices of beef, pasta, and fish dishes at a minimum, and often lamb, chicken and pork as well. This year they have also added a extensive selection of sushi.

The restaurant grows its own vegetables and herbs (one enters the restaurant by walking through the herb garden), and even raises some of the animals used in the cooking. The atmosphere is rustic chic. The service is a bit more attentive than normal in Argentina and Uruguay, but still unobtrusive. There's an open parrilla and also an attractive bar area. In addition to regular tables, there are a couple of seating areas with sofas, low tables, and fireplaces. One of those areas is pictured below.

For the first two years the prices here were probably the highest in the area, or certainly close. This year they have dropped the price of the food significantly (ever heard of that before?), but if anything they have ratcheted the wine list up a notch. It's quite possible two people will spend more on their bottle of wine than on all the food they consume between them. This is not because the wines are over-priced, as they definitely are not, but rather because the wine list contains only the best of the best.

We went again last night. The resident chef was in charge. We shared calamari rings (called "rabas" here), my wife had a rather fancy chicken dish prepared in a wok, and I had beef with ratatouille. All excellent, as on all previous occasions.

Fundacion Pablo Atchugarry

An Uruguayan sculptor, Pablo Atchugarry, made a name or himself in Europe over the last three decades, working mostly from his studio in Italy. Now, he has decided to give back to Uruguay. Toward the end of 2007 he opened a new gallery/studio combination about two miles inland from the beach at Montoya (just outside La Barra),where he will work about 5 months of the year and also present rotating exhibitions of (primarily) Uruguayan sculptors, painters and photographers.

We checked out the complex yesterday, and found it well worth the effort. The buildings are located on several acres, with huge metal and stone sculptures spread throughout the property. One can actually watch Atchugarry carving on large marble blocks inside his workshop. The gallery is divided between rooms with a presumably permanent exhibition of some of Atchugarry's smaller works (both sculptures and paintings) and others with the temporary exhibitions. All are very well presented.

It Took a Nobel Laureate

In an earlier post I discussed the "chivito," the national sandwich of Uruguay. Here I'll talk about another food that's ubiquitous in Punta del Este, although it is usually associated more with Argentina. By the way, there's nothing unusual about an Argentinean food being found all over Punta del Este; after all, the history of Uruguay's founding supports the oft-stated concept that Uruguayans and Argentineans are "brothers separated at birth." Moreover, historically most vacationers in Punta del Este have been from Buenos Aires, although that is changing.

The food for today is "salsa golf," which any upstanding denizen of Punta del Este will aways order to accompany his or her appetizer of grilled or lightly fried seafood. What is it? Well, the recipe has been a closely guarded secret until now, but I'll blow the lid -- it's ketchup and mayonnaise, mixed together. Some people will contend that there must also be lemon juice, but that's just an effort to make the recipe more "refined" than it really is. Mix ketchup and mayonnaise and you have salsa golf. Or buy it already "prepared" in any grocery store in Punta del Este.

Why does this simple mixture even have a name? Ah, because there's a story behind the mixture. An Argentinean named Luis Federico Leloir won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1970. Leloir was also a golfer who summered, not in Punta del Este but in the Argentinean beach resort town of Mar del Plata. People say he was addicted to the fried seafood at his golf club in Mar del Plata and would while away the time nibbling and reading and chatting in the clubhouse before or after a round of golf. One day in the early 1970s, he asked the kitchen at the club to bring to the table all of their sauces, as he was looking for something new to try with his usual snack. He proceeded to spend hours trying out various mixtures, until he finally hit on just the right combination of, yes, ketchup and mayonnaise to make the perfect sauce. Others tried and liked it and took the "recipe" back to Buenos Aires for the winter, and soon "salsa golf" was being manufactured commercially.

Although Leloir developed salsa golf to accompany seafood, and it is still the preferred condiment for grilled or fried seafood, it has actually become identified even more with a different dish: fresh hearts of palm. I defy anyone to eat hearts of palm with salsa golf once, and thereafter eat hearts of palm without salsa golf ever again. There's just something about the combination that is irresistible.

My Favorite House

The houses in the Punta del Este area reflect the different styles that predominated in beach and resort housing across the 20th Century and the first decade of the 21st. There's everything from two-story whitewashed stone with red tile roofs (the style of the 1920s and 1930s, when many of the remaining houses on the peninsula were built) to the stone, metal and glass (lots of glass) style that is ubiquitous among the multi-million dollar mansions going up all over Jose Ignacio. And everything in-between is represented in at least a few houses here and there.

Among all these houses and all these styles, I am constantly drawn back to the house pictured above. I don't know what an architect would call the style -- Mediterranean? Bermudian? modified Spanish cortijo? Whatever the style, for me the lines of the house, the blazing whiteness of the walls and the light wood of the shutters, the open spaces of the lawn with low pines accenting but not dominating the structure, and the setting right on the water all combine to make the perfect coastal home.

