01 Food tours
Original food tours, curated with our local tastemakers to showcase the neighbourhood kitchens, markets and family-run eateries that define Mendoza.
02 Meet the tastemakers
The local food experts who help us research, refine and lead every A Chef's Tour.
Malbec on every table, asado at every asador, empanadas mendocinas with olive, chivito goat over vine cuttings. Wine country cooks with the same tools as Buenos Aires and more patience.
04 The pantry
- Malbec grapes, from the vineyards at the foot of the Andes
- Vine cuttings, sarmientos burned for the traditional asado
- Olive oil, from Mendoza's estates alongside the vineyards
- Chivito, mountain goat for slow-roasted asados
- Trout, from the cold rivers of the pre-cordillera
05 In the kitchen
- Grilling chivito al asador whole young goat splayed over vine embers
- Pairing every asado with the estate's own Malbec
- Curing humita en chala fresh corn tamales in husk
- Slow-baking Mendoza-style empanadas in wood ovens
- Roasting olives and pressing them cold in the surrounding groves
06 Eat this first
- Chivito al asador, whole goat slow-roasted over vine cuttings
- Empanadas mendocinas, hand-cut beef pastries with green olive and cumin
- Humita en chala, sweet corn tamales steamed in their husks
- Trout ceviche, Andean river trout cured in lime and olive oil
- Alfajores, dulce-de-leche cookies with a snowfall of icing sugar
What happens inside a hammam kitchen
A morning with the cooks who feed the neighbourhood before dawn. Charcoal, dough, the smell of a bakery working its second oven.
09 Recipes
A collection of authentic recipes we couldn't leave behind.
Buenos Aires' Genoese-immigrant pizza. Thick, doughy base under a mountain of sweet onions, mozzarella and oregano.
Two crumbly cornstarch shortbreads sandwiched with dulce de leche, edges rolled in coconut. Argentina's tea-time cookie: one in each hand, gone before you notice.
Half-moon pastries of knife-cut beef, sweet onion, cumin, hard-boiled egg and one green olive. The most portable meal in Argentina.
Thick, spongy dough buried under a thick blanket of mozzarella, topped with oregano and a whole green olive. The Buenos Aires bar-counter pizza, not the Neapolitan kind.
The green sauce that rides shotgun with every grilled meat in Argentina. Parsley, garlic, oregano, chilli, red wine vinegar and olive oil.
A grilled chorizo split down the middle, laid inside crusty bread, drenched in chimichurri. Argentina's national street sandwich.
10 Field Notes
Quick field notes to help you get accustomed to Mendoza.
Weather
Semi-arid. Hot dry summers (30°C-plus in January) and cool sunny winters (near freezing at night). Vineyards look best in autumn (March–April).
Currency
The Argentine peso (ARS). Inflation makes cash tricky. Cards work in restaurants and hotels. Check exchange rates and consider Western Union for cash.
Language
Spanish (rioplatense). English coverage is decent in the wine-tour circuit, thinner in the city itself.
Etiquette
Warm and relaxed. Long lunches after wine tours are the norm. Learn a few Malbec-related terms. The wineries reward interested visitors.
Getting around
The city centre is walkable and shaded by acequia canals. Uber, Cabify, and taxis work; hire a driver or join a tour to reach the wineries. Most are 30–90 minutes out.
Prayer
Predominantly Catholic. Sundays fill the churches. The Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia (grape harvest festival) in March blends spiritual and agricultural traditions.