Buenos Aires Supperclub at A La Cruz

Tucked away on a back street off Farringdon Road, Argentine restaurant A La Cruz is a hidden gem in the truest sense of the phrase. Once you get inside, there’s nothing subtle about it, though.

A large fire pit grilling hunks of meat is an apt introduction of what’s to come in the dining room, where I've been invited along with a host of foodie folks from across London to take part in the restaurant’s first Buenos Aires Urban Cuisine Evening.

We occupy the private dining area in a Mafia-esque wood-clad boardroom that feels grand in a very homely kind of a way. We sit around a large communal table, in the style of the traditional, convivial neighbourhood restaurants in Argentina’s capital that been influential in the Supper Club and Underground Restaurant craze currently sweeping through London.

Simple but flavour-packed dishes on offer included mollejas al verdeo (sweetbreads with spring onion), Rinoncitos al Jerez (lamb kidneys in Jerez wine sauce) and Tortilla de zapallitos (a tortilla made with courgettes) alongside tender gnocchi, a stew of lentils and a very authentic tripe casserole. As intriguing as they are delicious, these dishes put up an astounding fight at standing their own against the sensational cuts of fine Argentine beef that are the restaurant’s signature.

Barney Butterfield: Farmer Made Restaurateur

Having recently eaten at Platform on Tooley Street, I was as won over with the concept as I was by the food. Going a step further than sustainable food and a close relationship with producers, the restaurant has boldly put their money where their mouth is by setting up a cross-shareholding with the farm that provides all their meat.

I've been lucky enough to speak to the farm’s owner Barny Butterfield to hear his take on the idea, as well as the explosion of apparently eco-eateries that have hit London of late.

You earn your keep from selling to supermarkets. It’s often said how poorly farmers like yourself are treated by the “big 4”, how do you feel about this – do they treat the small farmer as badly as the press would have us think?
Probably worse, although it is a mixed picture – some are better than others. It derives from the unspoken mantra that price is more important than quality or ethics.