La Cabaña: Past and Present

Part One  |  Part Two

The restaurant became an instant success, with two groups of clientele. Those wanting a quiet family dinner and those who arrived in the early hours, after an evening of entertainment in the theatres and bars of Buenos Aires, and stayed until dawn. The comfortable surroundings and the restaurant's signature dish, the "Grand Baby Beef" - one and a half kilos of the best beef in the world - kept people coming back time after time. 

The oven baked Lomo Eduardo VII, the Baked Alaska, a truly enviable wine cellar and superb but friendly service were more reasons that added to La Cabaña's increasingly high profile during the sixties, when over 1200 clients passed through the heavy wooden doors.

The warm atmosphere, packed with personalities and the extraordinary quality of the beef ensured a rich history of distinguished clients and guests, and especially foreign visitors whose verdict was incorporated in to the logo, “The Best Beef of The World”. A thick book known to the regulars as the Libro de Oro (Golden Book) collected the many visits of famous people from around the globe.

When the original La Cabaña closed its doors in 1996, Orient-Express Hotels decided to buy both its name and contents, including a treasured file of historic photos and artefacts. With a fabled past that includes tales of romance and intrigue, and famous names from Louis Armstrong to Fidel Castro, La Cabaña deserves a place in modern history.