From Uruguay, the majority of us flew from Montevideo to Salta in northern Argentina where we had a day to chill out and relax. Salta is a major town in the north of Argentina and has a vibrant restaurant scene. A few of us decided to engage in some additional tasting practice accompanied by some delicious local cuisine.
Others having flown in from various different places, the full contingent convened for dinner on at the excellent José Balcarce bistro in Salta on the Friday night.
I dined here on my reconnaissance trip last year so had some idea what to expect. The chef is top class and rather than the huge portions that it is easy to expect in Argentina, we enjoyed delicious small plates of salads, beef with sweet potato and a delicious dessert – all washed down with wines from Cafayate.
Next morning we set off on a big journey. Salta to Cafayate is a three and half hour journey with some amazing scenery on the way. Add in to the equation at our destination there was a major music festival – Serenata Cafayate – which increased the amount of traffic and the number of police checks.
