Lord of the Dance and Birthday Wine Bar Crawl
This weekend Stuart and I celebrated my birthday by going on a mini wine bar crawl. A while back the Washing Post featured an article on the best places to drink wine in Buenos Aires. Cero 800 Vinos is also featured in the article. We followed the advice by mapping out our own tour. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/25/AR2008042501367.html
Friday night we went to Gran Bar Danzon, the dark swanky bar I have visited multiple times. I was with good cause to return, I knew Stu would enjoy the extensive wine list. To conserve money we cooked dinner; a recipe from Lenny, Spicy Portuguese chorizo, kale and white bean soup.
Saturday I woke up early and went to the gym, using the pass mom and dad got me for my birthday. (Thanks!). With work this week I didn’t have much time to go.
Later that afternoon Stuart and I suited up to get ready for our tour. We aimed to visit 3 of the bars mentioned in the WP article.
The adventure started in Almagro a quiet neighborhood I had never been to. We headed to Disneo Liquido, a small wine bar which sells by the bottle. Glancing at the list we decided on a bottle of 2004 Petite Verdot by Don Baltazar. An unusual choice for Argentina but a wise one. We stayed for a long time letting the wine change and breathe.
Afterwards we walked to La Cava Jufre in Villa Crespo. I loved this place. We curled up in cozy velvet arm chairs and spoke with owner. We enjoyed two glasses of wine for 10 pesos each, once again having the place to ourselves.
Before we knew it 9 pm rolled around. In order to make our dinner reservations we were unable to make it to the 3rd and final wine bar. The Lobby Wine Bar will have to wait for another day. We had booked a table at the Armenian Restaurant for the Saturday dinner and show.
I had wanted to go for a long time. Every Friday and Saturday they put on a show with traditional dancing and food. There is a large Armenian population in Buenos Aires. The local cultural centers run the restaurant. All profits fund student trips to Armenia.
Check out the video on the bottom of this page to see the dances. http://www.armeniarestaurant.com.ar/shows.htm
Opa! As you would imagine with a few drinks in us we loved the show. Especially the elderly man with the bushy mustache dancing circles and high-kicking around the room.
At one point they called all the ladies to join in. We spun around a bit waving our arms seductively over our heads . Stuart laughed at my attempt to be mysterious and graceful.
He laughed until he was called the dance floor as well. The women folk knelt forming a circle around the men. As we clapped the men entered the circle one by one showing off their best moves like some sort of Armenian Soul Train.
Each got a few claps and a few laughs. When the time came my jaw dropped in surprise to learn that Stuart is a lord of the dance. He lowered to one knee and spun around executing several moves in perfect form. And although he received the loudest applause of all he refused the accept any of my compliments.
As Stu joined my side in the circle we watched the rest of the show, which included Ozuo drinking, money throwing. In the final dance the man with the bushy mustach swept up the money and made it rain. Then he took a giant shot before standing one-footedly on the glass and rotating 360 degrees. Other memorable drinking dance moves included balancing glasses of Ozuo on the forehead and a nose dive to pick the glass up with his mouth, leaning back on to his shins and laying back on the floor to drink.
It reminded me of Paul and Vicki’s wedding how everyone dances together. We both agreed it was a lot of fun as we headed back to our table for dinner and desert.
The birthday was everything I wanted; a fun night out with my favorite boy, full of wine and wild dancing. I laughed when a waiter announced the birthdays that night; apparently women over 80 and I know how to live it up.
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