We read restaurant write-ups with a healthy dose of skepticism in mind. But when Bon Appetit magazine called La Huella “the restaurant at the end of the world” in it’s July 2012 issue, it immediately sounded like the kind of place worth making the trek to – “.…..when the restaurant finally does emerge from the sand dunes of Playa Brava in José Ignacio, Uruguay, it looks like a bohemian pirate ship run aground–a warren of dining rooms, decks, and open kitchens made of wood and canvas. Everything is smooth. Everything is right. Everyone is happy. Welcome to La Huella, the most idyllic seaside restaurant in the world.”
Our meal started with a trio of dipping bowls – beet, curry and tuna – and an accompanying burlap bag of bread. With an ice cold Argentinian Chardonnay and a local Patricia beer in hand, we nibbled happily while contemplating the menu, . We watched the ensemble cast of chefs managing a rush-hour lunch performance in front of huge open fires, which were alternately contained and stoked under horizontal and vertical grills. The aromas of seafood and meat grilling over smouldering wood lay heavy in the air, intermingled with the smell of the ocean wafting up from the shore.
Our meal unfolded simply but exquisitely, something often so hard to achieve.
An amuse bouche of shrimp empanadas – tiny tender chunks of shrimp in a seafood pot pie like filling with sweet corn, wrapped and fried in a flaky, blistered, crispy shell.
Ceviche of sea bass, Peruvian style – coconut milk, lime, jalapeno, corn and fried parsnips. A gleamingly bright, clean and flavorful dish.
Shrimp croquettes with rice and mint topped with slivered cucumber. Little balls of shrimp fried heaven with a side of creamy aioli.
Squid a la plancha – mouth-watering tender squid, smoky and charred from the grill, served with house-made pickles. Briny, tart, and creamy all at the same time.
Volcano of dulce de leche with banana gelato – a molten cake of warm and goey dulce de luche sharing space next to creamy, ice-cold gelato and topped with a corn flour-orange cookie.
Memorable meals are made up of a series of different, and sometimes, elusive components – the company, the setting, the food, the service and the ambiance. Our lunch at La Huella was a delicious combination of all of the above. It was so worth ‘the trip to the end of the world’ to have experienced this culinary gem.
http://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/ingredients/article/la-huella-uruguay – for the text of the full original article in the July 2012 issue.
Amazing!