My “Closed Door” Asado Dinner Experience in Buenos Aires

You may know that Argentina is known for its meat – especially beef – and boy have I been eating a lot of it since I’ve been here!

I absolutely loved my “closed door” asado dinner with Luis this past weekend in Buenos Aires. An asado is essentially the Argentine version of a barbecue.

This particular event was called “Steaks By Luis” and you have to book and pay in advance on the website.  Once your reservation is confirmed, you receive the address via email and you join about a dozen others for a fun dinner with different people from around the world!

Luis explained the traditional Argentine asado experience – a 5-course dinner that includes a picada (cheese and cold-cut platter), salad, “achuras” (grilled starters), a great steak and dessert. Additionally, each course is paired with a specially selected Argentine boutique wine.

This man threw DOWN on the parilla (grill) located at a private loft in the most trendy area of Buenos Aires – Palermo Soho. Our first course was a the picada – a tasty display of cold meats and cheeses, with some light white wine.

The second course was a beautiful salad with mixed greens, tomatoes, onions and a bit of sliced green apple. Paired with a fruity Torrontés, the signature white wine of Argentina.

Third course was achuras! Incredible grilled sausages and beef – including juicy asado (for which the barbecue is named) and pork cerrado.

Luis also grilled up a few “surprises” for us to taste, pictured on the far left of the serving board from top to bottom – beef kidney, sweetbreads and intestines. I vowed to try a bite of everything – even the “surprises.”

Ultimately, my favorite achuras were the pork, asado and chorizo. The blood sausage (black blobs in the middle) and intestines…not so much. Even with the lemon squeezed on top, they were hard to choke down!

Part of the achuras was a grilled cheese dish called provoleta. It’s just fresh provolone cheese that cooks up with a crust on the outside and topped with herbs and a bit of olive oil. This was delicious paired with a light red wine – Malbec, of course! Malbec is the signature red wine of Argentina.

Fourth course was this lovely piece of beef, cooked medium-rare, served alongside garlic mashed potatoes made with butter and no milk. So rich and flavorful, paired with a full-bodied Malbec.

For our final course, the meal was made perfect by a slice of dulce de leche cheesecake, paired with a sweet Torrontés dessert wine. Heavenly!

I have to say, the closed door asado is a must-do in Buenos Aires, especially as a solo traveler!

I got to meet so many interesting people from different countries. There was never a dull moment in conversation with men and women from Brazil to Australia to the UK and a few couples from the U.S.

Some people were traveling long-term for months at a time, some were in Buenos Aires for a week-long vacation. Some were budget travelers staying in hostels the whole time and some were splurging on all the tours and top hotels.

Either way, the conversation theme was the same. We all agreed on how important traveling was in our lives. It was inspiring to be in the company of people who “get it” – the thrill of discovering a new place, enjoying life to the fullest and learning so much about yourself in the process.

You know, I get asked all the time – how am I able to live this location-independent lifestyle and make enough money to travel all the time?

The truth is, I have a profitable business that is run completely online! This is the #1 factor that gives me the freedom to be able to live and work from anywhere .

And at my upcoming event, I’ll be teaching my “5 Steps to Freedom” system about how you can start a professional blog, build your tribe, create an authentic online brand and turn your blog into a business that allows you to travel the world.

If you know that now is the time for YOU to take the leap and turn your travel dreams into a reality, I invite you to join me for the Blogging School LIVE 3-Day Intensive, being held October 16-18, 2015 in Washington, DC!

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