Samuel C.
Yelp
Hierbibuena is a healthy restaurant with suppliers that are much much better than the suppliers of other organic/natural restaurants in Buenos Aires.
If you are here to treasure all pure locally ingredients,
It really matters that those all pure local ingredients be as wonderful as advertised.
At other good for you Argentine places, the materials are what the materials are.
HERE the raw materials are amazing.
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How do they get superior raw ingredients to Hierbabuena?
There is little doubt in my mind that the owner has very specific arrangements
With very specific growers.
Those "deals" are life and death for what Hierbabuena wants to do.
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To see what I am talking about,
Order the Greek Yogurt.
The Yogurt is yogurt.
Lots of rival places can match them on the yogurt.
What will change your world and open up your eyes is the fruit.
What will also change your world and open up your eyes are the nuts.
This is the first time in my life I have had a completely fresh almond.
An almond in a bag in a store, an almond in a bin or an almond in a tin can not match the flavor of an almond that is fresh from the field.
I tasted those almonds and was amazed.
I did not know almonds could be like that.
"Red fruits" - a combination of raspberries, currants, blueberries and other berries that you can imagine - is an Argentine staple.
They are generic red compote elsewhere.
They are completely stellar here.
And notably, every single type of berry in the "red fruits" tastes completely different.
I never knew what each new spoonful was going to taste like.
Strawberries were absolutely sensational.
In North America, we have ways of getting fresh strawberries - although we also know what dead supermarket strawberries are like.
These were as good as North American fresh from the field strawberries ...
But those strawberries were in such good company.
Ever had pumpkin seeds that tasted like anything?
Guess what happens when you get them fresh.
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Two other notes.
a) They also bake at Hierbibuena.
This is health food baking and the desserts are not sweet.
BUT
The desserts are both light and filling.
(You can try to figure out how they pull that one off.)
They are not sodden - which is what most dismal health food desserts are like.
More importantly, they have tastes that sneak up on you.
I had their version of an alfajore (stuffed big cookie) that was the size of a small dinner plate, as thin as three nickels, was made of cacao, but had no cacao taste (by design) ... and had a mysterious thin layer of brown paste inside.
Usually an alfajore has dulce de leche.
This brown paste was sesame peanut paste.
The layer was no more than two millimeters thick.
You only got sesame peanut taste in about 1/4 of your bites.
But those 1/4 of the bites were absolutely sensational.
The cookie was meant to fill your stomach, be light and not be overwhelming.
It was meant to take a back seat to your coffee.
On that plan, it was perfectly executed.
It was the best breakfast cookie I have had in Buenos Aires.
b) The place is gorgeous.
Inside is all early twentieth century green tilework.
Outside is a wide boulevard, cafe seating, shady trees, and 1920's granite and wrought iron historical architecture.
For sheer picturesqueness, you can not beat a Hierbabuena breakfast.
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Good looks, good baking, amazing ingredients and it is all good for you too!
The perfect way to start a day!