Eating Your Way Through Argentina

by Ann Brenoff (RSS feed)
Mar 22nd 2010 at 8:03AM

Argentina444 is code for foodies in the know: 4 chefs, 4 cities, 4 seasons. Each season of 2010, one famous chef will accompany 16 people on a culinary expedition of Argentina. The 10-day food-themed tours are first-class in every regard and the prices all-inclusive.

The tours include the country's historical, architectural and cultural highlights but are carefully curated to include a food experience of local market tours and chef's tastings. And each evening, the hosting chef cooks in collaboration with a local top chef.

Why would a chef of Nancy Silverton's caliber and fame agree to be a group leader?

"Argentina is a country I have always been excited to explore," said the founder of La Brea Bakery and co-owner of Mozza. "When I was presented the opportunity to lead a culinary focused tour, it seemed like the perfect way to see Argentina for the first time." Her restaurant Osteria Mozza was nominated as the best new restaurant by the James Beard Foundation in 2007 when it opened. It earned a Michelin star in 2008. She has authored seven cookbooks.

While it's being billed as a foodie trip because of the stops at local markets, cooking lessons and the private dinners cooked in each city by the American chef and a local luminary, the trip also includes glacier hikes in Patagonia, polo matches, lakeside cookouts and private tours of top wineries.

Groups are capped at 16 to guarantee the best rooms and exclusive hotels: Estancia Peuma El Hue, Cavas Wine Lodge, etc.

The next trip, in September, is led by Silverton and will cost $11,500.

The other American chefs participating are: Maria Hines of Seattle's Tilth restaurant; John Sundstrom, owner of Lark in Seattle; and Chris Cosentino, noted for his specialty offal dishes. Cosentino is executive chef at San Francisco's Incanto.

A spokeswoman for the tours said that the U.S. chefs' role is to accompany the travelers, cook a meal in each city and generally lend their culinary perspective throughout. The U.S. and Argentinian chefs work beforehand to plan the menu, often choosing a format where they alternate cooking courses. In Buenos Aires, the U.S. chef will cook with the chef at Chila, one of the city's top restaurants. In Bariloche, the chef will share the kitchen with the chef of Cassis, a restaurant known for its garden-to-table cuisine and lakeside setting. Throughout the trip, the US chef accompanies guests on tours and excursion, sharing professional culinary insights.

Tags: argentina, argentina444, bariloche, buenos aires, cooks tour, food tour, food tourism, nancy silverton