New Argentine Cuisine: A Land of Immigrants

"My name is Christina Sunae, I was born in South Carolina and the US. I spent the biggest part of my childhood in the Philippines, in a town called Ángeles City in the province of Pampanga. I live in Buenos Aires now, and I own two restaurants, chef and owner of Cantina Sunae and Apu Nena, specializing in Southeast Asian and Filipino food."

“I’m Maxime Tankouo, from Cameroon, I’ve lived in Argentina for 18 years. For the last 12 years I’ve been the cook and owner of the only African restaurant in all of Buenos Aires. You’re welcome to come visit us at El Buen Sabor Africano when you’re in Argentina. There you will find classic African dishes like grilled fish, fufu, peanut sauce, fried plantains, yucca, pork roti, lots of variety, vegetables, and salads from Africa, goat, everything cooked in traditional Cameroonian style. Don’t miss us, you're going to have fun and like it. See you later, bye!”

‘Hi, my name is Daniel Cifuentes. I’m co-owner of Lattente coffee shop and coffee roasters. I’m from Colombia and I’ve been living here in Argentina since 2009. We try our best every day to make a really good and consistent cup of coffee. We started Lattente in 2010, changing the way people in Argentina are used to drinking and being served coffee. So, in 2016 we decided to become coffee roasters and started roasting our own beans, selecting from the farms. And in 2020, it was a hard year but we made an expansion. We opened another two coffee shops, under the same name, and now the plans for 2021 it's making a showroom so people will be able to see the full process from roasting and also seeing the machines and brew methods.”

“My name is Sandra Lee, which is my name here in Argentina, and in Korean, my name is Lee kyung ah. I am Korean, I was born in Seoul, and when I was 8 years old I immigrated to these parts, first destination Bolivia and then at 12 years old I came to Argentina. I teach Korean cooking classes, trying to spread the gastronomic culture of my country here in Argentina. I’ve had a few different occupations during my life in Argentina. Right now, I have a textile company, a gastronomic business, and the Korean cooking classes.”

"Hey, my name is Sam Fitzgerald. I’m from New Zealand. I’ve lived in Argentina for five years. I came here because I met my fiance in New Zealand and we moved over here. And two years ago we opened the first non-Mexican taco shop in Buenos Aires. Well, here in Georgie’s we make the corn tortilla every day, from the whole corn, we grind it, we make the dough, we form the tortilla. The fillings of the tacos are all things influenced by me, by my staff, for example, I’m from New Zealand, two of my cooks are from Venezuela, one is from Argentina, so we just make a mix of anything we really like to eat or anything we think is in season or tasty at the moment.”

“My name is Gloria Sanmiguel, or Gloria del Fogon. I’m Venezuelan, specifically from the Venezuelan Andes, from Táchira. I’ve lived in Argentina since the end of 2013. Here in Argentina I dedicate my time to gastronomy and art, two inseparable paths. And in the case of our cooking with Trashumantes, it’s fundamentally passionate, creative, and deeply nurtured in the roots we love and our culinary heritage.  I am Andean, Venezuelan, my parents are Colombian, my partner Damian is Argentine with a Paraguayan mother, and we are in search to rescue those flavors and the importance of understanding cooking as a vehicle, a vehicle that also takes us to those landscapes that we miss, or those moments that we love, or the things that we want to honor and perpetuate in time. Cooking is a point where we all connect, and that is why it is such a powerful element for communication and to be able to explore through art.”

"My name is Astrid Acuña. Soy de Lima, Peru. I’ve lived in Argentina for more than 10 years. I am a cook, I started as a pastry chef, and now I work as a cook. At the moment, I’m cooking plant-based foods.”

“My name is Jake Eichenbaum-Pikser, I’m from New York City and I've been living in Argentina for seven years. Sheikob’s Bagels is a New York style bagel shop in Palermo Soho that I opened three years ago with my business partner Simja Dujov. I initially started baking bagels shortly after getting to Buenos Aires as a hobby mainly because I couldn't find a good bagel and as a New York Jew I couldn’t accept living in a place without access to a decent bagel. At a certain point, I was five days of the week outside a different coffee shop in Buenos Aires selling the bagel sandwiches and it was at that point that I met my business partner and opened the shop. And since then we've been working mainly out of the shop trying to provide an authentic New York bagel experience for the Argentine community.”

“My name is Takehiro Ohno. I am from Japan. I’ve lived in Argentina for more than 24 years. In Japan, I studied nutrition. I’m a chef cooking European food, specializing in Spanish and Basque cuisine. From 2008 to 2017, for 10 years, I had a television show on the Gourmet Channel broadcasting in all of Latin America. Now, I have my own businesses, Tienda Ohno serving Japanese food and products, and Oian, which is Spanish and Basque cuisine.”