![]() ![]() My favorite is the tapa de vacio, Argentina's equivalent of a beefed-up flank steak, with a glorious crust and a tolerable-enough chew. Prime Argentinian cuts range from 6 to 12 ounces, and are in the $24 to $43 range. Because aside from the A5 wagyu ($84 for 4 ounces), the double porterhouse ($195 for 34 ounces), and tomahawk ($295 for 44 ounces), prices are palatable. Throw a dart anywhere on the steak menu and you'll generally emerge happy, save for those experimental forays, with only a slim chance of going broke. "Where do we start?" my dining companion asks, exasperated. You may try a different cut or breed of cattle each time you visit. Discovery, it turns out, is half the fun. There are more esoteric options, too, like an intriguing-enough flank steak "inoculated" with koji, which you order once, acknowledge its umami-ness, then forget about it or a Gorgonzola striploin that has funk and salt, but no more depth than a good dry-age could bring. In addition to grass-fed and grain-finished sections, there are several domestic and similarly priced wagyu steaks. Servers refrain from delivering sermons on provenance (thank you), but the extensive steak menu can still overwhelm. We ended up finding our bar seats around the same time once settled, we were given not one, but three menus, including a dissertation dedicated to steak. Whereas the old space was brighter and cheerier, the new space is darker and more wood-forward, an homage to del Prado's roots - a canvas on which he builds the Argentine steakhouse of his dreams.Īt $295, Porzana’s 44-ounce domestic wagyu tomahawk is the most expensive item on the menu.ĭuring our first visit, a group of hopeful diners peered longingly into the dining room, angling for seats at the bar that seems to span the length of a bus. But for the most part, Porzana builds on the ambition set by its predecessor, the Bachelor Farmer, a farm-to-table restaurant that brothers Andrew and Eric Dayton operated for a decade before closing it during the pandemic. Yes, there are crowd-pleasers that will sate both devotees and occasional diners who might squirm at the sight of those anchovies. ![]() Porzana tries harder to defy the del Prado trope. Telling him to change things up, though, is like telling Wes Anderson to stop featuring dysfunctional families in his films. In another, it's applied bluntly, like in a head-spinningly funky scallop tartare nestled in a coconut shell.ĭel Prado's flourishes are everywhere. In some cases, faint as a whisper, lending a briny lilt to a dish like silky, sinew-free arctic char. I wish more flavor jettisoned to the core of the chop, but that's why there's red pepper jus and a hearty sweet potato locro.Īnd fish sauce is everywhere. But this one is a close second: thick and wholesome, brined till tender, cut on the bias to reveal striations of rebellious medium-pink and fat. The pork chop won't be as imposing as you'd expect, and it won't match the finely tuned one at del Prado's marquee restaurant, Martina. And of the panzanella, a thoughtful mix of wilted kale, sweet pomegranate and bitter endive, where the big croutons - neither crisp nor soft - blights it all. Of beef tartare, as well, where a tall wedge with beautiful, singed edges overtakes the otherwise appealing, if nondescript, tartare. Besides the non-gratis bread basket, it's the star of the pa amb tomàquet (traditional tomato bread), where a thick grilled slice eclipses the anchovy draped atop it. There is bread throughout this menu, too. It's fussier than those at his other restaurants. At Porzana, the restaurateur's latest effort, the tuna is prepared in crimson-colored slabs the size of Hot Wheels, set over a seething Fresno purée under a hail of apple and pepitas. ![]() Will there be tuna crudo? Some kind of grilled bread? A pork chop big enough to clobber the noisy diners next to you? Fish sauce and parsley, applied everywhere as liberally as lip balm in winter? Seasoned visitors to every new Daniel del Prado restaurant should have a checklist handy. ![]()
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