Photo credit: Janet Donovan
Argentina may have lost the World Cup but the unveiling of Rural Society, an Argentine Steakhouse at Loews Madison Hotel, was a winner.
“Tonight is just about showing everybody what the food is, the Argentinian cuisine that we’ve prepared, designed for everybody. …… letting everyone get a glimpse into what we’ve been working on for the last 6, 7 months and beyond, actually,” Chef Louis Goral explained to Hollywood on the Potomac.
Goral, who is actually from from Iowa, has been with Chef Jose Garces for the last 6 years, having started with him at Amada in Philadelphia and then Mercat a la Planxa in Chicago. “I just moved to DC in January to work on this project. We had a chance to go down to Argentina in January and we were down there for a week – eating, eating, eating, eating – and trying to get ideas for the menu and things like that, which kind of are transcribed into our food that we’re doing right now.”
Chef Jose Garces Photo credit: Courtesy of Loews
Garces if an Iron Chef, a James Beard award winner and the author of two cookbooks. “I’ve always had the urge to explore Argentine cuisine, particularly the parrilla aspect,” said Peruvian born Garces, “that’s so ingrained in the culture. We want the fire to be a presence, the way it was during so many of our experiences during our trip to Argentina. We’re going to cook as much as we can over that flame.”
On the menu: Fiambres, or Argentine charcuterie, like thinly sliced Bresaola de Wagyu with a spicy kick of carrot mustard, red watercress, and charred focaccia; classics from the Tradicionales section, including Provoleta, a smoky, grilled aged provolone sandwich with peppery arugula, oregano and aji picante; fresh from the flames emerge top quality cuts of domestic and imported meat and fish Desde la Parrilla; from turf to surf, guests can graze on selections such as grass-fed Uruguayan rib-eye and prime dry-aged NY strip or Jidori free-range chicken and jumbo cardinal prawns, all served with house-made accompaniments including salsa criolla, merkén aioli and chimichurri, Verduras, or vegetables, are similarly flame-fresh and include Zanahorias, wood-grilled carrots with thyme, fennel seed, and whipped goat cheese.
We’re in. We kind of like the idea of ‘grazing.’
Celebrating the blend of Argentinian and Italian cultures that is prevalent in Buenos Aires due to a wave of Italian immigration that began in the 19th century, Rural Society rounds out the menu with house-made pasta like the Sorrentino, ham and cheese ravioli tossed in Parmesan cream, and Fugazza, or thick-crust Argentine pizzas.
“It’s really based around the grill,” added Chef Goral. “The wood-fired grill or the parrillada is very important to the style of cuisine. You’ll see the wood-burning grill and we try to use it in every aspect of the food we’re doing, or as much of it as we possibly can. The grill is the main section, but we also feature other sections. Spanish and Italian food is a huge influence on Argentine food and culture, so you’ll see we have fugazzas which are Argentinian flatbreads. We have our own house made pastas. We’re doing our own sausages as well, charcuterie and offering a traditional section as well as grilled vegetables and potatoes.”
The drinks: Rural Society offers a range of South American vintage wines chosen during their trips to Argentina with more than half of the wines s hailing from Argentina plus an extensive collection of 75 whiskeys and 25 Italian Aperitifs. Specialty cocktails are inspired from both Argentine and Uruguayan classics, incorporating locally popular ingredients such as the bitter and aromatic Fernet Branca which is infused with orange Yerba Mate tea to make a Gintonic. For beer lovers, South American selections include Quilmes (Argentina), Pacena (Bolivia) and Xingu (Brazil). Happy hour will be hosted daily from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm.
“I think about 80%, actually I think 90%, of our wines are South American, with a good majority of that being Argentinian. We feature a lot of Malbec, which is huge obviously in Argentina and also Tannat which is a grape that we fell in love with when we were down in Argentina. That is a fabulous wine from a grape that was featured down there and everyone really drinks a lot of,” Goral told us. We did ask about wine from the Orfila vineyards. Nothing from there yet, but they will look into it. Owned by Alejandro Orfila, former Ambassador from Argentina and former head of the Organization of the America States, Orfila wines were served often at the Embassy here.
Desserts: ” One of the desserts I’m the most proud of, I’m not much of a pastry chef, but I made a dulce de leche flan which is sweet cream flan. I really worked very hard on that one to perfect it, and it’s on our menu with mango sorbet and shaved chocolate and I think it’s really something special. Dulce de leche flan is all over Argentina, as far as baking goes. I think we really do a great representation of it. But also there’s a method of cooking called rescoldo cooking, which means cooking in the embers, so that’s another way we cross-utilize the grill to bury beets and eggplant in the embers and actually roast them that way,” he added.
Chef Garces discusses the menu with guests:
Chef Garces with Zagat’s Olga Boikess
The Georgetowner’s Corrie Dyke and Robert Devaney
“We wanted to identify a restaurant partner for the Loews Madison Hotel who had the same approach to customer service as we did,” said Jonathan Tisch, Chairman, Loews Hotels & Resorts in an issued statement. “Chef Garces and his team not only deliver a top notch guest experience but his unique and delicious cuisine will be a welcomed addition to the hotel land in the DC area.”
