Cafe Buenos Aires

Ordinarily the food at Cafe Buenos Aires is Argentinian, but this was a fixed menu Christmas dinner, so it merged into a California cuisine with a slight south American flair. Well, maybe that’s what this restaurant is year round, but tonight the food trended more on the California cuisine side than usual.

First, a simple salad of greens, tomato and a grilled and/or marinated onion, I never figured that one out.

The two mains we ordered was a grilled salmon with asparagus and corn relish, and a mini beef filet with asparagus. For dessert, flan and chocolate cake.

There were a set number of festive cocktails available, plus a mojito. The cocktails were nothing spectacular, especially considering we’d just had pre-dinner cocktail at a secret private tiki bar elsewhere in Santa Barbara. The desserts, likewise, were meh. But the main courses were quite enjoyable for a large party dinner. Plus, there was no company Christmas party this year, due to the downturn in the economy, so the fact that the department had one for its members was all bonus. We all like an evening of dress-up every now and then.

Photos by Ted Mills.

Cafe Buenos Aires
1316 State Street
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
www.cafebuenosaires.com