No trip to Argentina is complete without visiting Mendoza, the wine capital. During our Spaswinefood stay we used Mendoza city as our base while exploring Mendoza Province, the largest wine-producing region in Argentina. Naturally whatever free time we had in the city we were on the search for delicious food. Similarly while touring the wine country we were on the lookout for those winery restaurants.
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| Colorful Zampa, Mendoza © Spaswinefood |
Here are some of the deliciousness that we experienced.
Deliciousness in Mendoza City
An Argentine friend's recommendation was "in the city for food you have to try Zampa, also Maria Antonieta is really good and Fuente y Fonda". Based on his recommendations and online reviews we set out on our foodie quest in the wine capital.
1. Zampa (Av. Bartolomé Mitre)
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| Zampa © Spaswinefood |
Zampa's colorful graffiti covered restaurant is not to be missed. Chef and owner Pablo de Rio's restaurant offers a relaxing atmosphere for dining. You can choose from over 30 small plate options, categorized by how you expect to eat them (fork, spoon, knife and hands).
We sampled from these small plate offerings:
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| Cheese, Zampa © Spaswinefood |
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| Pasta, Zampa © Spaswinefood |
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| Eggplant, Zampa © Spaswinefood |
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| Squash, Zampa © Spaswinefood |
Wine was our choice to go with these small plates.
2. Maria Antonieta (Belgrano 1069)
This is a modern French style bistro. Chef Vanina Chimeno, the other half of super Chef Francis Mallmann, offers casual creative cuisine at her bistro.
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| Maria Antonieta © Spaswinefood |
We dined at Maria Antonieta twice. The first time was for dinner. Later we returned for breakfast. This restaurant has an open kitchen, which was a delight to watch while dining.
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| Open Kitchen, Maria Antonieta © Spaswinefood |
Over dinner we got a great introduction to this restaurant.
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| Dining at Maria Antonieta © Spaswinefood |
Since we had visited Bodega Caelum earlier, we were excited to order one of their wines.
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| Bodega Caelum, Torrontés 2015 © Spaswinefood |
For an appetizer we enjoyed a salad.
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| Salad Time, Maria Antonieta © Spaswinefood |
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| Salad, Maria Antonieta © Spaswinefood |
Our main plates included Salmon and Squash dishes.
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| Salmon, Maria Antonieta © Spaswinefood |
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| Roasted Squash, Maria Antonieta © Spaswinefood |
When we returned for breakfast we both ordered eggs benedict.
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| Breakfast Menu, Maria Antonieta © Spaswinefood |
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| Benedicto, Maria Antonieta © Spaswinefood |
Compared to dinner Maria Antonieta offers a casual breakfast.
3. Feunte y Fonda ( Calle Montevideo 675)
Fuentes y Fonda on Plaza Italia serves great food (Argentine, Italian and South American), and it vegetarian friendly. Of course do not forget to try the wines here.
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| Remembering Mendoza © Spaswinefood |
4. Estancia La Florencia
But of course there was a feeling of nostalgia for me when we returned to Mendoza. I think it was the first evening in Mendoza when we walked to the Plaza Independencia area.
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Plaza Independencia © Spaswinefood
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Near the plaza we saw a familiar restaurant and decided to stop.
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| Return to Estancia La Florencia © Spaswinefood |
That evening we easily decided on Estancia La Florencia. This restaurant is known for a high quality parrilla, with old world charm. The kitchen at this restaurant is visible from outside.
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| Estancia La Florencia Kitchen © Spaswinefood |
You can dine outside or inside.
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| Street Side at Estancia La Florencia © Spaswinefood |
We decided to dine inside. With doubt their meats are great however, there are delightful pasta options for vegetarians. There is an extensive wine list here.
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| Veggie Pasta, Estancia La Florencia © Spaswinefood |
As we left that evening we walked through Plaza Independencia.
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| Plaza Independence at Night © Spaswinefood |
Whenever we walked by Estancia La Florencia in the evenings during our stay it always brought back memories.
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| Estancia La Florencia at Night © Spaswinefood |
5. La Lucia
We ate dinner another evening at La Lucia.
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| La Lucia, Mendoza © Spaswinefood |
We selected a wine from one of our favorite Mendoza wineries, Bodega Ruca Malen.
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| Ruca Malen, Malbec 2013 © Spaswinefood |
We also ordered a salad and main dishes.
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| Roast Chicken, La Lucia © Spaswinefood |
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| Pasta Sorentino, La Lucia © Spaswinefood |
It felt good to be back in Mendoza where the pastas are so good.
