La Cabrera

We came to La Cabrera on a Tuesday because the calendar was kinder than the weekend. The room was three-quarters full and somehow more honest for it.

The room is exactly what you want it to be: loud, bright, generous. We were seated near the back, given menus we hardly needed, and brought a small bowl of olives without being asked.

We started with house-cured beef carpaccio, which set the tone — generous, unfussy, and confident enough not to crowd what was coming. With it we ordered a quiet Brunello from the back of the list, and were glad of both.

Then the main event: bife de chorizo, the dish that puts La Cabrera on every short list. The crust was the colour of dark mahogany, and the inside was a confident, even pink the whole way through. The signature touch — the small bowls of accompaniments — a dozen of them — is not a gimmick; it is the reason to come.

For sides we asked for skin-on fries, twice-fried and pommes Anna. Both arrived hot, both arrived early, both were exactly large enough to overdo it. We overdid it.

Dessert was tiramisu, just barely too much, mostly because the waiter raised an eyebrow when we hesitated. He was right to.

I paid the bill, walked out into the Buenos Aires evening, and put the address back into the notebook with a star next to it.