I am now a fervent convert and lover of fernet, to the point that I wrote an article for The Atlantic’s health section expounding on the virtues of the libation. For those not familiar with the bitter, below is a link to my story. Fernet is wildly popular in Argentina, and though it’s popularity is nascent in the U.S. it is growing strongly, especially out in San Francisco.

Fernet: The Best Liquor You’re (Still) Not Yet Drinking

I brought Fernet Branca (the top fernet brand) back to the U.S. as gifts for friends and family. My dad was eager to try, but had some trouble adjusting to the flavor at first. It takes time! Give fernet a try — or seven or nine. Both Tara and I will take a Fernet any day.

My dad's first taste of fernet

-Karina

How spectacular is a city that can have such schizophrenic tastes? Discussing highbrow publications in one moment, and in the next, riding the subway without pants?

See the magic yourself in these two quickies:

They say you have to live here for 10 years before you can call yourself a New Yorker, but the truth is, this place will become your instant home the moment you realize you’re a weirdo just like the rest of us.

-Tara

This year Barneys took the holiday season as a chance to create something a bit different and solicited a partnership from Lady Gaga to create the temporary Gaga’s Workshop at the flagship Barneys on Fifth Avenue. The section is Gaga’s interpretation of Santa’s Workshop, according to the official site, and all the tchotchkes, which are affordable, are Gaga-inspired and approved. When Tara and I finally reunited for a weekend in New York, I was in full tourist holiday mode and had to see the commercial shrine to Gaga. Below are some photos I snapped during our visit. If you’re intrigued, the workshop is open until the New Year!

Upon entering Barneys

Tara in the Gaga's Workshop candy section

Even the display elements were Gaga-themed

Karina (L) and Tara in Gaga's Workshop sunglasses

The central installation in Gaga's Workshop

Sample Gaga's Workshop products

Cute "little monsters" (Gaga calls her fans "little monsters" and they identify as such)

-Karina

Our latest photo is Tara’s Instagram-med croissant sandwich from the delectable Choco Bolo. Tara and I were reunited (finally!) in New York City this past weekend, and the Nolita café location was the site of one our weekend breakfasts.

And while you’re venturing into other realms of social media, don’t forget to follow TKGO on Twitter, subscribe to our YouTube channel, friend us on Foursquare and become a fan on Facebook!

-Karina

But this is only the daytime scene. When stores close and restaurants open for dinner service, the sidewalks clear. This is the moment New York begins to enchant even the Grinch.

At 8:30pm on this cool Sunday, I left my apartment for my favorite walking path: down Mulberry Street from the corner of Prince Street in Nolita, through Little Italy and ending near Bayard Street in Chinatown. In just seven blocks of the same street, you find yourself in three very different New York experiences.

Seven blocks, three worlds.

In Nolita, groups of friends and couples laugh and joke as they swing open the doors to neighborhood favorites like Rubirosa and Torrisi for gourmet Italian. South of Kenmare, the posh crowds thin and tourists populate the sidewalks where Little Italy begins. (No one is giving my sweatpants dirty looks anymore.) The Christmas lights hanging from La Mela, Da Nico, Ferrera and other Little Italy favorites are brighter than the street lights. Each restaurant is in competition with the next: who has the best decorations, the biggest plastic Santa, the most ornate tree, the most colored lights. The only music heard on the street seeps through open restaurant doors—the neighborhood is quiet excepting tourist chatter in Spanish, Polish, French, Italian, all taking in the scene as if it was a private light show.

This time of night, restaurant employees don’t haggle you to come in for a bite or a glass of wine. Men don’t catcall on the streets. Instead, when you meet another’s eye, you get a “good evening.”

Just a few blocks later, on the other side of Canal Street, the Christmas lights end and the streets are dark again. Chinatown is closed down, and the tourists don’t make it this far. The only activity is the arrival and departure of the delivery boys, taking Vietnamese, Chinese and Malaysian for a bicycle ride, and shop owners hauling the trash to the curb or locking up.

-Tara

El Motivo performance at Villa Malcolm

The dance in the video actually is the dance I wrote in as the opening in the story. Unfortunately, the video it’s a bit dark, but I hope does an ample job of conveying the sentiment of the performance and milonga.

-Karina

BBC Travel article: The tango Buenos Aires tourists never see

Below I’ve included some photos I took when attending different milongas, and descriptions of some of the most popular and renowned milongas and prácticas in the city as a kind of supplement to my article. I left each milonga feeling even more enchanted with Buenos Aires than I had been before, and I cannot recommend attending a milonga enough. The scene is entirely unique to the city and of obvious cultural importance. Experiencing it brings another whole level of understanding of Buenos Aires.

To get you in the mood, here is tango great Carlos Gardel singing “Mi Buenos Aires Querido,” or “My Dear Buenos Aires.”

Milonga Parakultural at Salón Canning

One of the most historic venues, and the traditional milonga is always full of experienced dancers.

