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[title]Narda Lepes and Julieta Caruso have opened Esqueje in Chacras de Coria, together with Raúl Roitman and Ignacio Bordón, partners with extensive experience in Mendoza’s food scene. The kitchen puts Mendoza’s local produce and home-style cooking front and center, two starting points for a concept that aims to put down roots in the province. The name comes from that idea: a cutting is a fragment of a plant capable of developing new roots and growing into a new one. “We are putting down roots in Mendoza. The plant is already planted here, and we’re going to grow with it,” says Narda Lepes. The phrase also captures the way the restaurant was built, alongside people who know the province and through an exchange with their teams, products and ways of doing things.
The menu is short and shaped by the ingredients, simplicity and the personal perspective of both chefs. Tomatoes, lemon, potatoes, garlic, olives, grapes, quinces and apricots are among the ingredients that appear throughout the dishes. From them, Narda and Juli have created a menu that brings together different recipes and allows guests to choose according to the time of day.
The menu starts with ingredients and dishes that are part of everyday life. “We like food that brings people together around a table, food that is shared and invites you to try a little bit of everything,” says Juli Caruso.
Esqueje is open all day, every day of the week, and closes in the afternoon on Sundays. You can stop by for breakfast, lunch, an afternoon snack or dinner. The menu changes depending on the time of day. In the morning, there is homemade yogurt with granola, fresh fruit and honey; seasonal fruit; bread and toast with different toppings; mbejú with avocado and a fried egg; and the house mbejú, made with cassava and cheese, also available gluten-free. There are also Mendoza-style tortitas and syrup-glazed medialunas. At the counter, you’ll find chipá, cornstarch alfajores, almond sticks, cream cheese and raspberry pepas, Matilda chocolate cake and chocolate cookies.
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At lunchtime and in the evening, the menu adds other dishes with that comforting taste of home cooking: the grandmother’s minestra soup, hummus with toast and olives, cured trout with crispy potato terrine, rice croquettes with spicy mayonnaise, grilled polenta, provoleta, Paquita Lepes’ fried beef empanadas and fried cassava from Misiones, among others. The starters are generous, followed by salads and pasta dishes including cannelloni, gnocchi, spaghetti with meatballs and lasagna, as well as meats such as ribeye, milanesas and chicken leg and thigh, plus fish. During the week, they also offer a lunchtime set menu.
The same idea carries through to the desserts: an XL dulce de leche pancake, flan with cream and dulce de leche, and Piedmontese tiramisu, the most popular choice. It is a menu that feels familiar and tempting, with dishes that evoke home cooking alongside others that change over time. “There will always be something new to try. There will always be something familiar to come back to,” say the chefs.
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The space complements the concept with a combination of colors that changes from one corner to another. Red takes center stage, alongside the gray of the surroundings. There is also gold, pink and blue, spread across the menus, uniforms and different details throughout the dining room.
Esqueje is just getting started, and the project has more stages ahead: the outdoor area, a shop selling products and an enclosed terrace for gatherings, birthdays and private events will be added later on. For now, the restaurant has begun with everyday cooking, Mendoza produce and dishes shaped by the perspective of Narda Lepes and Julieta Caruso. A place to eat, linger for a while and, perhaps, even bring a smile to the youngest diners.
