Restaurant Spotlight: Anafe

Well worth the visit for a buzzing atmosphere and an imaginative menu of small plates to share.

Some Anafe snaps. Photos: Tim Fitzgerald

Anafe has been around for a while, and it can be said that it started the recent trend of "platitos", a menu consisting of various small plates and a few bigger ones. These spots encourage you to order multiple plates to share among your group. But the trend has gone overboard recently, with the city becoming oversaturated with this style. I finally made my way to Anafe for the first time on a Thursday night, and my inclination is that if the market starts to weed out these types of places, Anafe will be among those still standing.

Anafe is in a trendy zone of Colegiales, which continues to grow with new restaurant and bar openings. It earned a spot on the Michelin guide’s Buenos Aires list and also was tagged with a special “Big Gourmand” label, meaning ”good quality, good value cooking”.

Anafe has solid outdoor seating options along its quiet sidewalk. ph: TF

I arrived promptly at 8pm for our reservation and hung around while I waited for the other two in my group to arrive. They have a solid cocktail list, so I ordered their Martini (well made!) while I waited. The restaurant started to fill up by around 8:20-30 and continued to be bustling with energy the rest of the night. Some spots have a great menu but lack vibe and atmosphere. Anafe has a buzzing energy and is jam-packed with a local crowd of Porteños and busy waiters. There is nothing special about the interior design of the restaurant. It is very basic, so the concentration is solely on the food.

The view waiting for my friends to arrive with a Martini. ph: TF

Our group of three delved into Anafe's menu, which offers a balance of twelve small and four big plates. We opted for eight small plates, a perfect variety for our group. For those with a smaller appetite, five to seven plates would suffice for a group of three. I am not sure what to call the type of cuisine. Contemporary, modern Argentine? According to the Michelin guide, it has Asian, Australian, Jewish and Mediterranean influences. Fresh meats, seafood, grains, cheeses and vegetables combine into interesting plates.

We enjoyed the following:

Poultry pâté on almond financier with pear chutney. ph: TF

Homemade smoked ricotta with grilled sesame bread and Zuelo IG Mendoza olive oil. ph: TF

Fresh oysters with homemade sriracha, huacatay oil, mignonette and lemon. ph: TF

Tataki-style sirloin steak carpaccio with nuoc cham sauce, melon, jalapeño, cucumber, cilantro, and peanuts. Delicious. ph: TF

Sweet corn pancake with fior di latte, peas, and onion jam. ph: TF

Cured anchovy-style mullet with sour cream, beet pickle emulsion, horseradish, and dill, onion, and beet salad. ph: TF

Smoked sweet potato with huancaína sauce, huacatay oil and tomato, pomegranate and cilantro salad. ph: TF

We also ordered roasted beet salad with fresh figs, goat cheese, mint, pistachios, and beet pickle, but it looks like I forgot to snap a photo.

For dessert, we ordered three out of the four available, and they were terrific—some of the best desserts I have had in a while.

The Desserts:

All the berries of summer with zabaglione cream, mascarpone, and cinnamon crisp. ph: TF

Crispy meringue on the outside and creamy on the inside with vanilla pastry, dulce de leche center and raspberry granita. ph: TF

Crispy pâté a choux filled with almond praline semifreddo with caramel sauce and salt. ph: TF

Bottom Line: Well worth the visit for a buzzing atmosphere and an imaginative menu of small plates to share!

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Anafe

Virrey Avilés 3216, Colegiales

Reservations here.

Open Everyday for Dinner. Friday - Sunday open for lunch.

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