Let’s not leave Argentina Bakery. It’s an oasis off the gray, concrete desert highway. Glass and cement outside, fire-grilled chorizo sandwiches, smooth lighting, and cookies buried under a foot of powdered sugar inside. Between the stale army of strip malls and sandwich chains that reduce cold cuts to slices of wet paper in Irving, Argentina Bakery has enough sandwiches, coffee, and croissants to outlast whatever comes next. Plagues? Locusts? Undead cowboys from Fort Worth? You can find me at Argentina Bakery, riding it all out.
It’s lunchtime, and after sinking into the cafe’s choripán (two flame-plumped chorizo links awash in an electric-bright chimichurri sauce, stacked with lettuce, tomato, and mayo in between freshly-baked bread), I felt something I haven’t felt in months. The message: Let’s not leave for the day; let’s keep ordering food. We can keep ordering sandwiches like the lomito, a full slab of tenderloin steak, good Argentinian ham, cheese, and, yes, oh hell yes, two fried eggs, and a generous swipe of mayo. Rest, my child, your day has been long without lomito. Linger long enough in the cafe, and you’ll wonder how owner Luly Le Donne has made this little paradise happen.
For the first handful of years of her bakery, Le Donne’s mother braided dough in the kitchen. Empanadas are found everywhere back home—Argentina’s mountainous Mendoza province—and who else but Mom can serve up the food that instantly transports you back to the warmest food memories that you own? 23 years have passed since opening day, and instead of being crushed by the economic hell of owning a home-spun bakery in the middle of Irving, Texas, Le Donne has expanded her once-small storefront into a full-fledged restaurant brimming with dazzling treats, pastries, and the most famous sandwich in all of Argentina…