When I hire someone I look for 3 things: attitude, teamwork, and being a good person, says Argentine chef and owner of a Michelin-starred restaurant, Tomás Treschanski
South American heritage
How exactly do you work with the culinary culture of South America?
Argentina differs from other South American countries. Unlike Mexico or Peru, with their deep pre-colonial settlements and distinct culinary identities, indigenous groups here were largely nomadic. As a result, Argentina lacks those deep pre-colonial roots. Instead, our history is defined by massive immigration from Spain and Italy between the 1800s and 1900s. This left us deeply rooted in European culture, which is why visitors find the country so familiar. Food-wise, our identity is still evolving. While we have traditional staples like barbecues and empanadas, much of our diet – milanesas, pizza, pasta – is heavily influenced by Europe. When I opened the restaurant, I wondered how to define it as "Argentinian." There’s a trend in South America to create "nationalist" restaurants that emphasize local heritage, but I didn’t want to force a story that didn’t feel authentic.
What is contemporary Argentine cuisine? How would you describe it?
I always say that we use Argentinian ingredients, but with influences from around the world. We define ourselves as an Argentinian restaurant because all our ingredients are locally sourced. One of the most enjoyable aspects of running this restaurant is searching for unique ingredients and connecting with local producers. Ultimately, however, our food isn’t strictly traditional Argentinian cuisine. We embrace global influences while letting Argentine produce drive our cooking.
Would you say that South American hospitality is in general somehow different from what you've experienced elsewhere? More warming, more welcoming?
Yes, I do think so. While there are countless incredible restaurants in Europe with impeccable hospitality, I believe it comes down to culture. It’s not just here; countries like Argentina, Brazil, Spain, and Italy share a naturally welcoming, social atmosphere that translates directly into the restaurant experience. Staff is often more relaxed, making jokes and creating a warm, comfortable ambiance.
However, the landscape is definitely evolving, especially among the new generation of restaurants. There’s a contrast between operators under 40 and those who have been running establishments for 60 or 70 years. The latter often hold onto that 'old school' service, where waiters stay for 40 or 50 years, something you rarely see anywhere in the world anymore. The traditional front-of-house career path is fading; there are fewer hospitality schools, and many servers today treat restaurant work as a temporary job while studying. It’s a pity, but the industry is changing. I don’t believe it’s necessarily better or worse, just different. We have to adapt, embrace the positives, and evolve alongside it.
It’s all about constant learning
You’ve achieved recognition from the Michelin Guide and the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. How have these accolades impacted both you and the restaurant?
These awards are economically vital. They provide global recognition and standards that give customers the trust to invest in a high-end menu. Winning a Michelin star was a personal dream come true, but its real impact was practical: we went from struggling during our opening months to being fully booked for four months ahead. Ultimately, these accolades bridge the gap between our costs and guest confidence.
How is the culinary profession perceived in Argentina, and are younger generations still drawn to the craft?
It’s a global issue. There’s a shortage of chefs everywhere, though it’s tougher here in Argentina due to the economic situation. It’s a demanding profession that requires immense passion, especially since the pay isn't always attractive. You really have to have a lot of passion. I'm not the only one saying it. But I mean there are new chefs, newcomers, new ideas, new restaurants all the time. I think everything is changing a little bit. The industry is changing as well as the salaries, the hours that people work. So I think all these changes are going to help the industry get better, healthier and there will be more chefs in the future obviously with a different mindset.
When you're hiring a new chef, what are the three things you're looking at?
Attitude is everything. A resume matters only to show they’ve worked in places with similar standards, but the curriculum itself isn't my focus. I value how they move in the kitchen, how they treat colleagues. Their work ethic is far more important to me than technical skills like cleaning fish or making stock, those can be taught. Ultimately, I look for three things: attitude, teamwork, and being a good person.
What do you think is the most important thing for a chef when it comes to learning and development?
You never stop learning. It’s one of the things I love about this industry. I’ve realized that I don’t know everything. Here, we learn every day; we discover how to make things better, or at least how we think they could be better. The only thing that prevents me from getting bored is avoiding doing the same thing every day.
We evolve our food and tweak details in our dishes. The way we cook meat or vegetables, or how we greet our customers. Working on those little details constantly helps us improve, move forward, and stay humble. It doesn’t matter if you’re 20, 30, or 40—you’re always learning. Personally, I’m more open to learning now than when I was 18. Back then, I thought I knew a lot, but now I realize I know nothing.
You studied at Le Cordon Bleu. What did it give you in general? And what memories do you have of those times?
