Ranch-to-table: This is the key to Germán Sitz's success, a descendant of a lineage of Jewish gauchos who serves family cattle from Buenos Aires to Miami, from slaughter to live-fire.
Photo credits: La Carnicerìa
The story
He grew up among the mooing herds of the Argentine Pampas, Germán Sitz, now thirty-four years old, runs 5 restaurants with his partner Pedro Peña, as told by Robb Report. His, however, was not a life-changing move, considering that when he ties the apron, his goal is to share how magnificent that same meat is, different from any other, much like a grand cru outshines table wines.
It all started in 1889 when over 800 Jews fleeing violence under the Tsarist Russia sought refuge in the Pampas, the land inhabited by gauchos, Argentine cowboys. From their fusion in the bizarre community of Jewish gauchos, generation after generation, Germán Sitz descends, whose meat continues to be what the family has been raising under the umbrella of a 130-year-old cooperative, certified organic like the grazing fields.
It was the gauchos, interpreters of increasingly advanced farming techniques, who spread the culture of meat throughout the country, now a national pride. Consider that an average Argentine consumes 54 kilograms per year, twice that of an American. And so was born the asado, a traditional open-fire roast, articulated in a reasoned sequence of carefully positioned cuts: a ritual to be officiated in the family every Sunday, uncorking a bottle of Malbec.
In 2014, Germán Sitz's grandmother decided to lend him the money needed for the opening of his first establishment, the acclaimed live-fire steakhouse La Carnicería. Without detaching him from the prairies: in the absence of intermediaries, he personally oversees the slaughter, transport, and preparation of the cuts. Ranch-to-plate, so to speak. Other successful establishments followed in the Argentine capital, including the tapas bar Paquito, with its very light croquettes, and the three Chori, dedicated to choripan, an Argentine street food similar to hot dogs, consisting of toasted bread and chorizo, typically eaten here during football matches with a glass of vermouth.
But preparations are now underway for the latest addition, a spin-off of Niño Gordo, an Asian-influenced fusion grill, featuring beef tataki, scheduled for the coming months in Miami (the Buenos Aires location has already been awarded the 75th position in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants continental ranking).
