When Jaime Olmo opened Tierra del Fuego in March, he was on a mission to introduce traditional Argentinian cuisine as well as a new culture to Sugar Land.

To achieve this, Olmo dug into his Spanish and Argentinian roots to develop a menu and an environment that reflects the Argentinian culture.

"My idea with doing Argentinian is how I can get Latin American food in this environment that I can sell and will not be confused with Mexican food," Olmo said. "I wanted to find this wow factor where people try it and they say 'wow.'"

Argentinian cuisine is grounded in distinct cuts of beef, similar to American cuts of beef, such as tenderloin and rib-eye steak. Before opening, Olmo met with various beef distributors to find the taste he was looking for before settling into an agreement with Huntsville-based Nolan Ryan All-Natural Beef.

Tierra del Fuego's menu features eight cuts of beef, including filet mignon, strip loin and porterhouse steaks. Olmo said the customer favorite—and his personal favorite—is the bife de fuego. The bife de fuego is a 14-ounce side cut of beef cooked over mesquite wood and is served with chimichurri sauce.

"[The bife de fuego] is not the best quality meat, but it is juicier and the most flavorful of them all," he said. "The flavor for me is better than the filet mignon."

Tierra del Fuego cooks its beef on an Argentinian-made grill over mesquite wood and also uses an open-fire rotisserie cooker.

The restaurant's menu also includes traditional Argentinian mainstays such as empanadas, pasta, chicken, sausage and seafood options. To accompany each menu item, the restaurant offers approximately 100 different brands of wine from Argentina, California and Spain as well as a full-service bar.

The architecture at Tierra del Fuego also reflects the Argentinian culture with an environment that contributed to Olmo's goal. Olmo hired Argentinian architects to design Tierra del Fuego and also imported wooden pillars and bricks from Argentina to construct the two-story, 7,900-square-foot building. Olmo said the building was designed to encompass the environment from the original Tierra del Fuego, which is located in Puerto Rico.

"The message, other than having the Argentinian food, is to make sure

customers feel like they have just landed in Buenos Aires," Olmo said.

Three private rooms are available for customers to reserve and can sit between 20 and 40 people. Olmo said each room can host private parties and business meetings with an option for the restaurant to fix a tailored menu for each occasion.

Although Olmo does not have plans to expand the restaurant, he said he wants to open additional locations and open up Tierra del Fuego's concept to future investors. Managing Partner Raul Negron said both he and Olmo have looked in the Galleria and Post Oak area for future locations.

"We want investors to be able to get involved in the growth of the concept in Texas and the U.S.," Olmo said. "I am a believer of opening another one in town."

Until then, Olmo said he wants to further develop Tierra del Fuego's menu to continue to introduce new people to the Argentinian culture.

"The hardest part is to introduce people to a new type of food," Olmo said. "This is a whole different game, and they have to understand we are trying to bring a different culture to this part of Houston."

2110 Town Square Place

Sugar Land 832-999-4045

www.tierradelfuegotx.net

Hours: Mon.–Thu. 11 a.m.–10 p.m.,

Fri.–Sat. noon–11 p.m., Sun. noon–9 p.m.