and that attitude pushes people here to think of themselves in many ways as existentially in opposition to their bigger, louder neighbor. anthony: where were you born? are you from montevideo? lucia: no, no, i m from argentina. anthony: is it a big difference culturally argentina and uruguay? lucia: here, if you re a little bit courageous, then you made it. you know? nacho: it s a sin here. like to be flashy, it s a sin. lucia: to be successful, it s not something that anthony: you gotta do it quietly. lucia: there is a saying, quedate en la chiquita. it means stay in the small things, you know? quedate en la chiquita. it s something that defines uruguay in a way. anthony: lucia soria is the chef and owner of jacinto in montevideo s old city. she worked with nacho back in the mallmann years. anthony: what was it like for a woman working in the restaurant industry in the early 2000 s? lucia: i was very lucky because francis, he had this like army of women, no
at all. and i needed to find a place and a way to express myself. we were raised it s very liberal, but at the same time it s conservative. as a teenager, it was kind of like, everything s the same, it just didn t feel that interesting and it wasn t fun as a teenager. anthony: his family own a dairy farm just outside of town. nacho s mother, gloria, runs the farm, along with his brother, leandro. nacho s sister, rocio, lives in montevideo but comes home often for family meals like this. anthony: what s the name of this town? you grew up here, this house? nacho: santa lucia. yup. anthony: you grew up in this house? nacho: yes, for the most part, yeah. anthony: it s beautiful. why would you ever leave this place? it s fantastic. gloria: he never like this place. anthony: no? gloria: no, never. rocio: i felt like he had like anger of being on such a small town. he always had been on the front.
96% of eligible uruguayans voted in the last election. compare that to barely 60% here in the u.s. anthony: there s something really special about this place. carina: you like it? anthony: it s really one of my favorite countries, it s really carina: amazing. many uruguayans would say that it s the worst place of their anthony: well, a lot of that s weird. some of the uruguayans i ve spoken to are very ambivalent about carina: i like it, but you know. anthony: and i guess i don t really understand. anthony: i meet carina novarese, a journalist and editor with the newspaper el observador, at escaramuza cafe and bookstore. carina: i think this thing that a uruguayan has it s kind of pessimistic and sometimes complains too much about what we have, comes from before 1930s, 40s and after the second world war, the switzerland of the americas, they used to call us. archival: a few reminders of colonial days in montevideo, but plenty of evidence that this is th
and i ve traveled the world, and every day that i come here i fall in love with this place. anthony: a couple of hours east of montevideo, the coast. and the seaside towns of high gloss, big money punta del and the slightly more laidback jose ignacio once a sleepy fishing village and now a hamptonian vacation hot spot for the moneyed class from all over the world. anthony: cantina del vigia thankfully is open in the off season. diego robino is a film producer and occasional fisherman. and clo dimet is a chef and owner of posada in jose ignacio. anthony: so what town is this, where am i? nacho: this is maldonado. anthony: maldonado. nacho: and this is like the capital of all these fancy beach
you know, like escaping and going fishing on the river, and it s pretty safe, you know, like the doors were always open. but i didn t feel like i fit in at all. and i needed to find a place and a way to express myself. we were raised it s very liberal, but at the same time it s conservative. as a teenager, it was kind of like, everything s the same, it just didn t feel that interesting and it wasn t fun as a teenager. anthony: his family own a dairy farm just outside of town. nacho s mother, gloria, runs the farm, along with his brother, leandro. nacho s sister, rocio, lives in montevideo but comes home often for family meals like this. anthony: what s the name of this town? you grew up here, this house? nacho: santa lucia. yup. anthony: you grew up in this house? nacho: yes, for the most part, yeah. anthony: it s beautiful.