Interview with Betty & Marcelo: Traditional Barbecue in Buenos Aires
Are you traveling to Buenos Aires for the best time and looking to experience a traditional barbecue in Buenos Aires in a unique local setting?
Then you should consider trying out Betty & Marcelo’s Asado Experience!
The Argentine couple, Betty & Marcelo, decided to make the traditional barbecue in Buenos Aires accessible to travelers by opening the doors to their home to a truly unique local barbecue experience.
The traditional Argentine barbecue, also called asado in Argentine Spanish, is a cornerstone of Argentine culture. But every Argentine also knows that asado is best enjoyed among family and friends!
However, if you’re visiting Buenos Aires for the first time, you might not have any friends or relatives to invite you over for an asado, with Betty & Marcelo’s help and hard work it is now possible for you to experience a true traditional barbecue in Buenos Aires.
In this interview post, I’m giving the floor to Betty to share her and Marcelo’s story and what Betty & Marcelo’s Asado Experience in Buenos Aires is all about!
Let’s get started!
Betty & Marcelo: Share an Asado with a Local Family in Buenos Aires
Get to Know Betty & Marcelo’s Asado Experience in Buenos Aires
Alright, here are just a few things before we get started with the interview with Betty.
After living in Buenos Aires for more than seven years and marrying into an Argentine family, I have learned my ins and outs of Argentine culture and language.
With this blog, I hope to inspire you to discover different parts of Argentina and immerse yourself in Argentine culture.
This new interview series (because hopefully there will be some more interviews later!), I want to give a voice to small local businesses and initiatives to share their story and inspire you to visit them on your trip to Argentina.
Book your asado experience with Betty & Marcelo:
Support a Local Business
When traveling abroad, I love to explore hidden gems and connect with locals. It is a unique local business like Betty & Marcelo that I like to support.
So, if you are like me, and would to support a local business when traveling, Betty & Marcelo’s barbecue experience in Buenos Aires is a great way to do so!
Interview with Betty & Marcelo: A Local Asado Experience
In this interview you will learn more about Betty & Marcelo, their life story, how they got the inspiration to start a traditional barbecue experience in Buenos Aires, and many more reasons why you should make time in your Buenos Aires itinerary to visit Betty & Marcelo!
Let’s get under the skin of Betty & Marcelo!
Hola! Tell us a little about yourself!
I’m Betty, almost 60 years old from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Just a year ago, my husband Marcelo and I decided to start a new project together. We welcome travelers from around the world to our parrilla in Palermo, where we host a family-style asado experience.
During the experience, guests enjoy what we in Argentina call an asado, a three-hour gathering where we serve a variety of meats that Marcelo grills, while I share stories about Argentine culture.
Our daughter, Veronica, helps serve the table and manages our social media, and our son, Guido, supports us behind the scenes with the technical side of things.
What inspired you to start Betty & Marcelo?
Marcelo and I both spent our lives working in our families’ businesses. However, we didn’t truly enjoy it, it wasn’t our passion.
On my side, I studied English-Spanish translation because I’ve always loved languages. My parents were German immigrants, so we spoke German at home. During my youth, I fell in love with Brazilian culture, music, and soap operas, so I also studied Portuguese.
Marcelo, on the other hand, has always loved grilling. Cooking has been his greatest passion, and he’s always been a true beef enthusiast. He was even named the “King of Asado” in Argentina by the country’s most popular YouTube channel dedicated to asado.
As we approached our 60s, we felt tired of Argentina’s constant economic ups and downs and the way they affected our businesses. That’s when we decided to start something new, something we both enjoy and could do together.
How would you describe Betty and Marcelo to somebody visiting Buenos Aires for the first?
“Betty and Marcelo” is exactly the kind of experience I look for every time I travel! My favorite travel memories always come from the moments I’ve shared with locals when I’ve had the chance to spend quality time with them, enjoy their food, and ask questions about their lives and culture.
That’s why we named our experience “Betty and Marcelo”! We felt it was the best way to describe what we offer.
Come, spend time with us, enjoy a fabulous meal, and immerse yourself in our culture.
How would you describe Argentine asado for someone new to Argentina?
Such a good question! Asado is not easy to explain!
First of all, asado refers to a specific bone-in cut of beef. In Argentina, we usually use the word to describe the entire event, a social gathering centered around a grilled meal.
We don’t just eat one type of meat, we enjoy a variety: beef, chicken, pork, sausages, and more. It’s not about one dish, it’s about all of them!
The grill is the star of the show! Everything happens around it. In Argentina, the tradition is to have a family asado for Sunday lunch.
Guests start arriving early in the morning to help the asador (grill master) get things going while sharing some mate. Then more family members begin to arrive, and by around 1 p.m., we kick things off with a choripán (traditional Argentine sausage inside a piece of bread).
Lunch can last for hours, sometimes, it even turns into dinner. It’s a whole day spent with the people you love.
Learn more about Spanish in Argentina & useful words for your travels!
What is the best part of running Betty & Marcelo? And the worst?
The best part is meeting people from all around the world, it feels like traveling without leaving home.
And the worst part? Honestly, getting a bit tired of grilled beef! Becci, if you ever want to invite us over, just make some pasta 😉
What are you most excited about right now with your business?
Right now, I’m most excited about how much our experience has grown. We’re welcoming more and more travelers, and it’s amazing to see people from all over the world connecting with our culture, our food, and our family.
Social media has also created something really special, we share a lot of our day-to-day life there, and some travelers follow us for months before visiting.
Some even bring us gifts from their home countries when they arrive. That truly warms our hearts!
What is your favorite place in Buenos Aires? What makes it such a special place?
My favorite place in Buenos Aires is the neighborhood of Mataderos.
Mataderos is where I grew up, and it has a deep-rooted beef culture and people with strong, vibrant personalities.
On Sundays, there’s a beautiful market, called Feria de Matadores, where local producers sell their goods. There’s music, dancing, and a great vibe.
The Mataderos Market is very different from the Sunday market in San Telmo. At the Mataderos Market, you can truly experience an authentic local atmosphere.
What are your plans for the future?
Our main plan for the future is to keep solidifying the experience. We want to keep doing what we love, sharing our culture, our food, and our family with travelers from around the world while continuing to improve little by little.
Of course, there are times when we feel uncertain and wonder, Will people keep coming?
But every time a new guest walks through the door, we’re reminded why we started this. It gives us hope and motivation to keep going.
Where can we learn more about you?
You can find lots of information and make a reservation on our website: www.bettyandmarcelo.com.
You can also follow us at @bettyandmarcelo on social media:
Book your traditional asado experience in Buenos Aires with Betty & Marcelo:
Find More Unique Local Experiences in Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires is packed with hidden gems that go far beyond the usual tourist spots!
Taste a cup of mate in a quiet neighborhood park, uncover Buenos Aires’ colorful street art in less-known barrios like Villa Urquiza or Colegiales, or discover some of Buenos Aires’s beautiful secret gardens!
Buenos Aires’s hidden gems offer an authentic glimpse into the city’s vibrant everyday life! And if you are looking for inspiration on how to discover more non-touristy things to do in Buenos Aires, check out my complete guide to hidden gems in Buenos Aires!
Rebecca
Rebecca is the voice behind Becci Abroad, a travel blog inspiring you to get under the skin of the world. She is a long-term expat with more than 10 year of living abroad from Spain to Argentina, Cuba, and Sweden.
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