Farewell to Mendoza

I don't usually blog about food but our last meal in Mendoza at the Tolles Vineyard was spectacular.  So many courses I lost count but I'll try to list a few.  We ordered a prix fix meal so the chef chose the items.  Freshly baked bread with wonderful olive oil came first, then the food started with gravlax with citrus and beets, then a roasted dried tomato on a crustless piece of toast with melted brie.  These served with a white sauvignon blanc wine.

Next came four strips of tender filet mignon, raw served on a plate with a hot stone.  (see above)  You cook the steak but setting it on the stone for a few minutes.  The meat was subtly seasoned and wonderful, melt in your mouth taste.  Then the waiter brought out the hugest T-bone steak I've seen.  Also tender and seasoned well.  The beef is grass fed and is tastier and slightly grainier than American beef.  That dish also came with a roasted potato and a quinoa like grain in a pesto sauce.  Of course every plate looked like a little work of art.  A soft Malbec was served with the meat and the waiter kept pouring.  JIm had a different menu but was equally impressive.  Dessert was a plate of three tiny but delicious little sweets.   I think there were more courses: should have taken notes.

We could have a eaten in a private dining room, just the two of us in a lovely little space, but opted instead to dine on a shaded patio as it was a lovely day.

Several hours after we started we were finally done and decided to skip the vineyard tour and head home for a nap.  We figured wine making in Argentina was probably not that different from other wine tours we had taken, but still a bit sorry we missed it.

We talked a bit with a fellow diner who was a local and was complaining the Mendoza was just wine and tourists.  Which is undoubtedly true but we had a great time.