The Busy Gourmand

Impetu
Uriarte 1504 (corner of Gorriti)
http://www.impetu.restaurant.com.ar/

Impetu Entrance

We ran into Impetu when were searching around for another restaurant in Palermo Soho which we found to be overcrowded and waist deep in American tourists. I have nothing against tourism but when I go to a foreign country I want to hang out with local people. If I wanted to hang out with Americans I would stay home. So we wandered off down the street and came across this little restaurant which seemed to be crowded with local families and people on dates.

Impetu describes itself as a “Bistro Porteňo,” which is a reference to what is commonly called porteňo food, an amalgam of French, Spanish, Italian, and indigenous foods. It usually includes a few things from the “parrilla” or grill, a couple of samples of “asado” cooking, or roasted meats, and of course a couple of pastas.

Impetu Sidewalk

The interior is modern, but warm and inviting at the same time. It has a very relaxed ambiance, with the murmur of hushed conversations, and intimate enough to take a date, even though this seems to be a popular place with local families.

The menu is extensive and includes the usual porteno offerings bife de chorizo, and ojo de bife, which are various cuts of steak which are not readily available back home. There is also a nice assortment of pastas, raviolis, and for the first time I had seen them “malfatti’s,” which our waiter explained are dumplings that are like ravioli without the pasta. And if your tastes run to pork, fish, or chicken you can order all of that as well.

We were a bit out of sorts from eating beef for several meals so we opted for pasta, more specifically for me, tallarines in a Bolognese sauce, and for Will tallarines in a sun dried tomato and pesto sauce. Tallarines are long, wide noodles that are cut into smaller pieces before cooking. I also opted for a caprese salad, which included some sun dried tomatoes, in addition to the usual ingredients. While we waited we sipped on a nice bottle of Argentine cabernet and enjoyed some bread which we ate with a spread made of chicken livers and grilled vegetables.

Tallarines in Bolognese Sauce

The salad was enormous. If you order it you can serve at least two people. Honestly it would suit four people in a pinch. I liked the addition of the sun dried tomatoes. It gave a nice flavor contrast with the fresh tomatoes and the basil. The ingredients were absolutely fresh and tasty.

Tallarines in Sun Dried Tomato and Pesto Sauce

The pastas were perfectly cooked, al dente. (Something I wish restaurants in Dallas could master.) The Bolognese sauce was good. However it was finished with a drizzle of olive oil that seemed to overwhelm the sauce a bit. Olive oils in Argentina are very fruity in flavor so a little bit goes a long way. The sun dried tomato and pesto sauce was beautifully prepared and went well with the noodles. There was just enough sun dried tomato to make the dish flavorful without overwhelming the pesto.

Our waiter, German (he kept correcting me when I kept calling him Herman, a subtle difference), was absolutely attentive, fun and did not cringe every time I asked him how every dish was made. He also was kind enough to ask the chef for the recipe for his chicken liver spread. There is an English translation of the menu available for the Spanish language impaired.

Impetu is a place I would heartily recommend. It is a nice mix of relaxed Buenos Aires, with good service and tasty food. With our bottle of wine our meal came to about $50 US dollars. This is a bargain considering the portions and the nice bottle of wine. And remember if you go there, it’s “German” not “Herman.”

German not Herman