[Tango-L] Chris Everett's BA BS

[Nussbaum, Martin]

  Chris Everett wrote, in response to my having had a great time at La
Viruta, "I didn't spend 1700 bucks on airfare and a place to stay for an
experience I can duplicate any night of the week in the US".  Where are
you from? I cant duplicate the experience I described in my prior post
with anything in NYC. 

1700 Bucks? Thats about twice the going rate.    I dont think you should
be giving anyone tourism info about BA, I dont care how long you were
there.  What backwoods connecting flights did you take to get there?
Kids, do you know how to say priceline.com ?   My tix from JFK was about
860, plus tax, total $910 , non-stop, round trip, October.     Also, you
missed the best time to be at Viruta for Tango, which is between 3:30
and 6am.  And Not just Sunday.  And I never heard "disco" there, unless
you are referring to a 20- second pop cortina between tandas.   

Chris also wrote: "Maybe you can burn 100 dollar bills to light your
cigars, guy... Etc."  Burning $100 bills? I guess you missed the point I
was trying to make, which was that you did NOT have to go to Los Lilas
and spend a lot of cash to get a great meal.  Most Americans would not
equate a superb $12 US steak dinner at La Cabrera with burning $100
bills. So, Mr. Zagat, think you could break out another 12 pesos above
the 18 you spent for that super value leaky roof/ plastic sheet in the
window bargain you found on Scalabrini Ortiz to get the best meal of
your life at La Cabrera? And if you want to be super-frugal, Viruta
dosnt charge admission after 3:30 am, another reason the place attracts
the young.   

Oh yeah, while your at it bashing the young:  I popped my head into a
few of those late afternoon milongas you spent so much time at,
including Ideal-- very sparse attendance, people in their 80's falling
asleep in their chairs. I didnt spend 900 bucks on airfare to visit a
scene I can duplicate in any nursing home in America.  Give me the vibe
and energy of a packed house at Canning and Viruta anyday.  If all I
want is lots of space to do nuevo or fantasia, which I also love, I
already have that in America.  At Canning on parakultural night the only
people who bumped me were other Americans. 

Martin


From: Christopher L. Everett [mailto:ceverett at ceverett.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2006 7:57 PM
To: Nussbaum, Martin
Cc: Tango-L
Subject: Re: [Tango-L] Chris Everett on Steak, and La Viruta.

Martin,

I spent 2 months this summer in Palermo.  I went to La Viruta lots. 
Usually the only thing happening on Sunday nights.  But usually, going
to an afternoon milonga, taking a private lesson and then 4 more hours
dancing with friends at the Ideal (often with good live music) would end
with an exhausted ride home at 2:30 or 3:00 am.

Nussbaum, Martin wrote:
> Beg to differ with Christopher Everett's opinions on steak, and La 
> Viruta. You do not have to be flush with cash to enjoy ojo de bife, or

> medallon de lomo. To avoid the overcooking problem, which is the way 
> they assume all tourists want it, You just have to know the word 
> "jugoso" which means rare, but more literally "juicy".  Look the 
> waiter in the eye and repeat, as necessary, that word, until he nods
in
> agreement.   Refuse his offer of "punto-jugoso", which is more medium
> than rare.  It helps if your salivation is evident as you utter the
word
> jugoso.   Most good local parillas do an estimable job for about 14
> pesos, but for an outstanding experience, try this at the excellent La
> Cabrera, in Palermo, walking distance to Canning and Viruta.   Not
only
> will you get the juiciest, most succulent cuts of sirloin or 
> tenderloin you ever tasted in you life, with the interior buttery soft

> like sashimi that melts in your mouth, but you will get many tasty 
> side tapas and pates included, all for about 30 pesos ($10-12 USD).  
> The most expensive steakhouse in BA, Cabana Los Lilas in Puerto 
> Madeira, is twice the price, 55-60 pesos,  for meat that is marginally
better, maybe 5 or 10%
> better.   
Maybe you can burn 100 dollar bills to light your cigars, guy, but
people saving their money for important things like private lessons,
shoes and CDs would be ill advised to listen to you.

I spent 60 pesos in Don Julio's this Summer for bife de lomo, pappas
fritas and ensalada completo and a glass of wine.

Compare this to vacio, fritas and ensalata completo with a bottle of
Coke light available at La Rosalia on Scalabrini
Ortiz for about 18 pesos.   And if the place is a hole in the
wall with a leaky roof and plastic sheeting in the window to cut down
the wintertime draft, the service was excellent and the waitress
adorable.

An even better deal was the take out place down the street
from where I was staying.   For 7 pesos, I got a breaded
tenderloin sandwich with slices of ham, cheese, hardboiled egg and
lettuce/onion/tomato.

For about 8 pesos, I could get 2 kilos of bananas and
2 kilos of mandarins at the fruiteria.
> Cabrera's sweetbreads (corrazon?)
Corazon means "heart" in Spanish.  You might be thinking "Chorizo".

Sweetbreads are the pancreas.  They also serve tripe, small intestine,
lungs, heart, thyroid gland and other choice bits.  Real nose to tail
eating, in other words.
> and morcillas are also the best.
Morcillas, otherwise known a "black pudding" are OK.  Most people will
like "Chorizo" and "Chinchulines" a lot more.
>    Jake, "good quality" is an understatement.  I was  pesco-vegan 
> before my trip to BA, and I am one after, but once there,  I sinned 
> mightily, and daily.  Those cows spend all day munching on tall pampas

> grasses, and I dont  think the rancheros can afford pesticides, 
> antibiotics, or growth hormones to give their cows. They also do not
age
> beef, like here in the US.   Maybe the closest you could come to this
> quality in DC is Kobe beef. 
>   
The entire agricultural system in Argentina is (thankfully)
50 years behind that in the US.   I would have guessed a
pesco vegetarian like you appreciated the quality of fruits and veggies
that you can get in BA.  It's not like in the states where the ability
to ship a tomato 2000 miles is more important than how juicy and tasty
it is.  A tomato in BA has to be eaten in 3 days or less before it
starts rotting.

Regarding Kobe beef, those animals are fed *large* quantities of beer
mash and sake.  IOW grain fed, and qualitatively different than grass
fed.
> Now, it is important to walk/dance  off such a repast,  so walk  to 
> Canning, especially  if  parakultural night, then  at 3 or 4 am  walk 
> to la viruta.
I was at Canning on Parakultural night, more than once.  Let's just say
that navigation was terrible, and I liked Wednesday afternoons at
Canning a lot more. 
>  It aint just "young people", as if there was something wrong with 
> that.  You will see fine dancers of all ages, a wonderful chacarera 
> break around 4:30,  terrific fresh rolls, pastries  juice, coffee at  
> around 5am.  And, as the lights turn blue and low for that last tanda 
> around 6, and the music intensifies and merges into a very
> rhythmic cumparsita, choose you partner very carefully... .    Anyone
> who says to avoid this experience has no detectable pulse. 
The under 25 crowd dominates there, no two ways about it.  Worse, most
have learned their tango at the free classes there.  Let's say the
instructional quality isn't the best, while acknowledging that free is
the only price that many Argentines can afford for tango anything.

The downsides of the La Viruta experience include barely enough light to
navigate (let alone use the cabeceo), hour long sets of disco music with
the loudest sound sytem in BA cranked all the way up, not nearly enough
seating, your typical meat market in full operation, and so on.  I
didn't spend 1700 bucks on airfare and a place to stay for an experience
I can duplicate any night of the week in the US.

Christopher