2023-11-05 08:37:00
Being a chef is also a gift.
There are people who, by intervening on a food, manage to give it life so that it is something edible and provokes, at the same time, pleasant sensations in the diner.
One of them is Gastón Alday (32), a man from Roque who just two years ago settled in Villa Llanquín, a picturesque Rio Negro town located on the banks of the Limay River, 40 km from Bariloche. Route 237, kilometer 1610 to be more exact.
He has that gift.
In October 2021 he took over the La Maroma Lodge restaurant, planted in a strategic location from where you can see the course of the Limay with the steppe in the background. It was opened thinking back in 2011 only for fishermen; then for the people of Bariloche, Angostura and Valletanos who chose it for a getaway and today for visitors from the country and abroad who seek relaxation, good gastronomy, climbing, trekking, fishing, cycling, horseback riding, rafting and bird watching.
A decade following this lodge opened, Gastón arrived, with a long professional career.
Last nights, this week, “I was cooking and fine-tuning the last details before starting a new season and I was thinking regarding all the path I have come since I started this project that I have been working on for two years,” the chef tells “Río Negro.” ”.
“The beginning was crazy, full of dreams, expectations and also fears. But always with a clear idea as to what I wanted to achieve and where I was going,” she adds.
Today, something more established and with local experience, Gastón was able to set up a market of preserves and products which he made last winter “with great pride within our kitchen, together with our team.”
He confesses: “The kitchen is the place where I feel most comfortable and it is where I try to convey my love for food: that is why I created a canned brand, Río Arriba. It is a name with which I feel identified. First of all, because of this go once morest the flow, create a product and a proposal where, beyond the adverse conditions, I continue to fight with the conviction that I am on the right path. And secondlyr the raft here in Llanquín that crosses the river from one side to the other only with the force of the water”.
Also “we were able to incorporate with the help of our friends from “Patagonia Vinos” (Bariloche distributor) a menu with more than 60 labels and large wineries like Luigi Bosca, Piatelli and Alta Vista”.
Last winter was also a good time to think regarding and carry out some reforms. “With Micaela Luger, the owner of the logde, we set out to do something in which we believe very strongly and that we carry forward as a premise. We seek to ensure that when our clients leave both the lodge and the restaurant to enjoy lunch or dinner they have a different experience, one that they can connect with the peace and tranquility of the place where we are located.”
“For it We generate new spaces, such as the installation of a large fireplace in the center of the living room that we use for both cooking and heating. In this way, a homely and friendly atmosphere is created between diners and guests… The fire gives rise to conversation between strangers, where we also participate from our place as hosts, making it become a bonfire of friends,” he says. “This is how each one from their place contributes experiences, sensations and visions to each other.”
– Projects from now on?
– I am working on several, such as the creation of my own place to make the preserves to which I want to incorporate smoked and cured meats and at the same time have a direct sales and tasting space.
In relation to this season that is beginning, we have high expectations and we are preparing in the best way to receive all those who want to visit us and get to know this wonderful place.
In this context, today (Sunday the 5th) we are making the official opening of the restaurant and as I wanted it to be something special and to share it with friends, Carlo Puricelli, chef of Cipolletti, comes to light the fires of our grill. We are going to combine some of the things that we are most passionate regarding: fires, delicious food and vermouth.
For this event we put together a menu to have fun. We are going to receive them with a snack of breads and pickles accompanied by a glass of Unico vermouth.
To begin with, we are going to make a deer choripán on French bread with a roast Creole.
I studied gastronomy and in recent years I worked with the great leaders of the cuisine of Río Negro and Neuquén, such as Sebastián Mazzuchelli, Juan Solorza, Carlo Puricelli, Mauricio Couly, Pablo Penedo, Félix Heredia, Jéssica Fernández and Osvaldo López Cafasso, among others.
Gastón Alday, chef of “La Maroma”
The idea is that they can try all the meats that we have at our disposal and that we work with throughout the season. On the stove we are going to cook rolled capon, chorizo steak and some trout and vegetable rolls.
To accompany it we are going to make some lead potatoes with herb butter and a variety of fresh salads.
To finish for dessert we have an iced espresso, which is served on a crumble and cream.
This is how we want to meet once more with the clients and friends who accompany us every season. Although we work with a lot of tourism that comes from other provinces, we have also managed to get many people from the area such as Bariloche, La Angostura and San Martín de los Andes to come and enjoy our dishes and generate word of mouth which makes us very proud and claims that we are doing the best possible.
– What do they always cook, here in “La Maroma”?
– We put together the menu according to what we get from local farmers. as is the case of lambs, goats and trout. This changes week to week, depending on what we get fresh and seasonal.
I enjoy breaking away from the classic structure that people think they can find in a place like Llanquín. There is a certain stigmatization or pigeonholing regarding the type of cooking they believe is done. And this generates an experience full of surprises from the moment they sit down until they leave. Far from only finding roast meat and empanadas. You can try grilled chistorras with free-range eggs, asparagus gratin with bechamel and blue cheese, tempura vegetables with bagna cauda. I try to make simple cuisine with noble and tasty products that I can also have fun with. In my way of seeing and living the kitchen, I seek to make one that is classic with technique, well done without stopping playing and surprising myself behind a kitchen.
Gastón is seen and heard happy, cultivating that gift that some chefs radiate and share.
We make a kitchen with technique where we respect and take great care of the product. You can taste a risotto with goat cheese and lamb cutlets where the flavor of the lamb predominates on our plate. Even a tiradito in which the trout is the protagonist and gets all the praise with that subtle flavor and soft texture that characterizes it.
Gastón Alday, chef from Roque
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