Pop-up of the week: Argentine street eats courtesy of Gaucho Bites

Published Jun 28, 2024 5:00 AM

A collage image on both sides of a painting features traditional Argentine Gauchos. In the center, there is a menu displaying various food items offered by the Gaucho Bites pop-up, along with their prices.

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We live in a golden age of chef-driven pop-ups and Los Angeles is at the epicenter, with pop-ups happening at farmers markets, breweries, and other places all over town. We're regularly highlighting our favorites, and would love to hear any suggestions you have. Email me at gchabran@scpr.org or reach out via Instagram.

Who: Marcello Palazzo of Gaucho Bites wants to provide hungry Angelenos with a taste of the Argentine experience. He honed his chops in the kitchen at Nancy Silverton’s Chi Spacca and most recently worked front of the house with Jordan Khan’s Metreoa. Now, he’s striking out on his own with a specific take on Argentine street food.

A man with light skin and brown hair stands in front of a black metal gate. He's wearing a grey T-shirt with a black apron and holding a sandwich with both hands. He smiles and has a small amount of facial hair.

What: The Gaucho Bites menu features two cornerstones of Argentine street food.

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The first is the choripán, best described as a combination of a hot dog and your favorite hot submarine sandwich. The choripán at Gaucho Bites ($13-14) is made with specially sourced ingredients from Catalina’s Market, the first Argentine grocery in SoCal. Palazzo starts by firing the pork, using a sheet pan to cook it at high temperatures, and allow the fat to render in its juices to maximize flavor.

A sandwich sits in the center of a to-go wrapper with a red and white checkered design. The bread is toasted in the center, where the bun is split and packed with a layer of cooked brown meat, topped with a small helping of sliced white onion and dressed arugula. In the center of the sandwich is a wooden toothpick holding it together.

Then he takes a gently toasted bolillo bun and adds his signature chimichurri sauce, thinly sliced onions, and mozzarella cheese, topping it all off with a fresh-tasting arugula, providing a peppery finish. A perfect combo of the juices from the meat, the savoriness of the chimichurri sauce, and the crustiness of the bread. There are vegan and vegetarian options, too.

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The second specialty is empanadas ($5 each, or 3 for $13), encased in a pastry dough that Palazzo makes himself.

He par-cooks them beforehand, firing them to order in just a few seconds. (His weapon of choice is his trusty Gozney Roccbox pizza oven, powered by propane and able to reach temperatures over 900 degrees.) Empanada selections rotate regularly depending on availability and include his “carne cortada a cuchillo,” which translates to “knife-cut beef.” It's a slivered skirt steak sauteed with white onion, garlic, red bell pepper, and the slightest of spices, as Argentine food isn’t known for spicy foods. There are vegetarian options, too.

For dessert, there are decadent dulce de leche-filled alfajores, $3.50 each, or 2 for $6.

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A pair of light skin hands holds a napkins with two light baked empanadas

Where + When: Gaucho Bites pops up throughout Los Angeles and usually posts his weekly schedule on Instagram. This weekend — Sunday, June 29 — Palazzo will be outside The Festival Of Forgotten Grapes at FRANKIE Los Angeles, 300 South Mission Rd. near DTLA. The festival showcases more than 110 unique wine varieties grown in California.

Why: For Palazzo, Gaucho Bites is a labor of love, partly inspired by his yearly visits with his grandfather, who would travel from Argentina to the Bay Area to celebrate his grandson’s birthday. His grandfather passed away a few years ago, but his grandfather’s spirit is felt in all aspects of his dishes. “I want to do what I can to make him proud,” Palazzo says.