Nine for Nine

Leaving Mendoza was tough. There are wineries we never got to visit! We'll miss Fernando, the driver who took us all around the area. He always made us laugh and had lots to tell us about Mendoza.

We arrived in Buenos Aires after eight days of hardcore wine tasting, and took advantage of a lazy afternoon. Our new lodging, Purobaires Hotel Boutique, has 11 lovely rooms and is situated in trendy Palermo SoHo. After settling in, we went to Lo de Jesus for a late, light lunch. We're still feeling the effects of yesterday's feast and needed to go easy.

After lunch we headed for a shopping area along Murillo, a street chock full of leather outlet shops. It was a beautiful day and the walk interesting, but we didn't find anything we couldn't live without. Our energy was flagging by this time-everyone's batteries needed a charge, and we returned to the hotel for a snooze.

A student in Karla's wine class is from Buenos Aires and when she offered to make dinner reservations for our group, we said of course. Her suggestion, Aramburu, is rated number one in the city on Trip Advisor and we were looking forward to our dinner. A tiny place on a quiet street, Aramburu has about 25 seats. There's no menu, just a nine-course prix fixe dinner. After determining what everyone can and will eat, the chef begins the service.

We started with the amuse bouche: five tastes that we were told to eat in order-a wine and herb sorbet that woke our taste buds up in a hurry, a fried olive, salmon ceviche, something they call corn foam that was more a soufflé, and a watermelon gazpacho. First course was a salad of beets, figs, baby carrot, and tomato in strawberry and lemon dressing. We smelled the next course before it arrived-a smoky globe with Portobello mushrooms and scallops. Our third course was shrimp with a shredded pastry in individual saucepans. Fourth was perfectly cooked fish on pureed potatoes and squid ink served with black quinoa and topped with crispy seaweed. The fifth course was a perfectly poached egg with a creamy sauce and crunchy topping in a martini glass. Sixth came heavenly pork belly, crisp and tender. Seventh was succulent waigu beef with potatoes three ways. Then came desserts: eighth course was vanilla bean ice cream with meringue sticks and toasted amaranth.  Cake and chocolate ice cream came ninth. Karla, Mark and Agustina, the sommelier, picked amazing wines to complement every course. It was a perfect meal.

Our meal in pictures: