[Tango-L] Martin the tango tourist, was (Re: Chris Everett's BA BS)

[Christopher L. Everett]

Nussbaum, Martin wrote:
>   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. 
I see where you took that back.  :)
> <snipped> 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.   
>   
Early Sunday morning about 12:30 am, you should see it.
The universal meat market discoteque you see anywhere
in  the US, or the world for that matter.  Happened 3
different Saturday nights.

But after 8 hours of dancing, maybe I can be forgiven
foregoing La Viruta, eh?
> 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. 
Spent 2 months in BA and a week in Rio.   Took about
50 group classes and 30 privates and brought home 100
CDs and 4 pairs of custom shoes from a woman who
makes the shoes for all the shows in BA.  I spent about
$4900 total (the one way ticket, BA to Rio was $450). 
I spent more on privates with one of the best teachers
in BA than anything else.  But spending 75 or 100 pesos
every day to eat and taking taxis everywhere, I would
have gone broke halfway through the trip.

Everything is a balance.  IMO, the tradeoff between
time and money is something Americans don't do very
well, to benefit of their employers and the detriment
of the common man.  Being cheap to get me an extra
month of time in BA was *well* worth it.
> 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?
On a daily basis, no.  For that matter I did spend
250 pesos treating 6 people to dinner in one of
the better restaurants in San Telmo, so it wasn't
about not spending cash at all, it was about making
the best use of what I had.

Anyways, I got something much better than the
best meal of my life (which I can cook for myself
thank you very much).

I got to know a slew of Portenos and understand
something about how people live in BA.  All the things
you do to save cash, like cheap eats, taking the bus
instead of taxis brings you right next to the heart
of one of the greatest cities in the world. 

And I didn't find La Rosalia on my own, someone
showed it to me.  For being a cheap place to eat,
the quality of food was far better than anything you
can get stateside, the veggies in the salads were ripe
and fresh, and the fries were peeled and cut by hand
... not the frozen crap.   and the place was totally
down home, after a while I was almost family.

Zagat is for tourists who want that super comfortable,
insulated from reality, experience.  Now that's not a
judgement on people who do Zagat.  It's just that it's
insulated and I didn't want insulation. 
>  And if you want to be super-frugal, Viruta
> dosnt charge admission after 3:30 am, another reason the place attracts
> the young.   
>   
Like I said, for many in BA, free is the only price
they can afford.
> 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. 
You're FOS, Martin.  I was never bashing the young.  But
what the young find ideal, I'm happy to leave to them.  I'm
not one of those old farts chasing children.

Last Summer, Saturday night at Ideal was live music night. 
You had to get there before 10:00 pm, otherwise you
wouldn't have a table.  After the music, the place emptied
out within 5 tandas, so then I go to Porteno y Bailarin,
where the totally sleazed out environment with protitutes,
drug dealers, drunks and the like was totally entertaining
(just watch your stuff with an eagle eye).

Did you ever go to Canning on Wednesday afternoon?
El Arranque, ever?  Gricel Monday Night?  El Beso on
Tuesday or Thursday night?  Maipu 444 on Wednesday
afternoons?  Viejo Correo Friday afternoons?  Plenty
of old farts, but some of the best dancers you'll ever
see.
> I didnt spend 900 bucks on airfare to visit a
> scene I can duplicate in any nursing home in America.  
You're a fountain of wit aren't you?  Besides, you spent
too much.  I could have done NYC-EZE-NYC for $600 to
$700 before taxes.
> 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. 
>   
I'm not bashing the young.  I just leave them their loud disco
meat markets were I neither feel comfortable nor have fun.

And the universal high quality of Argentine dancing is a myth.
The bell curve is shifted over a bit that's all.

Christopher

> 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
>
>