Review: Beef and Malbec evening at Gaucho
It feels like a new restaurant is opening weekly in Birmingham nowadays, but some of them really are worth shouting about.
Gaucho, sat at 55 Colmore Row in the heart of the city’s business district, invited us along to a Beef and Malbec evening and we don’t know if it was the wine, tender beef or the attentive staff, but Gaucho is one of our new favourite places.
The Argentinian restaurant has been designed beautifully, with the décor sophisticated yet warm and cosy. The venue is lit up with beautiful LED lights wrapped around structures in the shape of trees, which has been inspired by Ombu trees in rural Argentina.
The Beef and Malbec evening saw 11 of us sat in a designated room to the side of the restaurant’s seating area, which is dressed from top to bottom in bottles of wine. We were soon introduced to Phil Crozier, Gaucho’s director of wine (is there a better job title out there?) and the master griller Fernando Larroude.
The evening started with a brief introduction to the beef we will be eating throughout the night. Fernando gave us an insight into food culture in Argentina and how beef is enjoyed in the South American country. After all, they are the second biggest beef consumers in the world, with a yearly consumption of 55kg per person. He also explained the history of the beef and how the cows are treated, from the seasons they breed to the grass they eat.
Then, we were given a masterclass in all things beef. We were talked through the different parts of the cow and how differently each parts taste. We were then given raw beef, which was marinated in delicious seasoning, before being given three tasters to try; the flank, brisket and rump. We enjoyed the tasters with a small glass of Vina Patricia Malbec.
The director of wine himself them jumped in and began teaching us all about Argentinian wine. We were given four glasses of wine and were talked through how to enjoy them with different cuts of beef, and just why some taste delicious with some, and why other are just downright awful.
We were also talked through the history of Argentinian wine and where the vineyards are based, through to the best weather conditions for the perfect glass and some interesting facts, including how Argentina produces more wine than Australia and Chile put together.
Fernando’s joined us once again after cooking us all a selection of delicious beef cuts, including sirloin, rump, fillet and ribeye. Each glass of wine was chosen to go with each beef cut; Aniello for the rump, Luigi Bosca D.O.C for the sirloin, Finca Sophenia for the fillet and the Colome ‘Lote Especial’ for ribeye.
For me, the evening was both incredibly interesting and still a lot of fun. Our hosts, Phil and Fernando, are incredibly passionate about what they do, which makes the experience so much more enjoyable as you are as keen to get involved also.
Other members of staff who served us all night were also incredibly friendly and knowledgeable and we soon found out that they have also received masterclasses in all things Argentina to make them experts too.
Gaucho is an incredible restaurant and manages to whisk you away to the land of Argentina for the night. Although the restaurant brand has been on the scene for a long time, with restaurants across London, Leeds and Manchester, it is a real treat for them to have chosen to bring their flavours and expertise to Birmingham.
Gaucho regularly host beef and Malbec evenings, as well as chocolate and wine nights. The masterclass we took part in was a specially curated one, but members of the public can have one at request.
