There is no better time for a gastronomic experience, feeling the pleasure of a meal in the sun in some of the new proposals that the city has to offer. Because in Montevideo there is also a place to savor both its gastronomy and the calm of a depleted city.
Here are three gastronomic proposals that opened in the last year to take advantage of the summer in the capital.
A store that meets tradition and trends in the Prado
Jesusa Regueiro opened a store on the corner of Machado Carballo and Cisplatina streets in 1945. Since then she has lived on the first floor and the ground floor has become a “lifelong” store in the neighborhood. But life has its cycles.
A year ago Facundo Dellacasa passed through the door and saw that they were emptying it. So he decided to open a new chapter in his story. He teamed up with Javier Nunell and chef Andrés Mayey, known as Ruffo, to restore that corner that had lost its spirit.
The awning became a local insignia. The yellow color bathes the cloth stretched out under the ochava and spreads from the window frames to the tables in the street. There, in a place with character and recovered objects, Jesusa now finds the tradition of the neighborhood store with signature dishes and sourdough bakery.
“I was passing by, the place was detonated, the place was like thrown away and one day I see that they were emptying it,” recalls Dellacasa. That was the beginning of a renovation. When the neighbors saw movement and got closer, they began to share with them the story of the store and the woman who ran it, who still lives in the neighborhood. “We thought it was nice to honor her in life and the place of hers that he had created for her by giving her a twist”
Maintaining the idea of family home cooking, tasty and filling, a new life begins for Jesusa. The proposal includes dishes and preparations to take away, the tables on the sidewalk invite you to enjoy a meal in the sun. On weekends it even becomes a meeting point in a neighborhood that is developing its gastronomic potential: the sidewalks and the nearby square become spaces for exchange.
Instagram @jesusa_almacén
Breads in Jesusa
The menu varies from week to week according to the fresh products, but it maintains some preparations: risotto croquettes with cheese, sandwiches and sourdough breads, cinnamon rolls. Plus a pasta dish every Sunday. “The idea is to eat grandma’s food, homemade and forceful.”
“The concern is to continue doing things of value in the meadow that were not really there. Improving abandoned corners, which have a place to be exploited and are forgotten. Find a way around them so that people start to enjoy them”, concludes Dellacasa.
Machado Carballo 3400
From Thursday to Sunday at noon.
pet friendly
A wine and tapas bar in Parque Rodó
Oriundo decided to keep his doors open and taps running throughout the summer. In May 2022, it opened in the heart of Parque Rodó as the first draft wine bar in the country. But it is also much more.
An alley extends towards the end with a stripped-down design, in which natural tones prevail, the gray of the concrete and the black of the iron, and the glasses take center stage in a sustainable concept that does not need bottles, corks or labels.
The bar is the focal point of the place: a very long bar where the kitchen is lived. But on summer days and nights, the open space also claims prominence and a background of the city becomes the place where things (and dishes) happen.
Manuel Bouza, Juan Pedro Bloomfield, Martín Ottonello, Gonzalo Pereira and Santiago Ottonello are the Persians, experienced in the gastronomic field, who are behind the project: an experience that combines 14 local wines –white, rosé and red– with signature cuisine.
Appetizers, pizzas, plates and small plates to share, with local raw materials. It also offers sweet and savory options for snack time with a variety of toasts, fruit tarts and a peanut butter and red fruit alfajor.
Instagram @oriundo.uy
Plates and small plates in Oriundo
Traditional preparations with a fresh twist, such as crispy polenta with goat cheese, creamy pesto and caramel powder or fish with green salad with ginger and coconut, in addition to the classics. Dishes prepared with ingredients from Montevideo or neighboring areas that recall the local character of a proposal that also includes vegetarian versions.
Pablo de Maria 1013
Every day: lunch, snack and dinner
A design house in Carrasco
The umbrellas are held in the air like a flag. An insignia: white and blue stripes appear in the sky as a sign that this is the place. Otero settled in a corner of Carrasco as a quiet corner to enjoy a proposal for design and gastronomy.
Instagram @otero__________
Knoll
The patio dialogues with the interior. A large window opens from the carpet of green grass on which a Jack Russell Terrier now runs. The designer dining room combines colors and textures in a modern space with details that recall the aesthetics of the European coast.
The kitchen is in charge of chef Ander Uría and the menu offers options of dishes such as mushroom risotto or grilled salmon with grilled potato gnocchi. But also dishes to share, half portions of preparations such as Italian bologna burrata, asparagus and fainá or carrot, labneh and pecan gremolata that change periodically. The idea is that food is also a space to share and promote those conversations that only take place around the table.
The dining room leads to a store with exclusive clothes from Rotunda, the mother brand of this gastronomic proposal. “In search of moving the offices we came across this house and said ‘the coffee is here,'” Kevin Jakter, co-founder and president of Rotunda, told El Observador.
The Uruguayan brand, which is dedicated to fashion, expanded its universe and is now exploring that of gastronomy. To achieve this, they partnered with Gerónimo Sanchez Varela, alias Momo, the gastronomic operator who accepted the challenge of designing Otero’s proposal.
“It started with the idea of a coffee and snack but quickly evolved to double what we had projected”, says Jakter. In this sense, the menu includes a breakfast menu between 9 and 12 with proposals for all tastes: from a croissant stuffed with scrambled eggs with spinach, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and sweetchilli to a homemade Greek yogurt, red berries and granola. In addition, the list of sweet preparations is seductive for any lover of a good snack, including gluten-free options.
Instagram @otero__________
Plates and small plates in Otero
Otero settled with character and his own philosophy in an area with renowned gastronomic proposals. “There is that concept of competition but we look at what we can offer. What makes this place stand out is the energy, the garden, the contact with nature. Architecture developed like this: to share nature. A little lung in the middle of Montevideo”, said Jakter.
The renovation of the premises was carried out by the architect Omar Vila and the Soda studio, while the interior design was in the hands of Sofía Dominguez, creative director and co-founder of the company. No detail is left to chance.
Gabriel Otero 6590
Open every day from 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
pet friendly
