Food, Glorious Food Forget the chemicals and preservatives, this is fresh at its best

– and comes served with an Italian gusto

These are media lunas (half

moons), a rich croissant-type pastry,

glistening with carmelized sugar.

How good are they? If Proust had

lived in Buenos Aires, this would

have been the taste that would have

made him launch into a 20-pound,

three-volume Remembrance of

Things Past. This was taken at a

Palermo café called VoulezBar, and

the French toast on the far side of

melted in the mouth.

The small bowl contains quince

jelly, a common type in this city,

and has a taste that will make you

buy jars to bring home as gifts.

The café life where … …coffee is an art form, sorrentinos are rich and world-famous beef tempts.

Fruit markets, flower stalls and

bakeries are usually within a block

or two of where you are standing.

Follow the aromas and look for the

brightest colors.

Café Tortoni was a center of art, literature, music and tango in the early 1900s, playing host

to such luminaries as Jorge Luis Borges and the singers and dancers of the burgeoning art

form called tango. Even today, Café Tortoni has a tiny theater where music and dance

shows are still performed most nights.

¡Buen Provecho!