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Fernando Rivarola

El Baqueano

Chef Fernando Rivarola is from San Cayetano, in the south of the province of Buenos Aires. His father was an amateur fisherman and hunter, influencing his vocation for cooking “native” products, a word he prefers to call “regional”.

He studied gastronomy in Mar del Plata. In 2000 he went to work in Italy and Spain, until he was summoned by chef Luis Lera, in Toro, Zamora, who specialized in game meats and who today is the great reference in hunting cuisine. Here, Fernando had a turning point in his career, because Lera opened the door to the world of “avant-garde contemporary cuisine”. For this reason, since he returned to his homeland 16 years ago, he has developed a kitchen with native products.

Fernando returned because he missed his homeland and settled in San Telmo, a neighbourhood that has enchanted him and that he travels by bicycle. In July 2008 he associated with the sommelier Gabriela Lafuente and together, they opened the restaurant “El Baqueano”.

El Baqueano is dedicated to contemporary native Argentine cuisine, working with small local producers, and visiting collectors and fishermen in all ecoregions of the country.

What does it mean to be an Baqueano?

The Baqueano comes from its etymological root baquía, which means the practical knowledge of the paths, shortcuts, paths and rivers of a particular territory.
Sometimes the figure is a man who sometimes searches, tracks, accompanies, knows, understands and blends in with the land.

For 13 years El Baqueano was located in the neighbourhood of San Telmo, from where he worked tirelessly to spread the most incredible products to the whole world, at their best seasonal moment and from the 18 ecoregions of the country.

From there he managed to obtain the most important awards for Argentine gastronomy, as well as a prestigious place among the great restaurants of the continent.

In tune with the consequence of his work, recently the restaurant moves to the city of Salta, precisely on the San Bernardo hill, where through a new multi-space, equipped with an events room, restaurant, confectionery, R&D department, and the incorporation of the first national gastronomic public library, leading the launch of ¨Milpa Project¨, a physical and virtual space to work in synergy, much closer than ever to the producers.

Contemporary native cuisine in Argentina

El Baqueano is dedicated to contemporary native Argentine cuisine, working with small local producers, and visiting collectors and fishermen in all ecoregions of the country.

In addition to the products that can be found on each seasonal menu, the restaurant specializes in local and alternative meats.

The meats that can be found vary according to their seasonality and market demand. They can range from the traditional ones, rhea, alligator, llama, vizcacha, including fish from the Atlantic coast, white salmon, pomfret, sea bass, grouper, river fish such as pacú, fresh seafood from the San Matías Gulf, various birds, even meat unconventional such as buffalo, wild boar and deer.

The offer is complemented by a wide variety of products from the different biomes, among which the use of fruits from the north such as the cayote and the edible wood of yacaratiá from Misiones, araucaria pine nuts and rose hips from Patagonia, among others.