For me, it really helped me understand that I actually wanted to be a chef. I knew I loved cooking. I'd watched cooking channels since I was 14 and baked bread at home, which I don't think is normal for a high schooler. Yet, I still had doubts. After just a day or two there, I fell in love with it. I started reading and constantly looking for things to learn about the industry and food. I think the teachers there made the real difference. They were all truly great chefs. Most of them had won Michelin stars or worked in top-tier kitchens, bringing years of industry experience. However, it's difficult to transmit the actual feeling of working in a restaurant. It's very different to learn how to cook versus learning how to cook in a professional kitchen. But they made me fall in love with fine dining. That attention to detail was one of the main things I gained there. Additionally, the facilities and the products were incredible. Here in Argentina, it can be very difficult to source certain seafood or specific ingredients. When I was there, they gave me duck, foie gras, lobster – so many other things I had never worked with before.
Looking for identity
I know you just said that “you know nothing” and I love that way of thinking, but still, what does a chef or a restaurant need to know or do in order to find their cooking identity?
That is one of the most difficult things for a restaurant or a chef to do. It's common when you start your own restaurant or create your own dishes to copy what you've seen in other restaurants where you've worked or places you've been. It's natural, you haven't developed your own voice yet. That was the beginning for me, for sure, because I didn't know what I loved to cook; I just knew what I liked to eat and make in different places.
To answer your question, it’s important to realize that you will never be 100% happy with it; it's something you’re constantly developing. Every dish we make helps us feel more comfortable with the menu and makes it feel more personal and familiar. That’s why the restaurant gets better over time. By the way, one of the nicest compliments you can give a chef is to say that their personality is reflected in the food. Nowadays, especially in fine dining, you find the same dishes in New York, Singapore, and Buenos Aires, just a good duck with a good sauce and a good puree. You can find that anywhere. When you find personality, the way ingredients, flavors, spices, and heat are mixed, that’s what I’m looking for when I go to eat. I hope people see that personality in my dishes.
Would you say you brought some of the influence or impact from your stages?
Definitely. This restaurant is a mix of all the places I’ve worked and fell in love with. As I said, when we opened, the menu was almost a copy-paste of the things I loved from everywhere I’d been. The restaurant itself, its inspirations, and its details also come from those places. I'm proud of all the places I worked in. Stages are important because they shape your mind, help you understand your style, and define what you want to be as a chef. When you work for someone else, you follow orders. When you have your own space, you have to make those decisions and they aren't easy.
Small restaurant, big number of meetings
How many people do you have on the team and how do you adapt the number of the people to the concept, the menu, the workload?
Now we are around 25, more or less, people in the restaurant. There’s a lot for us. We don't even have more lockers or space (laugh). We adjust our staffing levels based on the season and workload, adding a few extra people during the high season. Our production team works Monday through Friday mornings, and our service team works the four days we are open. We also have a two-person test kitchen team with flexible hours to accommodate their creative development. Since we opened, our team has grown by about 10 people. We also consistently host stages, as many people are eager to learn from us. Having valued my own stage experiences, I understand the commitment required to move abroad for a few months, so we ensure it is a valuable learning opportunity for them.
And what would you say that is essential for such a small team? Rituals, team-buildings, meetings?
We hold frequent meetings and prioritize thorough introductions for new team members. We understand that every restaurant operates like a unique world with its own distinct culture, so those meetings are essential. While culinary fundamentals may be universal, each establishment has its own rhythm, and our approach is deeply personal. Because of this, it typically takes a few weeks for new hires to fully adapt, so we make our onboarding as intensive, in a good way, as possible to help them settle in quickly. We maintain a routine of daily meetings, before and after service, to openly discuss everything happening in the restaurant, from our successes to our mistakes. This constant dialogue ensures everyone remains aligned with our standards and goals for improvement.
Small changes, big improvements
What is your approach to building a new menu?
We don't do a full menu overhaul every few months as many places do. The problem with a seasonal flip is that in the first week after the change, guests are essentially served a "lesser" version of the menu. It's impossible to perfect every dish at once. That transition week is hell in any restaurant as I remember it from other places. Because I want to avoid that, we don't change the entire menu at once. Instead, we update one or two items every three weeks or so.
This way, the menu evolves significantly over three or four months, adapting to seasonal ingredients without the chaos. When deciding what to change, I usually look at the oldest dish on the menu. Often, that’s the one I’ve become tired of or that has simply run its course. And if we aren't changing a specific dish, we continue to develop it because it's a fundamental part of our job. We have two people whose entire focus is development, not just training on existing recipes. When we decide to change something, we pull from these ongoing projects. I don't like to think that we only work to create specific dishes; we explore to find new ingredients and sauces, and the dishes eventually emerge from that research.
And is it usually you who initiates that, or do your sous chefs lead the process? What does the development of a single dish look like?
One of my sous chefs is in charge of the test kitchen, and I work closely with him. While the whole leadership team participates in tastings and shares their opinions, I am working on the creative side with him daily. We have weekly meetings to discuss the current projects, including fermentations that might take a month or even a year. Every week, we hold a tasting to review the week's work. It's a constant cycle of experimentation.
We identify specific flavors or components we want to develop, for example, a new mousse or a variation of a protein. If we want to make a puree, we might try thirty different versions. I remember we once tried eighty different ways of cooking sweetbreads to find the perfect texture and temperature. The result wasn't even the one we expected. You can only achieve that when you have a dedicated space to make mistakes.
