La Hortaleza is a nice place.
But your experience of it will be different than ours.
* * *
Buenos Aires is absolutely subject to flash flooding.
One major rainstorm can fill the streets with nine inches of water.
The rain pours through the porous roofs of otherwise normal establishments.
Normal walks become wading adventures.
We saw old people fall out of their wheelchairs into the water.
The supermarket we wanted to go to was closed, because the staff was squeegeeing frenetically to get water out of the middle of the store.
You do not want to know what happens to pedestrians when a bus goes by.
You will get a new appreciation for the word "tsunami."
* * *
We ducked into La Hortaleza in the middle of one of these flash floods.
We could literally not walk in either direction on our sidewalk without fighting through shin deep water.
La Hortaleza is right in front of the Jardin Botanico.
The trees and flowers looked gorgeous in the rain.
The water in the street was so deep at La Hortaleza's corner
That a TV crew broadcast a flood story outside our window while we were eating.
So for entertainment, La Hortaleza could not be beat.
* * *
How is the food, drink and room at La Hortaleza?
While I will admit my judgment of La Hortaleza's room is biased, because it was dry,
Objectively, it was a pleasant enough modern coffee shop.
I had a white vermouth, a standard cafe offering, with La Fuerza vermouth which is both omnipresent and good.
My wife's coffee was excellent.
The cheese breads they put on our table were outstanding.
To "pay the rent" on our table, I ordered a pumpkin gnocchi.
I had just had brunch ninety minutes ago, and ice cream a half hour before ...
But I am a dedicated Yelper.
A dedicated Yelper never turns down the opportunity to eat food.
* * *
Pumpkin gnocchi themselves are not the world's next great innovation in starchy food.
However good raw ingredients can turn even a mediocre carbohydrate into a wonderful meal.
Sitting with my gnocchi were sauteed cherry tomatoes to die for, an equally marvelous broccoli stalk and the basil leaves of your dreams.
I don't think La Hortaleza has any special access to good groceries.
These probably all came from the same commercial vegetable vendors who supply restaurants all over Buenos Aires.
Those vegetables were absolutely spectacular.
They took what could have been a mediocre meal and gave my plate interest and sparkle.
* * *
Pumpkin gnocchi are one of three featured dishes on the sign La Hortaleza puts on the sidewalk to attract customers.
But most of their business is a coffee and pastry business.
At one in the afternoon, I was the only person having lunch.
(Other lunch customers might have been dissuaded by the prospect of having to wade to get to the establishment.)
So the real evaluation is the pastries, which I did not have.
But all signs are this is a charming place.
* * *
Most days you can get there while staying completely dry. read more