Argentina lots in 50 Best’s Bid for Recovery auction include Mendoza trip

There are just two days left to support the world’s biggest gastronomic auction and Argentina has two lots participating that you can still bid for: a multi-sensorial gastronomy experience with Tegui, plus wining and dining in both Buenos Aires and Mendoza in the company of Don Julio.

An initiative led by the World’s 50 Best Restaurants in association with S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, the ‘Bid for Recovery’ auction is being hosted online until 12 July 2020. The largest global event of its kind aiming to raise funds that will provide direct and tangible financial relief for restaurants and bars as they emerge from the coronavirus pandemic, there are more than 160 lots, out-of-this-world gastronomic experiences, bucket-list-worthy travel packages as well as rare and limited-edition items that you could never usually bag.

Opening up the digital auction catalogue, it certainly bears the hallmarks of a luxury travel brochure, such as four days aboard a Neapolitan yacht, tickets to the 2021 50 Best ceremony in Antwerp, a Dominican Republic rum escape and a three-day dining experience with Moscow’s White Rabbit as well as more curious experiences such as mezcal tasting in Hong Kong (I’d stick my money in if were taking place in Oaxaca, rather than Asia).

The ‘Bid for Recovery’s intention is clearly a noble one, however, and funds raised will be given back to hospitality businesses, who can apply for a grant later this month. The 50 Best organisation is also backing non-profits around the world supporting restaurants while feeding the hungry at this difficult time, and you can find out how funds such as direct grants and donations will be distributed via the 50’s community interest company (CIC) here. 

In Argentina, Lot 44 has been put together by Germán Martitegui, where the winning bidder gets to discover Buenos Aires through the chef-owner of Tegui, crowned Best Restaurant in Argentina in five editions of Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants. On this 24-hour tour with the chef himself, you will visit Buenos Aires’s bustling Mercado Central to try typical local cuisine before eating lunch in a traditional tavern in La Boca. In the afternoon, you’ll drink mate and browse some stores before heading to Tegui for a special tasting menu dinner with drinks pairing. The current bid is £750.

Meanwhile, Pablo Rivero, owner and sommelier of Parrilla Don Julio, has put together an immersive three-day Argentina tasting experience for Lot 2 that includes 24 hours in Mendoza wine country. Not only will the winning bidder sample Argentina’s best meat and wines with host-with-the-most Pablo, visiting Don Julio’s meat suppliers, but the Mendoza leg will doubtless be an unforgettable tour squeezing in tastings with as many of Pablo’s winemaker friends as possible. Likely stop-offs (currently unconfirmed) include visiting legends such as the Michelini brothers, Sebastián Zuccardi, David Bonomi and Eddy del Popolo and, depending on the time of year, there could even be a liberating naked fiesta among the vineyards… but that of course is up to the winning bidder. The current bid is £8,759 including flights and accommodation.

If these prices are out of your league, check out the spirits, liqueurs and special vintages and what the heck, place a bid. You never know, you might win a box of two dozen Spéciale No. 2 oysters and eat them in the knowledge that you’re helping the world’s ailing bar and restaurants sector at the same time. Check out all lots here.

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