Julia Restaurante
Restaurant · Villa Crespo ·
Seasonal tasting menu with Asian influences & local ingredients
Seasonal tasting menu with Asian influences & local ingredients
"At this small, inventive Buenos Aires restaurant led by chef-owner Julio Báez, grilled beef takes on a refined, seasonal form. Ribeye is a menu staple, though its presentation shifts with the time of year, and Báez relies on Juan, a third-generation butcher from a Congress neighborhood shop who visits the cattle market weekly and knows all the producers. For the Koji-Aged Ribeye with Garlic Scape and Vegetable Demi-glace, the kitchen dry-ages the ribeye for 24 hours in house-cultured koji, which acts on the meat’s proteins and sugars to build umami and a balanced, flavorful Maillard reaction. Capitalizing on the brief season for garlic scape, they blanch the tender shoots briefly in boiling water before grilling, and finish the plate with a vegetable demi-glace incorporating beet, leek, and butter for depth and richness." - The MICHELIN Guide
"A restaurant where chef Julio Báez creates dishes like koji-aged Argentinian wagyu flank with garlic purée, blue butter, and fried potatoes." - The MICHELIN Guide
"A small place known for its seafood and vegetable dishes, offering something beyond the typical meat-focused cuisine of Buenos Aires."
"You’d never know from the impeccably presented dishes hitting the table that there are only a few young cooks in the tiny kitchen at Julio Baéz’s 22-seat restaurant, named after his daughter. The tasting menu changes regularly, but recent highlights include a parrilla-grilled rib-eye and fernet ice cream with grapefruit and mint. Baéz, who didn’t have the backing of any big investors, opened the unpretentious restaurant on his own to focus on the important stuff: seasonality, flavor, technique, and ingredients. Reservations are essential, but if you can’t get in, try sister restaurant Franca down the street." - Allie Lazar
"When we see a restaurant with a long waitlist, there’s a good reason for it! This modern, bistro-style eatery run by Julio Martín Baez, a chef who hails from the town of Chacabuco on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, describes his cuisine at his restaurant in the district of Villa Crespo as “indie”, not to win new fans but to give him himself full rein when it comes to creativity. He has been highly successful in this, building a culinary model with lots of personality. Although the à la carte is not extensive, and is well supported by a tasting menu that features dishes taken from it (different varieties of gourd; cured trout with a raspberry vinaigrette and acidic cream; grilled ribeye with a shio koji emulsion), the end result is fresh and contemporary, toying with strong flavours and incorporating acidic and spicy nuances, while at the same time elegantly showcasing micro-seasonality. Vegetables are ever present here, as the chef loves to use herbs, seeds and tender shoots in his cooking." - Michelin Inspector