Gontran Cherrier

13 Fronteras, the dream, and now reality, of U.S. born chef, Dave Soady, who traveled Latin America soaking in the unique culinary culture of each stop on his journey, presents a unique and highly personal menu with a distinct international personality.

When we visited 13 Fronteras a couple of years ago, pre-pandemic, Soady was working out of small kitchen and serving his unique cuisine to an even smaller dining room. It was so small there were no tables, just counter service accommodating less than a dozen diners. And the prior location in San Telmo didn’t seem to live up to Soady’s earthy gourmet cuisine.
Well, 13 Fronteras is now able to shine in its new location in Palermo Hollywood. A much better and much larger location. And the décor is sleek and clearly a step up from the San Telmo digs.
On a recent visit I ordered the braised pork belly, cooked to perfection, with a chicharón glazed in a demi-glace, made from the braising liquid of another menu item, the braised goat.

That chicharón, drenched in the glaze, was a tad bit chewy but not so much as to render it unenjoyable. The underlying meat and fully rendered fat on that pork belly was cooked perfectly. It was accompanied by visits to cuisines from two far away regions. A delicious, mildly pungent kimchi, Korea’s famed pickled cabbage relish and a traditional Paraguayan cornbread. All unique. All well-executed. The cornbread was fluffy and moist. This should be a treat for locals who rarely get to experience this type of authentic cuisine.

I asked the chef to surprise me with his most impressive dessert. I wasn’t disappointed. What he laid before me was what he called “Mendoza”. I was expecting three desserts connected to wine or Malbec grapes. But, “no”. One was a macaron with “a sweet … or was it salty … or was it both” pastry cream filling flavored with olives (that just happens to grow on many of the vineyards in Mendoza in harmony with grapevines). That was sitting next to a small quenelle of carrot ice cream topped with a baby carrot.

He said he is reminded of the earth from which those olive trees, grapevines and carrots grow when Mendoza enters his thoughts. So, he set the components of the dessert on a crumble resembling that fertile earth. That was concocted of ground, charred cacao beans with a touch of the flavor of anis infused with the use of some ground fennel seeds.’
This was a dessert that was truly imaginative and delicious.

Presentation was on par with the execution of the dishes and despite the food being of gourmet quality, the prices are better than reasonable.

13 Fronteras scored well in our prior review despite the shortcomings on décor and service as a result of the less desirable ambiance in the prior location. But with improved scores on ambiance and service 13 Fronteras has now garnered a rare 94% (4.7 stars) rating.

What a treat for the residents of Palermo, and the rest Buenos Aires for that matter.