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Pablo Rivero

Don Julio

Pablo Rivero is the current owner and youngest member of Rivero founders. He was in his 20s when the restaurant opened. It’s said that his mother, father, and grandfather, all of whom had backgrounds in beef farming and butchery, helped create the restaurant to give Pablo a job.

“Being Argentine means being in love with the asado and the grill. It is in our DNA. I did not have the opportunity not to fall in love, it was love at first sight”

In the centre of Palermo, one of Buenos Aires’ oldest neighbourhoods, sits perhaps the most celebrated Parrilla establishment in Argentina – Don Julio. Three generations of one family created restaurant in 1992.

The love for the Argentine asado

Pablo Rivero encourages everyone who visits his country to make their own asado. Therefore, he recommends visiting the butcher shops and engaging in a healthy conversation with the managers, who will know how to guide you in choosing the best. He explains that “popular wisdom” is one of the elements that makes its gastronomy so varied and rich.
“Everyone around here has a butcher friend; someone who advises us, helps us get what we want and knows what we like”

“We are not only meat, but we are not meatless”

Parrilla, the Argentinian method of barbecuing, has become ingrained into the cultural and culinary DNA of its country. Its people’s collective love of this philosophy of beef and fire can be seen throughout the land, from its roadsides to its rich country houses. And it’s for this reason that Argentina has formed a reputation as the world’s number one destination for beef.

“We reconstruct rural grill recipes that lost flavour due to industrialization. Moreover, we did a lot of work with the offal, which were the ones that suffered the most from this change. We reconstruct recipes or “flavours” in some cases with the contribution of technology and in other cases logistics”