El Tur Gastronomico

I've had the good luck of meeting and becoming friends with a Chilean foodie. Through a Chilean friend I know from D.C., I met Mauricio, and after a few delicious and fun dinners, we decided that we should embark on an official gastronomical tour of Santiago. The rules are simple: every two weeks we meet for a meal, each time alternating who chooses the place, and it should be somewhere that at least one of us has not tried.

We had our inaugural dinner a month ago, and it was my pick. I chose Barandiaran, a Peruvian restaurant that I had been to during our orientation week back in February. It was delicious the first time and Mauricio had never been, so I thought it would be a good place to start. Peruvian restaurants are extremely popular in Santiago, which is somewhat strange given the competitive, borderline contemptuous relationship between the two countries. But I guess even Chileans have to admit that Peruvian food is outstanding.

We started with a ceviche to share and Peruvian pisco sours, which are different from the Chilean version. I personally like them better (oh the shame!). Great minds think alike and we both settled on the Corvina a lo Macho, Chilean sea bass with assorted mariscos (think octopus, shrimp, and various other sea creatures). It was delicious, with a light cream sauce and served with rice. Unfortunately, right about the time I was scraping the last bit off my plate, my stomach started to grumble. Within a few minutes I was hit hard with terrible stomach pains, and though I tried to fight it off I eventually had to break it to Mauricio that we needed to ask for the cuenta (check) pronto. Not a very auspicious start to our tour, but at least we knew that odds are, things could only go up from here.

Last night we had the second meeting of our two-man gastronomical club and Mauricio opted for a venue somewhat off the beaten path. We drove a little outside the city, to the tony neighborhood of Vitacura, specifically to a strip of restaurants known as BordeRio (on the side of the river). Mauricio hadn't decided on a specific spot, but thought we'd instead check out the menus and ambiance of a couple places. We settled on Zanzibar a lavishly decorated spot advertising itself as serving comidas del mundo (foods of the world). And it wasn't lying. The menu featured dishes from Italy to Thailand to Congo. Once again we started with a ceviche, but this one was a sampler, with three different varieties, one with sea bass, one with tuna, and one with octopus. They were all light, refreshing and excellently seasoned. Pleasing to both the palate and the eye (in truth, every dish I saw was exquisitely presented) it was a perfect way to start our meal. And...once again...we ordered the same main course: Japanese Kobe beef with vegetables. It arrived to the table searing hot on the griddle that it was cooked on. With a delicious glass of Merlot to accompany our meat, we both dug in. Super saboroso (flavorful) and cooked perfectly al punto (medium rare), it's in the running for my best meal so far in Santiago. We finished off with creme brulee for him and macerated fruits with passion fruit sorbet for me. It was a perfectly portioned and perfectly balanced meal in an entertaining and pleasant atmosphere.

Next stop is my choice, and I better get on the Chilean restaurant review sites because I have a lot to live up to.