A lovely vegan cafe in Belgrano.
If this place were in my hometown, we would eat here a lot.
Everything is alt milks, tofu, nuts or other protein sources.
Execution is never bad.
Some dishes are outstanding.
Their tofu scramble is better than any of the tofu scrambles we get in vegan restaurants in the United States.
There are no gimmicks and they do nothing fancy.
But they do subtle things with the flavor of the tofu and the veg-milk that they scramble the tofu with
That make all the difference in the world.
My wife and myself scarfed down our "eggs" as fast as we could.
Hot beverages were outstanding.
My flat white could beat most Australian flat whites - and they make those in Australia with plenty of alt-milks.
My wife had good things to say about her mate latte.
* * *
Avocado toast was pleasant enough but not legendary.
The issue has nothing to do with Casa Nueza's kitchen.
Casa Nueza exclusively works with organic vegetables.
In the United States, this is great news
Because fresh organic locally grown produce is way way better than
American commercially produced fruits and vegetables.
In Argentina however, commercial fruits and vegetables are absolutely positively outstanding.
That means that going organic in Argentina gets you a healthier product, but not necessarily a better tasting product.
The difference between Argentina and America relate to the size of the country and what this means for vegetable production.
Argentina's population is mostly concentrated in the north of the country.
Half of the entire nation lives in Buenos Aires.
The north also has excellent farm land.
So it is extremely easy for Argentines to grow fresh wonderful produce and get it to market at a peak of flavor and freshness.
The United States is huge.
Food is transported for thousands of miles.
American fruits and vegetables are bred for durability on long trips.
They will be packed and loaded and reloaded many times.
They will be bounced around going from here to there.
And if a fruit or a vegetable has a single dent on it or a single scar on it,
It can't be sold.
The appearance of the veggie or fruit has to be perfect when it is sitting in your supermarket.
As a result, American fruits and vegetables are bred for toughness.
They are as hard as baseballs.
That means flavor gets a back seat.
Argentine veggies are bred for flavor.
It makes all the difference.
This means that organic local produce is better than commercial in the U.S.
It is worse than commercial in Argentina.
It is still not bad. But the thrills aren't there.
Our avocado toast did not rock.
* * *
Desserts were nothing special.
Vegan baking is an art.
At least the coconut dulce de leche cake I had was still at the "that's nice dear" level.
* * *
That said, the place is cute as hell
And what works really really works.
Eat here enough and you could put together a star team of dishes
That would make you ecstatic every time you ate here.
* * *
Eating vegan is good for the planet and good for you.
Especially after that two kilo steak you had last night for dinner. read more
