How to Eat Peak to Plate in Patagonia
Sarah Pabst Gonzalo Gaviña and Jimena Gutiérrez Arana get cozy in their booth. We’re hanging out at El Mallín, their family restaurant on the edges of Bariloche, a small resort city in northern Patagonia.
“Only in the past few years have Bariloche cooks begun to explore what makes this place so special.”
Its crystal lakes and steep slopes have attracted wide-eyed vacationers since the 1930s, when the Nahuel Huapi National Park was built to transform the Swiss German-style sheep village into a ritzy travel destination. It was 2009, and I was backpacking with a friend along the Route of the Seven Lakes, the popular 66-mile hike.
It would’ve been hard to imagine then that I’d return in 2024 to a city experiencing a culinary renaissance, spurred by a pandemic that forced the town to look inward rather than cater to the whims of sojourners. The Mapuche people, a vast trans-Andean network of hunter-gatherers, lived across present-day Patagonia. Gave Bariloche its name, which means “people from behind the mountain.” For 350 years, the Mapuche held off Spanish colonizers and forged extensive trade networks out of onerous wilderness from the Pacific to the Atlantic. An off-season ski lift offers panoramic views (Photo: Sarah Pabst) Argentina’s declaration of independence in the 19th century all but destroyed Patagonia’s millennia-old aboriginal culture.
In the late 1800s, Chilean German settlers laid the foundations for modern Bariloche, erecting a chapel and building sheep holdings. The new settlers gave the town its characteristic Alpine architecture and European-style cooking, such as steaming hot chocolate, scarlet red goulash. Meat-and-potato casseroles that keep you on your feet on cold afternoons.
Until the 1960s, Bariloche was a small shepherd village of 16,000, but its demographics would change in moments of national crisis, when city folks sought refuge in nature. Today, Bariloche has roughly 162,000 residents and balloons every summer and winter with more than a million visitors who flock to its storybook lakes. mountains to hike, ski, or simply sip yerba mate by the water.
Where to Eat Lumbre Avenida Exequiel Bustillo 20068 Andrea Cova López and Bautista Villalobos, Lumbre’s owners (Photo: Sarah Pabst) Despite an austere exterior, this converted woodland chalet is Bariloche’s most ambitious new restaurant. The tight menu—favoring shareable Argentine staples such as spinach buñuelos; fainá, a chickpea flatbread. Pizza topped with pistachio mortadella—is in lockstep with the wine list, which lasers in on small makers and niche varietals such as Marcelo Miras’ semillón from Patagonia. Lupino Avenida Exequiel Bustillo 16340 Pesto pizza (Photo: Sarah Pabst) If it weren’t for the wild lupine poster on the window, you might think this pizzeria was still a roadside tackle shop.
Nené Bar Avenida San Martín 672 Vitello tonnato (Photo: Sarah Pabst) This all-day bar and restaurant is a welcome respite in a downtown drowning in beer halls. A social club of sorts, with live concerts, wine tastings, and pop-ups that bring in bartenders. Chefs from around the country, Nené is also an everyday spot for many locals, who drop in early for fresh medialunas (croissants) and espresso, or later in the day for old-school mushroom goulash or saucy braised lamb neck. Ánima Restaurant Ruta 77 Circuito Chico This tiny restaurant in the Arrayanes Forest is Bariloche’s hardest reservation, and after tasting their oysters, you’ll understand why.
At this parlor famous for using local berries and botanicals, a good rule of thumb is to start with dark chocolate and build on that base with something punchier, such as tart guinda agria (sour cherry), herbal flor de saúco (elderflower), or sweet-and-sour Calafate berry and goat’s milk ice cream. Where to Stay Llao Llao Resort Avenida Exequiel Bustillo Km. 25 Since opening in 1938, Bariloche’s first luxury hotel has been the choice for the jet set and dignitaries, including the Eisenhowers and the Obamas on state visits. Book with Expedia > Book with Booking.com > Arelauquen Lodge, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel Ruta 82, Lago Gutierrez This tranquil 28-room boutique hotel is a hideaway in exclusive Arelauquen, the neighborhood nestled between the mountains and Lake Gutiérrez.
Book with Expedia > Where to Shop Mamuschka Mitre 298 If you’re going to make one stop for made-in-Bariloche chocolate, this is it. The only bean-to-bar -chocolatier in town, the Alpine-style shop is family-owned and sources directly from small, organic farmers in Peru and Ecuador.