Is there a specific message you are trying to communicate to your customers?
The primary message is simply good food. For me, that is the absolute priority. If a guest doesn't like the food, nothing else matters. Not the hospitality, the wine, nor the service. When I visit a restaurant as a customer, even free champagne won't make up for a poor meal. Beyond the food, it's about making people feel welcome and at home. I don't like fine dining that is overly structured or tense, where you feel you can't even laugh. There is a thin line between maintaining high standards and ensuring the environment is relaxed. Our front-of-house team has to read every guest, some want detailed explanations and personal interaction, while others prefer a private, quiet dinner.
I don't want to be arrogant preaching about our fermentation or the hundred ingredients in a dish. If a dish is complex, that complexity is for us, the chefs. Ultimately, what matters most to the guest is that the food tastes exceptional. My goal is for people to arrive, enjoy a great meal, and have a truly memorable experience.
Produce comes first
What’s always on the menu?
We maintain a core structure. Our menu typically features two main protein dishes, often red meats like beef, pork, or venison, while the majority of the remaining courses focus on seafood. We are passionate about highlighting Argentina’s diverse marine ingredients, despite the difficulties in sourcing high-quality products. We also include at least one vegetarian dish, and the meal always begins with snacks and ends with a dessert.
What is the best tasting menu you have ever had? Something that really stayed with you from anywhere in the world.
What I enjoy most is a great product. When I taste something and it retains its pure, natural essence. It’s rare, but occasionally a dish is so perfectly executed that it genuinely makes me smile. Sometimes that reaction is triggered by a nostalgic flavor, which is subjective, but mostly, it’s about the quality.
Recently, I visited New York and had one of the best meals of my life at The Chefs Table at Brooklyn Fare. It was incredible; they source the finest ingredients from around the world, like Hokkaido seafood, and elevate them with a modern twist, combining classic French techniques with global spices. I also have a great appreciation for Frantzén in Sweden. It’s a product-driven restaurant with a similar philosophy, blending top-tier global ingredients with subtle Japanese influences. These are the kinds of restaurants I admire most: those that prioritize product quality while bringing a unique, personal perspective.
Theatre stage with a menu structure
Your seating capacity is relatively small. Do you find time to have a direct contact or conversation with each table during the service?
We host two seatings of 12 each night, totaling 24 guests. While I am naturally very focused during service and often prefer to concentrate entirely on the cooking, I’ve realized that since the restaurant bears my name, engaging with guests is essential. I make a conscious effort to greet everyone and thank them for joining us, even when I'm 'in the zone.'
Everyone here is part of the show. Unlike most places where the kitchen is hidden, our space is a blend of kitchen and theater. Whether I’m having a good or bad day, I need to step out, smile, and deliver seamless service while everyone watches and takes pictures. It requires being tidy, present, and communicative at all times. I enjoy that connection, it's far more engaging to interact with different people than to remain isolated in the back. Because the table is only a few feet from where we cook, we have to be mindful of everything we say. It feels like performing on stage, but I love that dynamic. I’ve always preferred dining at restaurants with an open kitchen where the entire staff participates, rather than the standard model where you only see one server all night.
Although you aren't stationed front-of-house, you are still the owner and operate an open kitchen where you can observe guest reactions. Does this provide you with direct, real-time feedback?
I keep telling my teammates that one of the greatest benefits of this restaurant is the constant, daily feedback, something you don’t find in every kitchen. Despite the stress and fast pace of service, it’s incredibly rewarding. When a guest tells us at the end of the evening that it was the best meal of their life, it makes every moment of effort worthwhile. There are nights when I feel exhausted or stressed and think the service didn't go perfectly, as I tend to focus on our minor mistakes rather than the successes. Yet, speaking with our guests and hearing their genuine appreciation shifts that perspective entirely. It allows us to understand what went wrong, but more importantly, it leaves me feeling happy, joyful, and grateful for the connection we’ve made.
And what do you think is the key to understanding the guest?
Obviously, we do a bit of research on every customer before they arrive. We like to know who is coming and what they do for a living. If they are in the industry, we might approach them differently than, let’s say, a corporate executive. Ultimately, though, it comes down to speaking with the customer, gauging how open they are to interaction, and deciding whether to keep it professional or more relaxed. It’s all about listening and paying attention. It’s not easy, and it’s a skill we constantly have to develop, almost like practicing psychology. You need to make everyone happy despite their different needs, all the while maintaining a consistent standard of service.
If you try to provide the exact same experience for everyone, it won’t work for every guest. That’s why you have to adapt. Sometimes a guest might request something that goes against our usual approach, or what we personally consider "correct." However, hospitality is ultimately about how the guest feels, not how we feel. For example, if a guest asks for their beef well-done, I’ll prepare it that way, even if it pains me to do it.
