3 Chefs Reinvent Argentinian Cuisine in the Lower East Side

Stefano Villa (of NYC’s Industria Argentina and Novecento) wanted to reinvent his restaurant, Azul, which is about to turn 10-years-old. His plan of attack? To bring an army of three young, unrelenting gauchos with fresh culinary ideas, straight from Argentina, to start an Argentinian food revolution.

His blue-washed brick bistro on the corner of Stanton and Suffolk Streets in the lower East Side is now the second home to these three bright-eyed chefs who all already have almost a decade of experience back in Argentina. Nicolás López, 27, from the city of Salta in northwestern Argentina, was the staple chef at Azul for the past year. He was recently joined just over 30 days ago by his former cooking school classmate, Hernán Simesen, 27, also from Salta; and a friend of a friend, Matías Romano, 28, from Buenos Aires. It is within the sea of these decade-old blue bricks and Argentine memorabilia where they dream up their next menu and use their unequivocal skills to produce comestible works of art on a plate.

The team agreed that New York is the place to take a chance, because in Argentina people are less likely to accept alterations in their traditional fare, and their aim is to change the menu about every three months, depending on the season.

What won me over is when López said, "Ceviche is not ours, but we love it so much that we make it."

And then shortly after, Simesen handed me a carefully crafted spicy salmon and shrimp ceviche with lots of lime and topped with a homemade pepper sauce. Now that is what I call a successful plan of attack.

Read more about the newly formed A-team and their dishes here, published today in the NY Daily News.

Azul will be taking part in http://www.nycgo.com/restaurantweek and will also be showing the Copa America soccer games through July 24th.

[Photos by Erika Rojas]