Quetro Cocina Abierta offers a surprise six-course menu, so that costumers that book their table surrender to trust and let go. Very precise reservations are assigned, so all guests arrive together at this intimate restó, where they are welcomed by the hosts’ trademark warmth, and are guided through the experience. From then on, it is only a matter of activating the senses and opening them to delight. Leer en español.
By Roxana Rampospé
Photoy by Clara Bustinduy and Martín Crosta
After a 22-year run in the gastronomical world, Martín Erkekdjian and María Constanza Rossi were able to open their own place. An architectural and decorative design that envelops the concept of openness and relaxation; with a kitchen equipped with the highest standards, that invites to play and discover the flavors that are created there. In Quetro, everything flows.
– How did this project come to be?
– It started from a search for balance, we wished to achieve balance between our calling, which is cuisine, and the possibility to enjoy our children. And at the same time, to be able to open a space and put ourselves at the service of residents as well as of the people that visit Bariloche.
– What does the choice of name mean to you?
– The quetro is a native duck, and it identifies the origin of this place; it’s a bird that forms couples, they choose to face life and challenges together. Besides, it is the name of the street where our home and restaurant are. Quetro shows everything we’ve projected. The return to cooking, enjoying the creation of every menu, working at home together in the orchard, as a family, and sharing with the people of the city we chose to live in.
. You have managed to offer a journey during which people arrive ready to be surprised, how do you experience that complicity with the diners?
– We mainly experience it with gratitude. Having the possibility to freely create a menu for each diner is very valuable to us. As culinary professionals, that’s the fun part: being able to cook the dish you want, what you have found and thought out in detail, even with the responsibility to respect seasonality when it comes to the products and fulfilling a natural cycle. Besides, it generates a symbiosis between us and the guests, who are very transparent, they come without preconceptions, without choosing a menu, they get here and surrender to relaxing and experiencing whatever happens. The idea is to combine a very thorough and professional cuisine with a relaxed service. Our wish has always been to break out from the classical structure of a restaurant. Open kitchen, sharing recipes and experiences, listening and getting to know our diners while we cook… Eating is simply something to enjoy!
– How is the experience of working together?
– We met working in a kitchen 17 years ago in Buenos Aires. When we came to Bariloche we were determined to not work together, so that each of us could have our own careers. Then the years passed, we became parents and our outlook on life changed. We got the opportunity to do events together, and we realized that not only we got along very well at work, but we also complemented each other and became empowered! And this is a family project, that’s where our driving force comes from, it is a space in which we can develop what we like, in a more relaxed environment, at home, with more time to enjoy and find each other. And what we value the most is that we allow ourselves to “be”.
– How do you choose the products you use?
– It is a constant search that challenges us. We work with farms and local producers, we also connect with people from other places, like El Bolsón, Villa Mascardi and El Manso, we try to move around the region. Always looking for real traceability and food safety. We have a space within the restaurant where small entrepreneurs we work with have the possibility to show and sell their products, achieving a direct connection between producer and diner.
– Where do you aim to take Quetro’s proposal?
– The truth is we are very happy with what we have accomplished so far. We are so grateful for the recognition and support our project generates. The process to get here was well-thought-out and heartfelt. Seeing the response we’ve gotten keeps us motivated to do things. That’s why we are planning the cooking lessons, and another goal we strive for is developing our cookbook, which we have dreamed about for a long time. The reality is that, in fact, we didn’t want for Quetro to be just a restaurant. It is a place where you can enjoy cuisine from another angle: lunches, classes, tastings, we want it to be a gastronomical space. We are now facing this other phase: that’s why we are Quetro Cocina Abierta, open to other experiences.
Quetro Cocina Abierta
Whatsapp: +54 9 294 492 2293
IG @quetrococina // @martinerkechef
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