Buenos Aires is a foodie's city, lined with cafes, restaurants with Italian influence and local fare alike, and brimming with heladerias and espresso shops. A day's walk around the city's center can fill up even a hard-to-feed celiac.
Breakfast
La Pizzeria Babieca is open all day, but this busy corner establishment in La Recoleta, staffed by friendly waiters accommodating special requests, serves a delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs (without butter for casein-free folks), fresh jugo de naranja, and small treats from their pasteleria called cochitos, bite-sized cookies made from coconut and honey, piped from a pastry bag and and browned in the oven.
Lunch
Famous grass-fed Argentine beef, grown in the surrounding pampas, or grasslands, features in parillas on practically every street corner in Buenos Aires. These restaurants serve not only the familiar grilled steaks such as filets and sirloins but also the rest of the cow, including the kidneys, livers, and intestines, if you're so inclined. Lunch at Cabana Las Lilas, a particularly popular parilla overlooking the water in Puerto Madero, offers a many-course meal that happens to be safe for celiacs. An order of ojo de bife, or ribeye, includes an appetizer of mushrooms in butter and garlic, followed by small plates of roasted red peppers, roasted tomatoes in oregano, and then poached salmon in basil and olive oil, all dishes gluten-free, casein-free except for the mushrooms. The ribeye arrives with a side of chopped red peppers and local favorite, chimichurri, a traditional Argentine sauce of oil, vinegar and herbs.
Dinner
Fine dining at the Sofitel’s Le Sud Restaurant features beautiful Mediterranean cuisine in this fancy restaurant located near Plaza San Martin in La Recoleta. It offers an extensive wine list and a willing (and talented) chef, able to alter an entrée to produce a beautiful, gluten-free, baked salmon in mango sauce preceded by specially prepared gluten-free, casein-free petit fours.
Sweets
Ice cream shops and the long queues of people eager to sample them dot the cityscape. Multitudes of Italians emigrated to Buenos Aires over the last 100 years, resulting in a wonderful appreciation of gelato. Many brands are represented in the heladerias, but Freddo Ice Cream has a gluten-free line. Argentines are particularly fond of dulce de leche, a confection of milk and sugar similar to caramel which can be prepared gluten free. Advise your waiter in Spanish of any food restrictions and enjoy!
La Babieca: Avenida Santa Fe 1898 esq. Riobamba; tel 4814-1005
Sofitel: Av. Arroyo 841-849; tel 54-11-4131-0000
Cabana Las Lilas: Av. Alicia Moreau de Justo 516; tel 11-4313-1336
Kathleen Madigan - Kathleen Madigan studied bacteria in college, earning a degree in biology, then chucked the laboratory life, learned Russian and set off ...
