Last year one of Buenos Aires’ top restaurants packed up shop and set up in the vineyards of Mendoza for 40 days. Germán Martitegui’s 28-strong team at Tegui closed their restaurant doors in bustling Palermo on a Saturday night and opened up in an outdoor restaurant in the Michelini family’s SuperUco winery in Mendoza on Tuesday – some 1,200km away.
It was a notable experience for Mendoza, for the Argentine gastronomy scene, and for both the ‘families’ of Tegui and the Michelinis, as a new documentary explores. Directed by Alfred Oliveri, the hour-long special documents the journey of the Tegui team moving out of the big city and into the country and explores the connections they made and flavours they savoured in the vineyards and mountains of Mendoza.
The documentary opens with the fast-paced world of a prized kitchen in a cosmopolitan capital and carries you through the process of moving a restaurant outdoors, some 1200km away. From the design of the outdoor restaurant (with no gas, just open flame) to the creation of a menu at km 0.
The handmade process of the Michelini family’s wine production is at the heart of the documentary, as is Tegui’s exploration of local products and producers – with the kitchen team reconnecting with the source of their ingredients. For some dishes, the connection to the ingredients was a bit too close for comfort for the team at first (having to pick, strangle and pluck their chickens for the first time). However, the documentary leaves you with the impression of the team’s transformation in those 40 days in the Uco Valley.
There’s plenty of food porn too, and winemakers Matías, Gerardo and Juan Pablo take you through some of their most mouthwatering wines. The taste that’s left in your mouth though is that of new connection. How a kitchen team moved from the fast pace of Buenos Aires to arrive in a new landscape with a totally different family, and eventually became part of that same landscape and one family together.
The closing scene with everyone singing folk songs around a burning fire at the end of the last night says it all. Challenges change you, and often for the better – moving out of your comfort zone is one of the most rewarding experiences of all.
Tegui will be reopening in SuperUco in Mendoza for five weeks again this year – from 20th February through to 30th March. Book your table now!