By Dereck Foster
For the Herald

There are, as we all well know, an infinite variety of different food services which shelter under the umbrella name of restaurant. From simple shacks with a table or two and a menu that practically does not exist, to luxurious establishments which serve a wide selection of different attractions, starting with three star cuisines and including comfort, service, luxury and stratospheric prices, we have a truly incredible number of choices.

Customarily we fix most of our attention upon the type which we could call medium or typical -places where in reasonable comfort we can expect acvceptable quality and service (and hopefully, price). However there is one type of restaurant that is very prevalent but which generally escapes our attention or, if it does catch our eye, is misinterpreted. I am referring to hotel restaurants.

What makes a hotel restaurant different from most others? It is not a matter of quality, because hotels offer restaurants that run the gamut from poor to outstanding. It is scarcely a matter of opening hours because hotel restaurants are open daily the year round. It is rarely a matter of prestige: the number of hotel restaurants that outshine the hotel wherein they operate is, percentagewise and on a world scale, almost infinite. No, the basic difference that separates a hotel restaurant from a normal restaurant is that the former is a service and the latter is a business.

A hotel - as different from an inn or a lodging - is obliged, (by law or custom) to offer some sort of food service to its guests. Be it just breakfast, to a 24 hour daily service, a structure that can be called a restaurant is at the service of the guests. This service is not structured to be a profitable business - it rarely is - but is intended to draw custom to its rooms and other services. As such a hotel restaurant can be - contrary to what many people believe - a better price/quality option than many of the restaurants surrounding it.

Many hotels attempt to harvest the best of all worlds, setting up restaurants that deserve top rating without overstepping the invisible division which divides costly from expensive.

In Buenos Aires, we are fortunate to enjoy several hotels which fit into this slot, and one of the most active is, without and argument, the restaurant run by the Caesar Park and which goes by the name of Agraz (4819-1129). This restaurant has housed in its kitchens such local luminaries as Marchitegui and several visiting European stars, such as the Italian Franco Madalozzo.

During the past five years, however, the guiding light in the Agraz kitchen has been a true star who has preferred to maintain a low profile and a high standard of cuisine that has made her domaine a definite safe spot where to enjoy a satisfying and genuinely authentic meal.

Outside her professional circle the name of Micaela Conesa is not widely known, which is probably a good thing - stars have a habit of shooting too soon - although Micaella fully deserves the thanks of those who enjoy her creations. The other day I had the opportunity and the pleasure to taste a selection of items that are now appearing on her summer menu, designed to last until at least up to next March.

To itemize all the novelties with which Micaela has loaded her new menu would be a trifle long, but there are a few items which must be mentioned.

To begin with, an item which figures as Mediterranean Sashimi, a delicious combination of flavours where the hot presence of Jalapeño peppers is clearly evident - butnot recommended for timid Argentine palates ($46 pesos). The name may be confussing because as far as I am aware, Jalapeño peppers have no connection with the Mediterranean. But who cares when one can enjoy the error?

A true novelty, which should not be passed over, is the Ñandu Carpaccio ($55pesos), where the South American ostrich comes garnished with a delicious marmalade of red berries and onions.

The Ballotina de Codorniz ($67 pesos), is a superb sort of rolled quail matambre served with pickles and the ingenious combination of oysters and grilled thymus. The Risotto ($82 pesos) indicates clearly in what direction the imagination and skill of Micaela Conesa is orientated. In a more traditional and simple way, the Matambrito al ladrillo (flank steak cooked on hot bricks) served with sweet and normal potatoes ($75 pesos).

And having reached this far, going into a description of the dessert section is almost unnecessary. Ranging between $26 and $38 pesos one can plumge into a world of delicate sweetness that ruins any intention to rein in the calories.

The food is very artistically, but practically, served and in reasonable portions that justify its price. An average three course meal, without drink, ranges between $120 and $150 pesos, a price level which I have compared with at least one restaurant in the same area offering rather less in quality and attraction, and represents about 20% less in the hotel's favour.