Boragó is not to be missed when visiting Santiago, Chile. Currently standing at number 43 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2022 and winner of Flor de Cana’s Sustainable Restaurant Award in 2021, Boragó offers a fine dining experience with a sustainable mission.
Simple yet elegant, the restaurant itself boasts impressively high ceilings in a minimal, industrial space. Concrete floors, dark finishes and floor-to-ceiling windows imply an intentional simplicity and allow the space to speak confidently for itself.
We were seated near the window in a quiet corner (a perfect spot for two early bird, introverted diners) and were promptly greeted by our server. He started us off with two glasses of sparkling wine and fresh glasses of collected Patagonian rainwater. The attention to detail and thoughtful sourcing of ingredients set the stage for the evening.
The Mission
Deeply passionate about sustainability, Chef Rodolfo Guzmán features a hyper-local menu at Boragó. He chooses to highlight ingredients from over 200 foragers and small producers throughout Chile. Boragó even has its own gardens 30 minutes away. The intention is to shine a spotlight on the diversity of native Chilean species of plants, berries and wildlife from every region and type of terrain, from the mountains to the ocean. Guzmán is quoted in The World’s 50 Best, “To understand sustainability, first you have to understand the land and your culture. In our case, we don’t just try to be sustainable, we feel it,” he says. He practices what he preaches, encouraging employees to forage alongside him and assist in tending to the restaurant’s gardens. Even the plates and cutlery were made locally.
The wine menu is thought through in a similar manner. Rather than a typical “wine list,” Boragó considers it a collection, eliminating the stuffiness that is often found in fine dining. Wines that are carried at Boragó rotate often and highlight small, local producers that are also committed to sustainability (and some are very difficult to find elsewhere).
The Meal
The 2021 spring menu was beautiful, celebrating with color, flowers and bright, fresh flavors. Every dish was fabulously presented and explained in depth by our server. Cooking methods, unique ingredients and presentation thoughtfully reflect and tell a story of the Chilean land and indigenous Mapuche people. Consequently, these dishes were symbolic of memories, traditions and history, not shying away from tragedy as well; One dish explicitly represented the lives of Mapuche lost in battles against the Spanish. It was a shocking dish to receive, but bold and integral to the restaurant’s mission.
Another standout dishes included the beef crudo with Michay berries and fresh clover. The presentation is truly unique, shaped on a circular cracker and stood upright, split in half to share for two. The inside of the cracker was lined with house-pounded crudo and berries, while the outside was coated in fresh clover.
My personal favorite was the surf clam cake, resting in a pool of kollof seaweed root broth. This was topped with a clean “rock salad” of leaves harvested near the ocean. The crisp leaves and bright Calyptra Sauvignon Blanc wine pairing cut through the richness of the broth and cake. This literally brought tears of joy to my eyes.
Of course, we always look forward to dessert. We were first served “The Black Sheep of the Family,” a nod to Chef Guzmán’s sentiments of childhood. Unfortunately, the filling escapes me, but the outside is a toasted marshmallow, cleverly made to look like a sheep. The second desert was served in two dishes. One was an ice cream sandwich topped with dried rose petals and the other was an ice brûlée, a mixture of desert plants topped with a thin layer of blackened ice.
The Takeaway
Ultimately we had a wonderful evening, and we happily went back for the next seasonal menu (stay tuned). The level of creativity and bold flavors were unexpected and we walked away feeling as if we had learned more about Chile through those ingredients and stories. Those learnings presented visually will stay with us. Chef Guzmán’s efforts in spotlighting endemic foods, culture and restaurant sustainability are gaining Boragó international recognition. In truth, while I’m surprised at the number of negative online reviews, I have realized this restaurant may not be for everyone. If one anticipates a fine dining experience akin to Le Bernardin or Eleven Madison Park, you will not find it here. While they certainly have their place, what you will find at Boragó is much more important: A celebration of culture and the local land. After all, isn’t that why we travel in the first place?
