Imagine yourself going to a restaurant and having to wait for 4 hours for this one dish to be prepared for you.... probably not the most ideal scenario.
About 50 kilometers SW away from the city of Buenos Aires in the city of Cañuelas on route 205, there is this place called "Lo de Beto" (coordinates: 35.03S, 58.75W)
They have one of the best asados I have had in years. I could see how my of you will instantly ask me, is yours better or is theirs better? and my answer to that is: You will have to find out by trying both and form your own opinion, and then we can discuss.
With that said, as you arrive, this is what you will find:
and as you walk in you will see one of their hanging grills, and you will find different cuts, as Asado, vacio, chorizo, morcilla, and they may have other cuts too, but given that we went during the pandemic, we didn't see other cuts.
Now, once you go to the back, there is a seating area. Once you take a seat, and ask for your food, they will serve them to you in paper trays, in a bag. Yes, not even plates, not even hard plates, just a cheapy cardboard tray in a bag. But the important question is, does it matter? and my answer is NO, it doesn't. I came to eat, and eat I will. We got some asado, which, of course!
While the asado was fantastic, I gotta say, like in every great film, the great protagonists are great because they have superb support characters, and in this case, we have the humble salad, which I totally forgot to take a picture of, but you can see in the background here.
Man, I still dream about that asado... yeah, it was that good
On the other hand which was by no means any less, there was the vacio, which, to be honest is the best I've had in years...
Seriously, if you are ever in Argentina, I highly recommend you go check it out.
Also If you were expecting pictures of the sausages, sorry, I was too excited with the food that I totally forgot to document those.
]]>
To go somewhat, in chronological order, I came back late November of 2017 after recording Masterchef Latino. It was a very interesting experience, and then I tried to audition for the US version, just because I wanted to see how different the productions would be.
In January, the premiere of Masterchef was on Telemundo, and I got t to see myself in the small screen. TBQH tho, it was a super interesting experience and all but I really dont let it get to my head. It is hilarious to me when someone does recognize me though.
I must admit tho, that going to Masterchef did awaken in me, the desire to cook more often, more freely and in a commercial/professional environment. And so I was starting to think about pop ups for Argentine Asado.
As time went by and I went to visit many pop ups by different people. and I met a lot of great people in the LA bbq scene. like @gogicraft Moo's Craft Barbecue @heritagebarbecue The Offset Barbecue@trudys_underground_barbecue
And through Marc Liu, I was introduced to Johnny Lee who later would be the force pushing me forward in my my own pop ups. I also got a lot from help from Elaine Chan and we started growing the presence and the events, and for that I will always be grateful.
It became a summer adventure. it was fun, it was rough, and ridiculous amount of work, but it was something that I wanted to continue to do, because I didn't see anyone doing it the way I grew up with. I think it is so unfortunate to not have these dishes available, so, this was one of the things that pushed me to start it. I dont quite know where all this is going, and I am figuring it out as I go. It really is a journey, and I am lucky to have a wife that supports me(for the most part =p)
As I went on different events like Altamed's Food and Wine festival, and other people's pop ups, and a few of my own, I started understanding a bit more of what entails to be the person responsible for every dish, the importance of having the right staff, and creating a workflow that allow a kitchen to function, and through that what it is to be a chef.
Now, there have been a lot of times I have felt that being on a TV show named "Masterchef" does not qualify me to be called "Chef". I have met way too many people far more qualified than me, that have put their time, and money into that, and I think it would be disrespectful of me to think I can be called "chef" just for that. On the other hand, I've come to know that the work of a chef, bears from the fact that he/she must organize a kitchen, make sure that everything is in place, and things happen, dishes are served, and there is a workflow.
I do believe tho, that what makes a chef worthy of that title, is among other things, the love of food and the willingness to be in the kitchen slaving away to share the food that one loves with anyone and everyone who is willing to eat it.
The work of a chef is tough, there are many things that can go wrong, and only 1 thing going wrong could ruin the whole workflow/meal/experience. Consistency is hard to achieve.
If you ever go to a restaurant, and you like how it tastes, and you go back and it tastes the same way every time, you have found a GOOD FOOD place. I am of course, talking about a place that a food is made by people, and not an industrialized process. There is nothing wrong with those, if they do a good job, but I talk about food that is made by people, for people.
I have felt overtime, and pretty much every time, after a large event; a sort of depression. It may be because I am overwhelmed, because nothing is particularly wrong or anything... but after thinking about it for some time(and hearing that depression in the food industry is common) I've come to think that somehow, all the love that I put into the food that I make, I get drained. I share all this happiness and love in the food that I serve. After serving 200+ meals I need to replenish that positive energy that I poured, and I just feel that void right after the events. And that is on top of the physical exhaustion.
So many thoughts on this topic, but those are for another time...
If you would like to get more information, Please subscribe by going to our Homepage
If you would like to try Pablo's Chimichurri and buy it, click here
]]>
Thank you much to everyone who came to support us!
