Food, glorious food at Don Carlitos

Oh, my. It was a good week in the schools (more on that later) and so we celebrated with a meal. Last night we went out to dinner at Restaurante "Carlitos," otherwise known as Don Carlitos or Don Carlos. This was an experience as much as it was a meal.

It's a very simple restaurant in the neighborhood of La Boca in Buenos Aires, right across from the stadium where the Boca Juniors football (soccer) team plays. It looks like an ordinary diner, nothing at all fancy. As soon as we sat down, the owner came to talk to us. When he heard that I was from the US, he spoke a bit of English with me and pointed at a framed movie poster signed by Sophia Coppola. Apparently, this is one of Francis Ford Coppola's favorite restaurants in BA. 

The fellow in the blue shirt is Juan Carlos Zinola, the owner (photo credit: Iva Grbesic)

Looks are deceiving. This was no ordinary diner. The meal was incredible. We didn't order. The food just arrived with a flourish, plate after plate. We shared from most of the plates, though we each got our own steaks. We had empanadas, and in the vast array of food, I've forgotten what they were stuffed with. Here are a few excellent pictures taken by Iva Grbesic on her blog One Chic Mom--we had these dishes and so much more.

Empanada (photo credit: Iva Grbesic)

Spinach fritters (photo credit: Iva Grbesic)

Smoked sausage (photo credit: Iva Grbesic)

One of two cuts of perfectly-cooked steak (photo credit: Iva Grbesic)

Here's the full list of what we had (though I may well have forgotten one or two dishes):

• Eggplant with white beans, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with herbs
• Fresh mozzarella rolled around arugula, with dried tomatoes
• Tuna salad
• Rolls
• Mashed potato stuffed with cheese and deep fried--they looked like little potatoes
• Spinach crepe
• Spinach fritters
• Spinach or chard ravioli
• Fried cheese (provolone?)
• Smoked sausage
• Steak, two different cuts
• Tiramisu (the best I have ever had)
• Dulce de leche mousse (dulce de leche is an exquisite sort of caramel, though that doesn't do it justice)
• Bread pudding squares
• Passionfruit cheesecake
• Espresso
• Saint Felicien wine
• Sparkling water

It was pricy for Argentina, almost $45 USD each including tip, but well worth every centavo. 

Buenos Aires views

I've got a heavy school schedule here, so lots of my views of Buenos Aires are from the cab on the way to or from schools. On the weekends, I've had time to see a little bit. Here are a few pictures.

On Sunday, walking through San Telmo, the neighborhood where I'm living, Alberto and I saw people dancing in the street. The woman with her back to the camera is leading the dancing. Notice the drum on the far left.

 

Wait, is this Buenos Aires or Moscow? On the way from San Telmo to La Boca, the neighborhood to the south, we stopped at the Russian Orthodox Church.It's fully functioning--there was a service going on when we went in.

Caminito is a street museum, a touristy area of La Boca, with artisan shops, tango demonstrations and plenty of kitsch. The story is that the buildings are painted with the leftover paint from the shipyard nearby. Some of them have sheet metal siding, also from the ships.

Here are some life-sized statues of Diego Maradona, Eva Peron and Carlos Gardel.

 

This is the fileteado style of sign painting seen all over Buenos Aires:

And here we are, back in Moscow, with the restaurant El Samovar de Rasputin. Not sure I'd like to eat there!

Schools in Argentina so far

 

Today is the fifth school day of the tour. Because schools in Argentina teach at least half the day in Spanish, I tend to be at schools either in the morning or the afternoon, not both. Today I have three performances beginning at 1:30, so I have the morning here in the apartment. The school day runs until 4:30.

I've been having a grand time! So far, I've done fourteen shows at six schools, for students ranging from age 6 to 12. The level of English varies from school to school. Very few of the students so far have been native speakers of English. A few come up to tell me that they used to live in Florida or Connecticut. Of course, the younger kids generally understand less, but the puppets help me on that score.

The baby is always a hit.

The children wear uniforms and often the boys and girls are seated separately. I was at an all-girls school on Tuesday and Wednesday--perfect opportunities to tell Stephanie's Ponytail by Robert Munsch. 

Here's a 2nd grader joining in on Poor Little Bug on the Wall. 

That's it for today. Off I go to work!

More from Argentina

I am going to write about the schools, I am. Not today, though. I've done ten shows in the past three days and am tired. A few people asked to see the inside of my studio apartment, so here it is: 

 

No, just kidding. That's a picture of a fireplace at the Michael Ham School, where I was today and tomorrow. Here's the studio apartment:  

 

The view as you walk in the door.

The view right by the front door, before you get to the main living area.

The kitchen and dining area.

The view from the other direction. Notice the Moderne chairs. Not comfortable, but the bed is.

There's a balcony, though it has been too cold to spend much time out there (I think it was in the 30s fahrenheit here today, colder than usual). Oh, and there is a very polite elevator--a voice says, "Welcome!" when I get on downstairs. She announces the arrival to the right floor. When I take the elevator down, she says, "Thank you for your visit."