After working at San Francisco vegan restaurant Millennium, Diego Felix brought his passion for organic farming and vegetarian haute cuisine to meat centric Buenos Aires. He opened Casa Felix, a restaurant inside his home in Chacarita, and serves five courses made with indigenous South American ingredients. The concept falls closer to paying to eat at the home of a friend than dining out at a restaurant.

Casa Felix is only open part of the year, while the remaining months are dedicated to food explorations and pop up dinners and mobile restaurants, primarily in the United States. A few days ago they came to Williamsburg Brooklyn’s Tabare restaurant, where I encountered the Argentinean crew along with the folks from Algodon Wines (same as BA’s Algodon Mansion, one of my favorite hotels in the city, and Algodon Estates in San Rafael).

The pescatarian dinner – which this year will be served in New York, San Francisco, southern California and Puerto Rico– combines four meatless courses with original cocktails and wine. My highlight was the calamari pastel paired with Algodon’s Bonarda highlight, as well as the pre-dessert white Russian that was spiced up with yerba mate instead of Kahlua.

Here is the finest meatless Argentine menu I have encountered thus far:

• Chipacitos Calientes (Indigenous bread from Paraguay).

• Summer Squash Humita Empanada over yellow beans, kumquats and arugula salad with apricot habanero vanilla dressing and toasted almonds + Algodon 2009 Chardonnay.

• Peach Thyme Granita.

• Calamari Pastel over hibiscus roasted pepper sauce with fresh chimichurri + Algodon 2006 Bonarda.

• Strawberry pasta Frola with white chocolate-chamomile mousse + Brooklyn vodka gaucho blanco.
  

Colectivo Felix
www.colectivofelix.com

Algodon Wines
www.algodonwineestates.com

Nicholas Gill (470 Posts)

Writer and photographer Nicholas Gill is the editor/publisher of New World Review. He lives in Lima, Peru and Brooklyn, New York. His work has appeared in publications such as the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, CondeNast Traveler, National Geographic Traveler, Afar, and Penthouse. Visit his personal website (nicholas-gill.com) for more information.