El Motivo Práctica at Villa Malcolm

A large venue and contemporary milonga.

Practica8 or Milonga10 at Club Fulgor

An intimate, contemporary milonga that attracts a younger crowd.

El Beso

A beautiful venue, and the milonga attracts an older crowd.

Porteño y Bailarín

The milonga feels like a theater backstage, and everyone is dressed in their best.

La Glorieta Milonga

An unexpected outdoor venue in a spacious Belgrano park gazebo on Sundays, ideal for a mild night.

As I’ve metioned in a prior post about where to dance salsa and tango in Buenos Aires, La Viruta and El Catedral are popular milonga destinations too. Within tourist and foreigners circles these venues are more well known. La Viruta milongas attract some high-level dancers, while Catedral is more of a place to hang out.

The most effective way to start exploring the milonga scene is to do so with someone who is a frequenter and therefore familiar with the social codes (there’s a whole set, like don’t bump into anyone on the dance floor) and onda or vibes of each milonga. If you’re visiting the city, Narrative Tango Tours can get you in there with the insider knowledge. I tried out their milonga tour service and was highly impressed.

-Karina

The Italian restaurants on the block set up tented booths on the street, dishing everything from a bougie $2 slider to one of the biggest sweet sausages covered in sauteed onions and peppers for $5.

Beloved neighborhood pizza/pasta joint Rubirosa served its brachiole as a slider

The streets are packed with people, and on top of that, the street carts peddling sausages and brachiole often take up half the street. If you leave without smelling like sausage, you missed three-quarters of the fun! (It just so happens that I signed a lease on a new apartment on one of the San Gennaro-populated blocks of Mulberry Street and moved in just two weeks before the madness.)

This beautiful canopy as wide as the street suspended overhead as festival-goers entered on Mulberry Street's northern end.

So what is there to do at San Gennaro? EAT. Unlike the refined Oysterfest, which overlapped with one weekend of San Gennaro this year, you won’t see the young and beautiful attending. Instead, you’ll see a few lost foreigners, an abundance of New Jerseyans with distant ties to Italy, and more bearded men with beer bellies than you thought lived in New England.

There is no alcohol served at San Gennaro, so if you purchase one of the three-foot-tall daiquiris, bring your own flask of rum to spike it. But the bubble tea, cakes, pies, and deep-fried Twinkies aren’t the reason to make your way to San Gennaro. Nor are the high-class dining options offered by some of the notable restaurants on the block, like Rubirosa and Torrisi. No. Instead, opt for the less expensive (and much tastier) sweet Italian sausage with sauteed onions and peppers. You’ll dream about it for two weeks—luckily San Gennaro lasts that long.

-Tara for TKGO

Beyond the food, I love that Cocina Sunae attracts a sizable Argentine clientele. I know Chef Sunae is active in reaching out to Argentines with her cooking, such as appearing on local cooking shows, and the interest is there. It gives me hope for the expanding porteño palate and increasing diversity of the city’s restaurant options. We can hold on to our juicy steaks and still enjoy a good curry, I say.

Below are photos from the four-course meal. Two entrees are featured and Cocina Sunae always offers two. My dinner companions and I ordered differently, hence the pork and shrimp dishes. The descriptions for all the dishes below (with the exception of the green tea) are from Cocina Sunae’s menu for the weekend.

Thai fish cakes seasoned with lemongrass and kaffir lime, served with a sweet chili sauce.

Spicy minced chicken salad tossed with fresh mint leaves, cilantro and citric dressing, served with fresh bib lettuce.

Pork shoulder braised in a garlic-vinegar sauce and sauteed with annatto oil, tomato, carrots, pineapple and potatoes; served with steamed rice.

Shrimp sauteed in an spicy tamarind sauce sprinkled with fried shallots and peanuts; served with steamed rice.

Ganache infused with thai tea, layered with crispy ginger cookie and fresh oranges.

Hot green tea to end the Cocina Sunae meal.

Click for the original post and links to other featured closed-door restaurants.

-Karina

Casa Saltshaker’s chef Dan Perlman is seen as a pioneer in the Buenos Aires closed-door restaurant movement. Though numerous similar operations were in the works before he opened his Barrio Norte home to dinner guests, he was one of the first to bring the genre of restaurants into the mainstream, as in traveler consciousness.

Below are photographs from the meal I attended around Cinco de Mayo (click for Perlman’s accompanying post; he keeps a very informative blog about Casa Saltshaker and Buenos Aires restaurants/food). Since my Casa Saltshaker dinner, Perlman has altered the inspiration for his dinners. Prior, he created his menus to relate to nearby holidays; now he selects a few key flavors that inform the five courses, all of which are surprises until diners have the plates in front of them.

Jalapeño poppers

Vegetarian pozole

Wok-sauteed calamarette with ocas, chipotle sauce

Pork spareribs with Chatino mole, white rice and black beans

Margarita cheesecake

Related link: Original TKGO blog post featuring Buenos Aires closed-door restaurants.

-Karina