Eating My Way to the Airport
A tour of Buenos Aires that included food, politics, and crime
“Argentinians are not healthy eaters, nor do they care to be,” said our guide as we began our food tour of Buenos Aires. It was our last day in Argentina, and we needed to vacate our rooms at 9 a.m. But since our homeward bound flight didn’t leave until 9 p.m., we had time to explore.
What better way to spend a day than eating our way through the city?
“At least I won’t be tempted to eat the awful airplane food,” said one of my traveling companions. “I’ll be too full.”
We didn’t realize our tour would expose us to more than food. Politics and crime were about to play a part in our Argentinian education.
“For breakfast, it’s not cereal and eggs for Argentinians. We eat medialunas with coffee,” our guide explained before leading us to our first culinary stop of the day, Cafe La Biela.
This 150-year-old cafe in the Recoleta district of Buenos Aires was popular for many years with artists, actors, politicians, and celebrities before becoming a meeting place for racing champions, and in 1999 it was declared a place of cultural interest. A list of its many notable visitors include names like Mick Jagger, Robert de Niro, and…
