I would have ignored Sarmiento 645, The New Brighton Restaurant, if I had just been out for a walk.
Something about its large ornate doors and old fashioned wooden interior conjured images of an overpriced and painfully tourist trap, meaning soggy milanesa rounding out a tired menu ejecutivo.
I visited again 8 month later, my last week in Argentina when Noah, Lila and I skipped out of the overwhelming bustle of those last minute errands on Peatonal Florida in the heart of Buenos Aires.
The doors open to such a lovely pleasant calm. A pleasant smiling hostess leads you into a lovely, richly decorated dining room where no matter how full, conversations buzz quietly, music enhances the atmosphere and all leaves you calm.
We had a such a civilized lunch that day. It wasn’t just that the mushroom risotto and corvina with potatoes wondrously differed from the usual parillas and cafes. Nor was it the complimentary champagne. Nor that your water glass filled before you realized you were thirsty It was that somehow being there was like stepping out of time for a little while.
You’ll enjoy it so much, lunchtime will expand and suddenly you’ll realize three hours have passed, and you’re still lingering over coffee. So when the waiter almost apologetically informed us that should we want to order the chocolate volcano cake, we’d have to wait another fifteen minutes, we happily agreed.
Yes, The New Brighten costs more than your every day restaurant in Buenos Aires, even so, it is not ridiculously expensive, approximately 75 dollars for a full meal for two including wine. It’s perfect for a special occasion, so make sure to take your time.
For us, our last full day in Argentina, it was a place to rest and recharge before hopping back out on the teeming sidewalk where we ratted about with the thousands of others as we finished gift shopping before our flight back to the US.
