Javier Brichetto, the king of the Argentine grill who triumphs in Madrid

I know I'm piantao, piantao, piantao.

It is not that the chef

(Buenos Aires, 1973) has taken to getting into a tanguero and singing the popular

by the Argentine composer Astor Piazzolla (with lyrics by the Uruguayan poet Horacio Ferrer). However,

the porteño felt

something of

when, six months after opening his restaurant (Piantao) in Arganzuela,

. "There were days when we only had customers for one or two tables," he recalls.

But the summer came and the comeback.

Piantao - "crazy, alienated", according to the Spanish-lunfardo dictionary (that Rio de la Plata slang ...) - is today one of the best Argentine grills in the capital and its owner, one of the greats in the art of mastering fire.

After a

through a thousand kitchens, winning

opening a

fusion

in

and advising chefs and dining rooms, Brichetto has become fashionable for montera and has opted to worship

.

Room.

"I have always cooked what the market asked for, what was carried, what was fashionable.

Until I

and got excited about my own project," he acknowledges.

And, like a squatter,

Piantao's

idea

settled, with no option of eviction, in his head.

"It took me three years to make it come true.

to catch up, bring recipes that I did not know and learn what I did not know", although cooking with embers has always been there, lurking, even when Brichetto (2000 and 2001) was doing internships at

(Sant Celoni, Barcelona) or spent some time at El Celler de Can Roca (Girona).

The grills.

It carries the embers in the DNA. "Although I was trained in

, fire cooking has been closely linked to me, to

. In Argentina, any restaurant, whether Italian, Spanish or French, has a grill." So why not open one here, in Madrid, your "city", because Javier is from Buenos Aires, yes, but also a cat. "" I always say that I am from Madrid. People find it funny, but that's the way it is. I've been here for 14 years and never,

. For an immigrant that is a gratifying feeling. "

Located in front of

, Pianto is Argentina in essence: traditional cuts and methods, but also modern techniques and even instruments

.

For example, the grills that Javier himself

.

"They are vee irons, with a small incline."

Meats from the humid Pampas pass through them, which come from young steers of Aberdeen Angus and their crosses, with 40 days of

(in a vacuum bag).

And the cuts?

Steak eye;

entrails;

empty;

chorizo ​​steak;

strip of asado, the most popular and indigenous ... "and now I'm incorporating

and it works very well."

Cuts of meat for the embers.

"The Argentine barbecue can be cooking up to

." Something like a one-man band and a whole

. "I have learned with great professionals,

unknown

who have taught me to

and to master techniques such as cross roasting for large pieces".

Brichetto's

tireless

has led him to make a giant box to make a giant pig and to use

from an

American

to smoke pieces such as headboards to a

.

Aspire to Piantao (

) to be more than a grill.

"I want a proposal that

. We have garnishes from the north, such as

en chala; our own breads; vegetables; we are thinking of working with mushrooms ...".

And, of course, roasts, the quintessential Argentine elaboration that even has a

(October 11).

"We always have an excuse to

. It's like football, we all have an opinion, we all know, we are all great grillmen," he laughs.

The 'perfect' point of meat.

And since there is no doubt that he is, here are some of

. "I like to feed the fire with

, Cuban marabou or oak charcoal; they can also be combined with oak wood to give more flavor. Once you light the fire, be

and wait about 40 minutes until the

. Place the grill about 20 centimeters from these. Put your hand a short distance from the iron and

, if you hold it well, it is ready to put the meat ".

The 330-gram pieces

, the weight that Brichetto advises for a homemade grill, have to be three minutes on each side if the meat "you like undercooked; if you prefer it a little more, four. In Argentina we always

before

put it on the fire, here they say that it dehydrates. In my opinion, when you cook on the surface, it does not reach the heart of the piece; if there is dehydration, it is only on the surface ", adds the porteño.

Finally, we give each piece only one turn per side so that "

" and, in addition, to control the times well.

Humita, one of the house specialties.

-Do you look in the mirror of the Etxebarri grill, the third best restaurant in the world according to the list of

-I admire Bittor Arginzoniz very much.

He is a great man who always looks for different ways of grilling and the position he occupies is well deserved.

Of course I would like to reach that level ...

-Your favorite chef is ...

-Dabiz Muñoz.

I think neither he nor his kitchen have a brake, they are getting bigger and bigger.

For me, he is the Messi of cooks.

-And who would you be?

-Me?

Haha.

A central defender, a defender who has ever scored a goal.

Modest, down to earth and very sane despite the tango.

Address:

Paseo de la Chopera, 69. Tel .: 91 467 54 02. Closed on Sunday nights.

Average price: 50-60 euros.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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