are you being served?

Winding down to take off time in Buenos Aires means a flurry of visiting new places as well as a rush to try to revisit all the old favorites. My continued non-smoking campaign is taking me on daily long walks to new and old corners of the Capital Federal, and mostly in search of food. Last weekend was a major stockpiling at Carlito's Tuesday was a stop in Barrio Chino for spicy fried noodles and soup, and yesterday it was a trip to Rocket Bar and Bistro downtown just a few blocks from the Casa Rivadavia, our first home in Buenos Aires where we found an old friend (pictured here) behind the bar.

For me, one of the most enjoyable thing about living in a city is finding the city secrets. In London where the mighty pound can slash through a credit card limit in the blink of an eye, I felt a huge sense of victory when I found an amazing hole-in-the-wall pasta take-out with dishes to die for at prices you wouldn't believe. Although the cuisine here in general is much cheaper and generally yummy, it's relatively unvaried and there is a beaten path of over-stuffed gringos wherever you go. When you find interesting, ethnic, spicy, or creative food here at reasonable prices that are accessible and tourist-free, you gotta jump on it. Why is it that when you leave a city, you miss the food the most? Usually when I think of home I think of family, Mexican food, and swimming in the ocean... in that order.