A Green Market in San Telmo

Good news for vegetarians and health food addicts. Buenos Aires is going green, or at least that’s what foodies here have noticed as one of the new trends. Even San Telmo — always slower to pick up trends than its posh competitor Palermo — is going green. For the third time this year, the outdoor Buenos Aires Market will be held on Caseros Street this Saturday and Sunday between 10am and 6pm.

So if you’re coming to San Telmo tomorrow for our famous and lively street fair which invades Defensa Street for 15 or so blocks all the way down to Plaza de Mayo, don’t forget to head under the highway to one of my favorite parts of the barrio, the other San Telmo.

The Buenos Aires Market is on one of the prettiest streets in the city, Caseros. There’s been an explosion of cute cafes and restaurants on the block just before Defensa: Club Social Delux, Hierbabuena, Caseros, and La Popular. This is the less gentrified part of San Telmo. Fewer tourists, better prices, beautiful architecture, and pretty Parque Lezama.

Street performers.

Being a vegetarian in Argentina isn’t easy, but it’s becoming easier. I’m not a vegetarian, but I do like vegetables. Typically, I avoid restaurants that are labeled “natural.” I never want to eat another cardboard milanesa de soya or plate of pasta swimming in overly sweet tomato sauce and suffocating under a bed of rubbery cheese. Natural here often means no meat and no flavor.

Lots of products to taste and buy.

But the Buenos Aires Market, while it’s not anything like farmer’s markets back home, does have some tasty products and it’s great to see so many people out trying new flavors. There’s hope.

Herbs for sale at the Buenos Aires Market in San Telmo.

And if you are a vegetarian visiting Buenos Aires, don’t despair. There have long been a handful of delicious vegetarian restaurants and in most restaurants there is always something on the menu that doesn’t have meat. Nowadays, there are even more places for vegetarians to choose from.