The New York Public Library Digital Gallery has a small collection of 28 digitized images of posters advertising Yiddish theater performances in Buenos Aires during the 1930s and ’40s. NYPL places the items in a comparative perspective with a larger set of posters advertising Yiddish theater in New York during the early 20th century. The NYPL online guide says,

In Buenos Aires, by contrast, the story was quite the reverse. Yiddish theaters had existed there since the beginning of the 20th century, but, controlled by mobsters and patronized by the city’s rollicking Jewish underworld, they had taken on something of the character of the burlesque house and, accordingly, were given a wide berth by members of the official, respectable, larger Jewish community. It was not until the end of the 1920s that the genteel element, with its aspirations toward community and cultural advancement, prevailed. With encouragement from such figures on the New York scene as Thomashefsky, who would visit for the winter while their own companies were closed for the summer, a modest golden age ensued, through the 1930s and into the 1940s, that made Buenos Aires the second city of the world history of Yiddish theater.

The mobsters and “rollicking Jewish underworld” must be a reference to the Zwi Migdal, a bizarre and notorious Jewish criminal organization. I’ll be writing about the strangely fascinating history of Zwi Migdal in a future post.

Santiago in Brooklyn, who appears to be a transplanted porteño, has a funny posting titled Are you from Buenos Aires? with a list of You know you’re a porteño when:

- Nothing is good anymore, it’s bárbaro
- You can walk the entire length of Florida without being heckled once by a money-changer or flyer distributor
- You think nothing of hopping on a bus for 15 hours to get away for the weekend
- You don’t find it surprising that 2 of these hours are spent leaving the city

See his site for more….

We forgot to make reservations for Valentine’s dinner at a nice restaurant. The ones we called at the last minute were all booked, so we just decided to wander around San Telmo looking for a nice place. We ended up at the restaurant of the Casal de Catalunya and it turned out to be a very nice evening.

We’ve noticed this building several times, located at Chacabuco 855. It’s the cultural center for the Catalan community in Buenos Aires. The interior of the building is very nice and architectural buffs should definitely visit it. From the glass front doors the restaurant isn’t visible and you have to ring the buzzer to let the staff know that you are there. Momentarily, a waiter will come to the door and walk you back to the restaurant. Just before the restaurant is a nice bar and a large, spiral staircase. Take a moment to look up at the winding stairs and you will see a beautiful stained glass window in the ceiling.

The tables in the restaurant are spread apart, giving everyone enough room for privacy and a long, relaxing meal. The waitress told us that the restaurant has just re-opened after being closed for many years. In celebration of their re-opening, they have a set menu with a per person price of $38 pesos that lasts until March 3. The regular menu is also available as an option. San Felipe wines are featured heavily in the menu.

For the $38 pesos per person, which includes table service, you get an opening glass of San Felipe extra brut, choice of appetizers, entree, dessert, a bottle of San Felipe wine, and a closing shot of San Felipe Roble Tardio.

For appetizers we got the hongos and the jamón serrano. For the entree, Ceci got the salmon with grilled vegetables and I got the arroz negro with chipirones. I would have preferred more calamari with mine but it was still very good. Midway through, we exchanged plates and also can say that the salmon and vegetables were very good, too. Finally, we both had crema catalana quemada for dessert.

I’m not a great culinary expert and don’t get too excited about any restaurant. The neighborhood parrilla is normally fine with me, but I enjoyed dining at Casal de Catalunya. I recommend it for when you’re in San Telmo and want to avoid the more touristy restaurants.

And, again, the building itself is quite a gem. The building also features the Teatro Margarita Xirgu. We didn’t actually get to see the inside of the theater but I suspect it’s a nice place to see a performance.