This house sits with three others right on the beach between Punta Ballena and the beginning of the Pinares neighborhood of Punta del Este; it's easily viewed from the main coastal road. The view from the house itself must be one of the best in the entire area, as it stretches from the high rises at the entrance to the peninsula of Punta del Este in the distance off to the left, takes in Isla Gorritti offshore and the sweeping expanse of La Mansa beach, and then continues on to Punta Ballena off to the right.

One thing the picture doesn't capture is the beauty of the roof. It is made of small, flat tiles that appear to be composed of some mixture of seashells, although I'm not really sure. Whatever the composition, the roof reflects light ever so gently and has a soft, silvery blue hue that accentuates the blues of water and sky.

I have no idea who owns this house. If we live here long enough, maybe we will meet them and merit (or just beg!) an invitation to see the inside.

The 2008 "Season," Part II

As I mentioned in Part I, the peak season runs from about December 20 to about January 15. According to the local press, the peak season was a big success in terms of hotel bookings, a continued increase in the number of Brazilian and "non-regional" (i.e., European and North American) visitors, a tick up in the number of Argentineans (whose numbers had been significantly diminished the last two years by blocking of bridges linking Argentina and Uruguay), and the per-visitor amount spent. The fact that the Punta area continues to attract more wealth visitors but perhaps fewer of the middle range was reflected in the market for house rentals. Houses at the high end, those going for U$S 20,000 to $100,000 for the peak season, were all rented. But in the middle and lower price ranges, it seems about 40% of the offerings went unrented.

The farther up the coast from the peninsula one goes the more one notices an increase in visitors over previous years. For instance, Jose Ignacio, the northernmost and least developed part of the Punta area and where almost all of the houses are high end, is busier than ever. And the very undeveloped areas even farther toward Brazil, places like Punta del Diablo and La Paloma, are overflowing with young backpackers; it's only a matter of time until those areas become much more developed.

Perhaps the biggest news of this season in terms of new developments is that final approval was given in December for The Setai Group to build their luxury hotel and ocean-side bungalows along one of the pristine beaches in Jose Ignacio. This development will be right at the entrance to Jose Ignacio and probably will change he first impression one receives upon reaching the village. The development is sure to be tasteful and luxurious, but many are already bemoaning the loss of wide-open beaches.

Every year various international celebrities pass through the area. One who returns annually is Naomi Campbell, pictured below in the garden of the house where she stayed this year with friends (the Cipriati family). The tiny picture below Ms.Campbell is the retired French soccer
star Zidane, arriving at the airport with his wife and one of his sons. There have been many other "notables."

As for the yacht pictured above, it's Le Grand Bleu, the sixth largest private yacht in the world at just over 370 feet in length. It's been parked about 300 yards offshore near the port since Sunday. Launched in 2000, it has passed through a few hands, including those of the Russian exile Roman Abramovich, coming to rest last year in those of Eugene Shivdler, one of the new Russian oil barons. According to the local press, the yacht is here with eight passengers and a crew of 37. It also carries a 72-foot sailboat, a 68-foot power cruiser, a mini-submarine (primarily for mine sweeping, according to the crew), a helicopter and a Land Rover. The staterooms have fireplaces, so there are also five tons of firewood on board.

The View(s) from Punta Ballena

Although the Punta del Este area can be said to start earlier as one drives in from Montevideo, it really announces itself when one reaches Punta Ballena. The road curves more toward the water and climbs toward the crest of the peninsula that is Punta Ballena, and suddenly one gets panoramic views of water, beach and sky in two different directions, back toward Montevideo and ahead toward the peninsula of Punta del Este. I took the picture above last Sunday afternoon from this spot looking back toward Montevideo, and a few minutes later took the picture below from a spot 200 meters away looking ahead toward the peninsula.

Gallery Nights Opening Party

For most of the year an organization called Artealdia sponsors Friday night "open houses" at art galleries in various neighborhoods of Buenos Aires; it's known as "Gallery Nights." In January, Gallery Nights moves to Punta del Este, mostly in the area known as La Barra. About 25 galleries are open from around 8 p.m. until after midnight each Friday evening, with free champagne and some of the artists available to discuss their work and chat. On January 2, the kick-off party for the 2008 version of Gallery Nights was held at Lasarte Gallery, an artist-owned gallery in La Barra. We are friends with the artist, Mercedes Lasarte, so we went and mingled with the two hundred or so other invitees. Here's a shot of part of the crowd.

There's a locally famous modeling agency, Dotto Models, run by a 50-something year old guy named "Pancho" Dotto, that is based in Buenos Aires but has installed itself with many of the current models in a ranch along the coast a few miles from Jose Ignacio every summer for the last 20 years. Website: http://www.dottomodels.net/. (There are pictures of many of the current models, male and female. Gives you some idea of what Argentina and Uruguay have to offer for the younger set.) Dotto and about a dozen of his models were at the party. I picked out my favorite and asked for a pose, and got the following (one of Mercedes Lasarte's paintings as background):