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| La Lucia © Spaswinefood |
6. Zitto
It was also fun to have a casual lunch or dinner at places like Zitto.
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| Pizza and Wine, Zitto © Spaswinefood |
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| Pizza, Zitto © Spaswinefood |
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| Salad, Zitto © Spaswinefood |
7. Breakfast at Street Side Cafes
Yes, we did visit a few restaurants nearby for breakfast during our stay. It was a great way to begin the day.
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| Mendoza Cafes © Spaswinefood |
Often we would stop for coffee and media lunas, an Argentine version of croissants, on those early morning walks.
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| Typical Mendoza Breakfast © Spaswinefood |
The typical Mendocino style for most is to dine late, which means commonly breakfast consists of coffee and pastries. Lunch is a leisurely affair, often around 1-3 pm in the afternoon. Dinner starts around 8:30 pm, with most diners arriving around 10 pm. We did our best to keep to this routine.
Deliciousness in Mendoza Wine Country
Yes, most of the time during our wine country explorations we dined at winery restaurants. We did a number of winery lunches and enjoyed the overall experience. In fact I would highly recommend it.
1. Valle de Uco (Uco Valley)
Twice we drove to the Uco Valley from Mendoza city. On our first trip we ate lunch at Domaine Bousquet. Later we had lunch at Siete Feugos Restaurant followed by wine tasting at Vines of Mendoza.
(1) Domaine Bousquet
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Lunch, Domaine Bousquet © Spaswinefood
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Lunch and Domaine Bousquet Wines © Spaswinefood
One of the pleasures for this Spaswinefood enthusiast is to meet the chef. Indeed such was the case the day we dined at Domaine Bousquet's Gaia Restaurant.
(2) Siete Feugos
A restaurant with a name like Siete Feugos (Seven Fires) conjures images of asado in your mind. However, if you are vegetarian do not skip this restaurant at the Vines of Mendoza Resort. We were most fortunate to have had lunch there. The food was excellent. This is where the internationally acclaimed Chef Francis Mallman has created regionally inspired dishes. We enjoyed checking out a few of those dishes in this awesome setting, with 180 views of the Andes. I can imagine dinner at night must be spectacular, with the cooking done over the flames.
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| Dining at Siete Fuegos Restaurant © Spaswinefood |
It is worth the drive from Mendoza just to sit here surrounded by vineyards, with the Andes in the distance.
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Vines of Mendoza Vineyard, Mendoza © Spaswinefood
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The views from our dining table were amazing in all directions.
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2. Luján de Cuyo
Luján de Cuyo has many wineries that are spread over a large area. Many of these wineries have restaurants where they offer wine pairings with lunch. Our Luján de Cuyo winery lunch stops were Bodega Lagarde ( an excellent wine tasting with lunch) and Bodega Septima (another great tasting).
(1) Bodega Lagarde
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| Lagarde Lunch with Wines © Spaswinefood |
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| Wine Time, Bodega Lagarde © Spaswinefood |
Mendoza's Awesomeness
These were awesome days visiting Mendoza’s wine region. When most people think of Argentine wines they are most likely to first think of Malbec. While Mendoza produces great Malbec it also produces other great wines like Cabernet Sauvignon, Tempranillo, Chardonnay, Syrah, Merlot and Bornada.
Indeed time passes too quickly when you tour Mendoza wine country. Often it was only early mornings when we could take a peek at the city from our hotel window.
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| Early Morning, Mendoza © Spaswinefood |
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| Rainy Morning, Mendoza © Spaswinefood |
When we arrived in Mendoza there was a heat wave with temperatures hitting the high 30's Celsius. It was good to have a few rain showers to cool the temperature down a little. I still remember that very hot summer's day when we arrived in Mendoza from Salta.
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| Retuning to Mendoza © Spaswinefood |
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| Approaching Mendoza © Spaswinefood |
Upon
reflection we had a very delicious time touring Mendoza's
wine regions. While in the city we enjoyed just hang out in
sidewalk cafes, and checking the local restaurants. During our Mendoza visit we
stayed at the Sheraton
Mendoza, a great location downtown with so many restaurants and sidewalk
cafes all within walking distance. You will also find other hotels in the downtown area
that come highly recommended. I invite you to check out my travels in Argentina and elsewhere at Spaswinefood.
Sharon
February
2017
Mendoza,
Argentina
©
Spaswinefood
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| Mendoza City © Spaswinefood |
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