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El Mercado

Buenos Aires

Upscale, energetic asado celebrating Argentine beef

The backstory: Located in the Faena Hotel, a former storage mill in the upscale Puerto Madero neighbourhood, El Mercado offers a contemporary al fresco asado experience. Inspired by the legendary cantinas of Buenos Aires and the vibrant energy of European open-air markets, El Mercado celebrates open-air cooking.

Firestarter: El Mercado's taverna-style space holds both a clay oven and open-pit barbecue, making for a flame-centred guest experience. Head chef and grillmaster Emiliano Yulita, who has worked with Faena for more than a decade, chooses to focus mostly on open-fire-cooked Argentine beef, creating a country-style kitchen in the heart of the city.

Traceable plates: Chef Yulita's Aberdeen Angus cuts are carefully sourced from cows raised exclusively for El Mercado in Pampas and Patagonia's pastures. They are then aged for up to 21 days before being cooked over local wood and finally finished in a clay oven. Vegetables adhere to the same transparent system and are sourced from the restaurant's own organic garden or nearby farms. Even the seasoning, pure Patagonian sea salt, keeps things local.

On the menu: Dishes are mostly traditional in Chef Yulita's kitchen. Start with wood-fired creamy sweetbreads or beef tenderloin empanada with chimichurri. The made-to-share wood-fired rib-eye cap steak aged for 21 days is a must-try main event, accompanied by beetroot with mascarpone, pickled radish, mint, honey and crispy bread, or grilled corn with blue cheese and aioli. Round out the experience with a traditional flan with whipped cream and dulce de leche.

And to drink: The restaurant offers an extensive collection of some 400 or so wines, led by head sommelier Maximiliano Pérez. His carefully curated list explores the diversity of Argentinian winemaking, including wines from little-known areas with small releases.

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