Restaurant Review: Tegui in Buenos Aires

Usually, restaurants vie for attention in Buenos Aires’s Palermo Viejo neighborhood. Tegui, which the star chef Germán Martitegui opened in January 2009, tries a different approach. With its graffiti-covered facade and tiny lettering on an ugly security door, it’s easy to miss. But that would be a shame, given what awaits inside.

The narrow space seats only 45 and is a change from Mr. Martitegui’s other ventures in the city, including the glamorous Casa Cruz, which serves Mediterranean cuisine and feels like a nightclub, and Olsen, a split-level Scandinavian seafood restaurant with a 1960s Brady Bunch-style décor.

Mr. Martitegui wanted Tegui to be under the radar. “Casa Cruz is a place to be seen,” he said. “I think people need to be hidden. That was the idea with this place.” He added that he had not advertised, relying solely on word of mouth.

http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/travel/25bites.html?ref=dining