Boragó – Santiago Chile
Boragó Endémica
ONLINE RESERVATIONS | |
Nueva Costanera 3467, Vitacura, Santiago – Chile | |
0056 2 953 8893 | |
www.borago.cl |
Sunday closed
Chef: Rodolfo Guzmán
Our culinary trip to Chile had many highlights but with this last restaurant review from Boragó in Santiago we take the opportunity to describe one of the most impressive dining experiences we ever had. Boragó, the restaurant from chef Rodolfo Guzmán, is located in Santiago and is much more than a restaurant. It is an institute with a vision, a school about history and a university teaching about products. The restaurant sets an example for many other colleague restaurants by using local produce. The Boragó team takes local cooking to another level.
Today Boragó might be an inspiration for other restaurants but chef Rodolfo is also looking back. How did native people make food and how did they use products that were available in the nature. Rodolfo Guzmán hails his inspiration from recipes and techniques from the Mapuches and Pehuenches and Chilean cooking over the centuries. These insight sources are daily translated into magnificent and experimental dishes.
Rodolfo Guzmán and his team make various trips all over Chile in order to find the most amazing ingredients. We were so lucky to participate in few of those little food expeditions joining the team with the foraging tasks. Chile is a narrow country and offers a wide diversity from the Atacama Desert in the north to the Patagonia in the south. In between there is the Andean Mountain Range, lush valleys and the almost endless rough and beautiful Pacific coastline. It was amazing
The Boragó team go’s foraging every week and they always return with exceptional ingredients that are used to create equally exceptional dishes. We could see how Guzmán gets endless inspiration from the environment and ecosystems, and how the dishes at his restaurant incorporate many ingredients that were obtained from our foraging adventure. The list of unique and extraordinary ingredients is endless and most important all of it can only be found in Chile.
Visit to the Renato-Boragó organic farm
Foraging for parasites at the Ecological Reserve
Before Rodolfo started his own restaurant, he worked at Mugaritz in the Basque region of Spain. In 2007 he opened his restaurant at a new location and after a difficult start, explaining locals about this new gastronomical approach, Rodolfo became the godfather of the very best Chilean produce. At Mugaritz he was inspired by the philosophy and he learned taking care of products.
However, the cuisine at Boragó is unique and anything but copied from any other restaurant. Rodolfo decided to do something unique, something that you could only find in Chile, at Boragó, nowhere else. His complete dedication and persistent pursuit of 100% Chilean ingredients has resulted not only in the awareness for Chilean products and gastronomy, it has also resulted in a restaurant that excels in the use of this local produce, extraordinary flavours and an overall memorable dining experience.
The interior of the restaurant is comparable with the way of cooking and the nature. Pure and rough materials give an added value to the philosophy of Boragó’s cuisine. There is an open kitchen in order to experience the full dynamism of the team and the chefs themselves are passionately presenting the dishes at the table.
In the restaurant two tasting menu’s are offered: the Racqo menu (54€), which is being paired with interesting wines (40€) or juices (16€) or you can go for the full experience with the Endémica menu (88€) and the matching wines (50€) and juices (22€). Most chefs around the world agree about the tremendous importance of the ingredients, but few chefs have gone further when it comes to forage themselves and use local produce. The uniqueness of these ingredients and the preparation techniques used, guarantee an experience you have never had before. As the flavours of the ingredients that are used are totally different from most common flavours in Europe, some of the dishes can be experienced a bit special in terms of taste.
We started with a Chilean Pisco as appetizer that was made from the murra fruit and topped with lemon foam and were ready for the big Andes hunt!
Menu Endémica
Piures (Pyura Chilensis) and mandarin
Sea biscuit: Breadstick with raw oyster paste & plants
Loco (Chilean abalone), mayonnaise & sea kale
Pichanga of Peumos, pickled vegetables
Bread dish: Pebre of harina tostada with a marraqueta
Wine: Ventisquero, Tara, Chardonnay 2011 DO Atacama Chile
Juice: Jugo de Chirimoya – Boldo
Crudo of deer from Patagonia
Wine: Tabali, Talnay, Chardonnay 2013 DO Limari Chile
Juice: Pear an eucalyptus infusion
Salad of wild plants from the Andes: quinoa, wild mountain coriander, wild onion, snow of vegetables
Wine: Bodegas Re, chardonnoir 2012 (chardonnay & Pinot Noir bland), DO Casablanca Chile
Juice: Pineapple and dill juice
Chupe of wild pine mushrooms prepared like risotto with leaves
Wine: Polkura, syrah, 2011 DO Colchagua Chile
Rock sequence: Cremoso of herbs from the rocks, cream of spinach and asparagus with oxalys carnosa plants
& sea crackers from squid.
Wine: Aquitania, Sol de Sol, Sauvignon blanc 2013, DO Malleco Chile
Juice: Oxalis and ginger juice
On the rocks: smoked & fried conger ail with a broth of seaweed
Wine: Tabali, Talinay, Pinot Noir 2008 DO Limari Chile
Juice: Juice of lemon geranium with lemongrass
Cow in its milk from Parral: raw milk, textures of milk, alfalfa plant. Pino Chileno wood gives the aroma from the area where the cows come from.
Wine: Santa Rita, cabernet sauvignon 2010 DO Colchagua Chile
Juice: Juice of murra and black tea
Camanchaca and rica rica from the Atacama
Salad of nalca chilota with milk from Tsiloë: nalka ice cream, wild dill, lemon
Wine: Armidita, moscatel 2012
A magnificent Dessert of pine mushrooms: ice cream of mushroom, cracker and dried tsjilinato sweet chili, caramel, wallnuts
Beer: Cerveza artesanal, Granizo, ira, DO Olmué
Espino chileno coulant: moelleux kind of chocolate ball, cold outside and a warm ganache inside
Araucano bitter
This tasting menu collected and combined the best products of endemic Chilean territory and continuously evolves throughout the year. A lot of dishes were based on food that was cut from the soil and found through foragers or obtained from small producers in Chile. This explains why Boragó changes the dishes on a daily base in line with the supply. If you are in for something different and you like to discover local produce being served in a modern gastronomical way, Boragó is a must reservation when visiting Chile. We are fan and will definitely return when visiting Chile again!
Be-Gusto
Be-Gusto score: 18,5/20 Be-Gusto price/quality score: 18.5/20Boragó
Nueva Costanera 3467 Vitacura, Santiago – Chile
TEL: +56 2 953 8893 www.borago.cl Sunday closed
Original review made for wbpstars.com. Discover the ultimate guide for food lovers, travellers and the restaurant business. Discover many thousands of images and hundreds of films of the most amazing culinary wonders in the world. An exclusive documentation of the very best.
Wat zijn we nu in godsnaam met besprekingen en fotoreportages van restaurants aan de andere kant van de wereld??? Alsof iedereen daar zomaar eens zou kunnen of willen langsgaan volgend weekend???
Beste Kaat,
Bedankt voor uw feedback. De mogelijkheid tot het bezoeken van restaurants in verre landen ligt inderdaad minder voor de hand. Er zijn echter veel lezers die vakanties met speciale restaurant belevingen plannen en regelmatig food trips naar verre oorden organiseren.
Met culinaire groeten,
Mvg
Be-Gusto
Wat een enorm bekrompen opmerking Kaat.
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Attempt to make a reservation on line was unsuccessful. Page was frozen after this error above. Too bad
I went ahead and did it on a cell phone and it worked there. Forget my previous comment