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.