Dining with Uncle Benito

April 24th, 2012 | Food & Wine

You might be forgiven for thinking that the most famous thing about the village of Barrantes are its traffic lights (about 5 sets in the space of 200 metres – not synchronised), but you’d be wrong. Excluding Bodegas Castro Martin (that is not actually located in the village itself), there is a small family restaurant called O Tìo Benito, which loosely translated means With Uncle Benito, or perhaps At the table of Uncle Benito. Described in our local press recently as a ‘temple of cooking with a common touch’.

Clearly, when we’re working, we usually don’t have time to take lunch outside the bodega, but if we did, this would certainly be at the top of our list for local dining. Now, I’m not suggesting that this is a Michelin starred restaurant, but when it comes to honest, down-to-earth, great home cooking, then this is certainly the place to go. Run by Camilo Lojo, his wife Saladina and daughter Irene, this local landmark was established almost 40 years ago, and I swear that people have been queuing to get in ever since! I should tell you that the place is always packed (with locals rather than tourists), which is always the true indicator of good quality and value. Indeed, in my many years travelling the world as a buyer, I would always make a point of actively seeking out the small local restaurants that were overflowing with local people….. I have rarely had a bad meal working on this basis.

Tìo Benito is a place that we use to take visitors for lunch, so that they can savor the village atmosphere as well as it’s typical food. Famed for it’s Cod, Octopus, Cocido and other local dishes it has a fixed menu, and several other dishes that are rotated on a daily basis. It is also well-known for its award winning Tinto de Barrantes – the local wine that is guaranteed to stain you teeth a deep red colour. I’m afraid to admit that this is not my favourite tipple. On the other hand however, my personal recommendation is the selection of freshly homemade desserts, most especially the oven baked cheesecake, which is often still warm from the oven when it is served – heaven! I love this so much that Angela will often buy a whole one for me in place of a birthday cake. I don’t eat it in one sitting, but it certainly doesn’t last too long, and I only share it with others very grudgingly (typical old git that I am!)

We are currently slotting an oven and hotplate into our tiny kitchen in the Bodega, and I will write more about this later, but in the meantime we will have to settle for the table of our Uncle Benito.

You might be forgiven for thinking that the most famous thing about the village of Barrantes are its traffic lights (about 5 sets in the space of 200 metres – not synchronised), but you’d be wrong. Excluding Bodegas Castro Martin (that is not actually located in the village itself), there is a small family restaurant called O Tìo Benito, which loosely translated means With Uncle Benito, or perhaps At the table of Uncle Benito. Described in our local press recently as a ‘temple of cooking with a common touch’.

Clearly, when we’re working, we usually don’t have time to take lunch outside the bodega, but if we did, this would certainly be at the top of our list for local dining. Now, I’m not suggesting that this is a Michelin starred restaurant, but when it comes to honest, down-to-earth, great home cooking, then this is certainly the place to go. Run by Camilo Lojo, his wife Saladina and daughter Irene, this local landmark was established almost 40 years ago, and I swear that people have been queuing to get in ever since! I should tell you that the place is always packed (with locals rather than tourists), which is always the true indicator of good quality and value. Indeed, in my many years travelling the world as a buyer, I would always make a point of actively seeking out the small local restaurants that were overflowing with local people….. I have rarely had a bad meal working on this basis.

Tìo Benito is a place that we use to take visitors for lunch, so that they can savor the village atmosphere as well as it’s typical food. Famed for it’s Cod, Octopus, Cocido and other local dishes it has a fixed menu, and several other dishes that are rotated on a daily basis. It is also well-known for its award winning Tinto de Barrantes – the local wine that is guaranteed to stain you teeth a deep red colour. I’m afraid to admit that this is not my favourite tipple. On the other hand however, my personal recommendation is the selection of freshly homemade desserts, most especially the oven baked cheesecake, which is often still warm from the oven when it is served – heaven! I love this so much that Angela will often buy a whole one for me in place of a birthday cake. I don’t eat it in one sitting, but it certainly doesn’t last too long, and I only share it with others very grudgingly (typical old git that I am!)

We are currently slotting an oven and hotplate into our tiny kitchen in the Bodega, and I will write more about this later, but in the meantime we will have to settle for the table of our Uncle Benito.

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