"As we evolve, we are trying to figure out so many things, like the menu. It is perhaps better explained in the words of an Instagram post:
hese last couple of months have been a great experience for something I had never done before. I have been encouraged greatly by many people and challenged to grow beyond what I though I could do. It’s been great., But at the same time, I have been struggling.
I struggle with my identity in the food that I do. I have such a rich cultural background and yet I am having such a hard time telling my own story. This is something that has been tugging at my heart all along as we were doing all the pop ups. Which, incidentally, is the reason why there really hasn’t been one since Smorgasburg. I haven’t been able to find my own voice, and this is where I am today, reflecting on how I want to tell my story through food."
Some shots from that day:
Pablo handling the tiras de asado on the grill.
Jason, assisting
Costillares a la cruz, meaning the "whole slab on the cross"
TIras de asado, ready to be served
Original Pablo Kim's Chimichurri on display, freshly made for people to buy
Argentine classic sandwich, Choripan. Alongside, morcipan (morcilla, or blood sausage) If the US has hot dogs, its Argentine equivalent would be the Choripan
Another dish that is served in Argentina, is the Matambrito a la Pizza, loved by pizza eaters who do not want or cannot have gluten, as the "dough" is really pork.
All photos in this post were taken by our friends at jwww.zsquaredphotography.com
If you would like to get some more info, please make sure to contact us here or follow us in instagram
If you would like to buy some chimichurri, pleas go to our chimichurri site here
]]>
Thank you much to everyone who came to support us!
Some of the shot from that day
If you would like to get some more info, please make sure to contact us here or follow us in instagram
If you would like to buy some chimichurri, pleas go to our chimichurri site here
]]>
Let me start with how they are similar, because in the end, that is what really matters. Fire and meat, there is a combination of that in every culture, every single one.
The goal of a bbq/asado is the same everywhere, (besides eating) is to connect people. There is something primal about standing in front of the fire while you watch whatever you are roasting cook. Maybe it is the flames dance, may be it is the smell, and your salivating mouth. If you are roasting someone, chances are you are not alone. Grilling is about community, it's about coming together and celebrating each other's company.
]]>This is one of those things that I get asked regularly, and I love to answer his question. Let me start with how they are similar, because in the end, that is what really matters. Fire and meat, there is a combination of that in every culture, every single one.
The goal of a bbq/asado is the same everywhere, (besides eating) is to connect people. There is something primal about standing in front of the fire while you watch whatever you are roasting cook. May be it is the flames dance, may be it is the smell, and your salivating mouth. If you are roasting someone, chances are you are not alone. Grilling is about community, it's about coming together and celebrating each other's company.
In Argentina, un asadito, is a social, all day long affair. The true experience is so much more than just eating. It is the setup, the cleaning of the grill, getting the fire going, waiting for the fire to get to the right point. It all takes time. In Argentina, the person doing the work is NEVER alone. There is at least one other person, and as they both work, they connect, talk, laugh tell stories while they get things ready.
Preparation before people start arriving
Did someone say meat?
Matambrito a la pizza
One of ours guests was the one and only Kevin Bludso!
That shot, for the gram
Guests Andrew and Michelle from Moo's Craft BBQ
Some of our guests
Suddenly I want to eat some musubis from #Mamamusubi
]]>Asado is a term that is freely thrown around in Argentina. Any gathering of friends where there is any sort of combination of fire and meat (whether it is pork, chicken or beef) is referred to as "un asado" or if we wanna call it something cute we apply the diminutive, and call it "un asadito" . With that said, the great majority of asados consist of beef.
]]>Welcome to Pablo Kim's Asado or as we like to call them #Pabloscarneada. The truth, or as we like to call it in Argentina: "la verdad de la milanesa" is that I started doing these Asados, bbqs or Carneadas, because I wanted to eat this stuff. For the longest time, I could not find anywhere that would do this. So, I decided to do what anyone who can't find what he/she is looking for, do it myself.
Let me explain a little bit about "Asado", it is a term that is freely thrown around in Argentina. Any gathering of friends where there is any sort of combination of fire and meat (whether it is pork, chicken, goat, beef or a combination of two or more) is referred to as "un asado" or if we wanna call it something cute we apply the diminutive, and call it "un asadito" . With that said, the great majority of asados consist of beef.
Now, there is another very important distinction to make, and that is that we have asados or asaditos, but "asado" is the name that we give to a specific cut, and that is short ribs, or ribs really. Now, the way that we cook these ribs is very different to how American(in all its regional variations) style bbq is done. I always get this question, even from friends and family:
Would you say that it is better?
The answer is: Absolutely not!
Pablo handles the grill while wood burns in the forefront.
It is just different, and as such I do have to recognize that different places have different traditions, and I look forward to compare notes with anyone who is open to it! And to share, and try new things!
Now, if the question was: Which one do you like better? Then, I'd undoubtedly say I like Argentine style better! But I may be biased here. So, try it and draw your own conclusions!
These are some of the photos from our first event, enjoy!
Pablo and Johny share a moment while working the grill
]]>