Javier Rodríguez

When Javier Rodríguez opened El Papagayo in his hometown of Córdoba, Argentina, he set himself the not inconsiderable task of “sparking off a nationwide culinary movement”. Ten years on and it’s safe to say it’s mission accomplished. Ranked among the top one hundred restaurants in Latin America, Javier’s very personal project champions regional traditions and techniques from central Argentina, and sits at the heart of a mini gastro-empire that includes restaurants, cafés, a bakery and even a boutique hotel.

El Papagayo’s twelve-course tasting menu reflects Córdoba’s unique geography, flanked between the pampas and the Sierras Chicas mountains. Of course there’s red meat - of the dry-aged ribeye variety, cooked with intense heat and patience - but Javier’s beautifully executed repertoire of elevated serrano flavours also includes more unusual combinations like ‘langoustine, maíz and merkén’, ‘tomato tonnato’ and ‘roast duck, peach, paprika, pine nut and sweet vermouth’. 

Javier perfected his craft at some of the world’s very best (Noma, Tetsuya’s, Restaurant Andre) and also happens to be Carousel’s very first guest chef, way back in the summer of 2014. We owe him a debt of gratitude, as do the countless young Argentinians that he’s inspired this past decade as he’s successfully moved the dial for modern Argentine gastronomy.