Palermo Viejo: a taste of Argentina in Louisville
Palermo Viejo — like Argentina, whose cuisine it celebrates — is not really a place for vegetarians.
The restaurant is named not for the Palermo that's an Italian city in Sicily but for the Palermo Viejo neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina's capital. This barrio tucked into the northeast corner of Buenos Aires boasts both older colonial buildings and a bohemian flavor. Both author Jorge Luís Borges and Che Guevara once called the neighborhood home.
The dinner-only eatery exudes that same bohemian feel, partly due to its location on the bohemian stretch of Bardstown Road in the eclectic Highlands neighborhood of Louisville.
Like its beloved Argentina, Palermo Viejo serves up extraordinary free-range beef. You'll love Lomo, a six-ounce beef tenderloin ($14); Bife de Chorizo, a 10-ounce New York Strip ($16); Ojo de Bife, a 12-ounce ribeye ($16) or any other of the fine meats — all grilled on an Argentine-style parilla with authentic chimichurri sauce on the side and served with a salad.
Palermo Viejo also serves up non-beef dishes: for example, a chimichurri-braised rack of lamb paired with a paella-style soupy rice ($19); Cerdo con Repollo, marinated pork tenderloin served with wine-stewed cabbage and mashed potatoes ($16), two chicken dishes ($13 and $15) and assorted seafood dishes — including the Parrillada del Mar, a grilled festival of salmon, tuna, scallops and shrimp served over saffron-infused rice ($15).
For those who want the full Argentine treatment, don't forget to begin the meal with the empanadas, those savory half-moon pastries stuffed with chicken, spicy capicola ham and Havarti cheese, beef, or Havarti cheese. flavored with tomato, basil and garlic. (Think Cornish pasty or a handheld pot pie, not apple turnover.) Have your choice of any two for $6 or four for $11.
A vegetarian can find a few things on the Palermo Viejo menu, such as the cheese empanada, the Canelones de Mariana, the Argentine answer to Italian cannelloni stuffed with spinach, onions and ricotta cheese ($13); and a Portobello mushroom Milanesa ($11), in which thinly sliced Portobello mushroom is substituted for the more authentically Argentine flank steak or chicken cutlet and then breaded, pan fried, topped with mozzarella and provolone cheeses and fresh tomatoes and then broiled. (A Milenesa is the Argentine version of veal or eggplant Parmesan — clearly the influence of the South American country's sizable population of Italian descent.) .
It will come as no surprise that Palermo Viejo has several dozen fine wines from Argentina — most under $20 a bottle.
Like any good Latin kitchen, Palermo Viejo offers exquisite desserts. There's the ubiquitous caramel flan and housemade banana ice cream with dainty chunks of banana in it, of course. But there are also desserts particular to Argentina, such as the Pasta Frola, a rich quince pastry, and a delicate crepe stuffed with dulce de leche (best served with the banana ice cream). For more American dessert tastes, there's Grandma's Chocolate Cake. All are $5.
- by Ivonne Rovira, Louisville Reporter for HelloMetro
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