LUNAS: THE NEWEST ADDITION TO THE UNION MARKET AREA BRINGS ARGENTINIAN FOOD AND CULTURE TO DC
The Cost - $14 per person
The Atmosphere – Located in the heart of Washington DC’s NOMA neighborhood just steps from Union Market you will find Lunas de Buenos Aires, a casual empanada spot that brings Argentinian hipster vibes to the District. From the back wall with its block colors reminiscent of the buildings in La Boca to the sidewall with its Palermo Soho-like windows to the epic mural of Diego Maradona and Susana Jimenez, Lunas does a great job transporting you from one capital city to another.
Argentinian identical twin brothers Martin Lautaro Fontan and Rodrigo Fontan both came to the United States to go to law school, and both got jobs after they graduated. But after just a few years of practice (and even before the pandemic hit), the brothers decided to trade their legal careers in for the opportunity to open their own restaurant. They leased what used to be an old Chinese dumpling manufacturing facility and spent more than two years turning it into what could be the area’s next hot spot.
The Order – A Basket of 6 Empanadas: Sweet Corn Carbonada, Spinach and Mozzarella, Blue Cheese, Traditional Beef, Chicken Tandoori and Cajun Pork.
The Fantastic – The traditionalist in me was sad to see that the Cajun Pork empanada was my favorite given that it is far from an Argentinian classic, but there was no way that this empanada was not going to get our highest rating of the day. Pork, slow-cooked for 12 hours, is ground and combined with caramelized onions and mushrooms, blue cheese, and bacon which is then all cooked together with the juices from the slow-cooked pork. In total the filling of these small empanadas contains 15 ingredients and takes about 15 hours to prepare!
The Great – The three very traditional Argentinian empanadas all fell into this rating category. The Sweet Corn Carbonada empanada, essentially an humita empanada, is delicious. Boiled-down maize provides the filling with an almost porridge-like texture while the sweet corn flavor bursts right out of the empanada on your first bite. The Traditional Beef empanada is appropriately named as this is probably the most classic variety that you will find in Buenos Aires. Packed with ground beef combined with a little egg, onion, and olive, the empanada has a consistent flavor and texture from beginning to end, in part because of the work that is done to remove most of the fat from the meat during the preparation. And for those of you who don’t like (or even despise) olives, don’t worry, you won’t really taste them. Last, the Blue Cheese empanada blends the perfect proportion of blue cheese and onions to create an excellent filling that has a touch of sweetness. As opposed to using gorgonzola or Roquefort as is common in Buenos Aires, Lunas uses a milder blue cheese which will allow it to appeal to a larger audience. They also steam the onions in butter which may not help the calorie count but does help to elevate this empanada to the next level.
The Good – The Spinach and Mozzarella empanada provides yet another solid option for vegetarians. While it is not typical to see dipping sauces for empanadas in Argentina, and while I wouldn’t recommend it on some of the other more flavorful empanadas, I do think that this empanada goes well with Lunas’ three dipping sauce options: chimichurri, honey mustard, and hot sauce. The Tandoori Chicken empanada is a bit of a misnomer as it resembles more of a stewed or curried chicken. The chicken is cooked with carrots, onions, ginger, coriander and cardamom, among other ingredients before being packed into the empanada. It was not spicy at all though the ginger does leave a very slight tingle on your tongue for a few seconds after eating. The empanada is good, but I wanted more of that Indian curry flavor and spice.
The Verdict – Lunas de Buenos Aires provides Washington DC with the empanadas that it has long been missing. Though it is not apparent from their colorful, but simple, outsides, the work that goes into making each batch of empanadas is extensive and between the process and the ingredients, the Fontan brothers have put together some of the best empanadas I have tried outside of Argentina. Whether it’s for lunch, happy hour, or dinner, Lunas offers you the opportunity to share quality empanadas and drinks with friends and family and that important piece of Argentinian culture is exactly what the brothers hoped to bring to DC.
Lunas
1276 5th St NE, Washington, DC 20002