Latin lover

We were warmly welcomed by Rodrigo Poligritti, a Buenos Aires native who provided the perfect level of service for an upscale surf-and-turf restaurant: attentive and knowledgeable when beckoned yet invisible when not.

We were intrigued by some of the items on the pan-Latin gastropub menu created by New York-based Mexican chef Richard Sandoval. What is chifa? Poligritti explained that there is a significant Chinese population in Argentina and Peru that reconstructed Chinese dishes such as fried rice with Latin American ingredients. Over time, the cuisine developed a life of its own and became known as chifa, a Spanish aberration of chow fan.

As we were in the dining room upstairs, though, we concentrated on the main menu. I was in the mood for a cocktail and when in Rome, I decided to go for a strawberry basil caipirinha. Made with cachaca - I wouldn't be able to distinguish it from rum - and lemon-basil syrup, its refreshing strawberry-infused fruitiness was echoed with a decorative berry.

One of my friends is a pescetarian, and we found plenty of fish and seafood to satisfy her cravings. We ordered a round of hot and cold starters to share: volcano rolls, hamachi tiradito and crusted sea scallops.

They were three for three. The rich torched salmon topping the spicy crab and avocado roll was indeed volcanic in taste and texture. A dollop of fiery aguachile with the ceviche-style hamachi balanced the green-apple slivers and paper-thin radish. But my favorite was the Parmesan cap of crumbs on tender and juicy scallops on a pond of lemon butter: finger-licking goodness.

As Toro is billed as a steakhouse, I thought it was my duty to order something that once mooed. I had a choice of six cuts from the world's best cattle-producing countries, and settled on a Kobe skirt steak imported from Australia, prepared churrasco in a manageable 10-ounce portion.