July 9 is independence day in Argentina, and I wanted to celebrate by re-sharing the story of a taxi adventure that led to what became one of my favorite things to eat in Buenos Aires. Buenos Aires Food Adventures
Buenos Aires Dispatch: Independence Day, with Empanadas
July 9 is independence day in Argentina, and I wanted to celebrate by re-sharing the story of a taxi adventure that led to what became one of my favorite things to eat in Buenos Aires. Last Taxi in Buenos Aires
If I’d held a casting call for the ideal cabbie to drive my last taxi adventure in Buenos Aires, I couldn’t have found anyone to play the part more convincingly than Julio Verón. After 18 years driving a bus and 26 years as a taxista, the sweater-vested sixty-something oozed urban wisdom – and his...Read more »
The Spanish Corner
“I don’t have very sophisticated food tastes,” the taxi driver said, “I really like eating at the Coto food court in Ciudadela.” When I explained that we were looking for something a little more soulful than a superstore cafeteria, the taxista radioed his fellow cabbies for help. No one responded. I tried to beat...Read more »
The Golden Gnocchi
Buenos Aires, 1955. An Italian immigrant named Luigi opens a nondescript cantina on the corner of Billinghurst and Valentín Gomez in Almagro. Musicians and singers – including tango-singing legend Roberto Goyeneche – begin to gather there. Soccer stars, poets and painters follow. Don Carlos flourishes, but Luigi grows tired of the glam and sells...Read more »
Post-Crisis Pizza
If the Judeo-Christian world divides history between the periods before and after the birth of Christ, I’d venture that many Argentine taxi drivers divide their lives between the time before and after the country’s 2001 economic crisis. Marcelo, the blue-eyed taxista with a Tasmanian Devil suction-cupped to his windshield, counts himself among these crisis-influenced...Read more »
Cantina Gone Bust
From time to time, my pursuit of all food that’s taxi-related goes bust, as was the case on today’s failed mission to La Cantina de los Taxistas. For weeks, I’ve been fantasizing about paying a visit to this cabbie-friendly restaurant, hoping to taste some authentic Italo-Argentine food (they’re allegedly famous for their cannelloni) and...Read more »
A Taxi Adventure Marathon with The Guardian
A few Saturdays ago, The Guardian travel writer Vicky Baker and I embarked on a taxi adventure marathon in Buenos Aires. True to the spirit of the taxi adventures to date, we met three remarkable cabbies who showed us three excellent restaurants far off the city’s tourist circuit: El Viejo Derby (Av. Martin Garcia
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Lady Cab Driver
Tennessee Williams said that “Some mystery should be left in the revelation of character in a play, just as a great deal of mystery is always left in the revelation of character in life.” I would add that a great deal of mystery is always left in the revelation of character in a taxicab....Read more »
Walter Rides Again
Six months ago, taxista Walter was shot four times while he was changing a flat tire in Wilde, in the southern suburbs of Buenos Aires. After forty days in the hospital, Walter dragged himself home, lay in bed, and waited for his wounds to heal. Friday night, for the first time since the shooting,...Read more »
Follow the Cow
As part of their ongoing protest the against the government’s agricultural policies, Argentine farmers declared a seven day moratorium on the sale of beef and grains as of midnight Friday, March 20. In light of impending meat shortages, my co-adventurers and I were happy to follow the cow to one of taxista Charly’s favorite...Read more »
