Those of us who come down to Uruguay’s Atlantic Coast year round have two restaurants to applaud – Baby Gouda in La Barra and La Olada just outside of Jose Ignacio’s Playa Juanita. Open year round, they have attained the stature of loyal die hards, and we are grateful. While everything else closes up tight as a tick outside of high season (December to mid March), these two adorable and quite delicious restaurants remain open the full 12 months and, judging from dinner last night, do quite well thank you! La Olada’s charming dining room, open to the kitchen and mud oven, was full. Baby Gouda, all white and loungey and stylish, with delicious drinks, salumi and cheeses among other offerings, is the go to stop on the main drag through La Barra.
If truth be told, the motivation of the two owners is less to show other Uruguayan enterprises that there is life after the full summer party and more to satisfy their own passion for surfing!
Metta, Norberto Piattoni's Fort Green neighborhood restaurant[/caption]
Francis Mallmann, the revered Argentinian chef made famous by his many restaurants around the world, a couple of books on his cooking style and a hit television series, Chef's Table, has ensured his legacy with a diaspora of chef proteges, two of whom have rolled up in New York. Norberto, better known to his friends as Negro, recently opened Metta, a neighborhood restaurant located on a quiet corner two blocks from the Fort Greene farmers market in Brooklyn. It offers sustainably sourced, vegetable-forward dishes all cooked in a custom designed, open-fire kitchen, using South American asado techniques, utilizing all aspects of the fire (smoke, flame, ash and embers) to create layers of flavor in dishes. Packed with happy diners the night I went, it is relaxed, delicious, interesting and fun.
[caption id="attachment_8248" align="alignnone" width="500"]
Flora Bar, Ignacio Mattos' third opening in New York[/caption]
Ignacio Mattos was born in Uruguay and learned to cook in the kitchens of Mallman and Slow Food legend, Alice Waters. His two other restaurants in New York, Estela, with its bold, Mediterranean-inspired cooking, and Altro Paradiso, with its Italian cuisine, are favorites of mine. Now, Ignacio has come with his team to the Met Brauer on 76th and Madison, offering small bites as well as main dishes in a comfortable setting either indoors or on the open terrace. Service is superb, wines delicious and the food captivating. The space, in my opinion, could do with some tlc - easily accomplished. If you can serve food like that, a bit of flower planting and decorating should come easy.
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