The recent honor given by the 2025 Buenos Aires Michelin Guide to the Trescha team of sommeliers, naming them Best Team of the Year, doesn’t just celebrate the talents of Elena Fernanda Cabrera and Leonel Ismael Castro Ortiz but also their meticulous, sensitive work in harmony with the restaurant.
At Trescha, the experimental restaurant run by Chef Tomás Treschanski in Buenos Aires, every dish in the menu is a stage on which to shine. And although the heart of the show is the cookery, its soul is to be found in the glass. Since it opened, Trescha has established itself as one of the most exciting spaces on the Buenos Aires scene. In 2023, it earned a Michelin Star in the Guide’s first Argentine edition (repeated in 2025) and its chef, Tomás Treschanski, was given the Young Chef Award, becoming the youngest chef in the Americas to win the prize. The restaurant has also been included in The World ‘s 50 Best Discovery, which praised its inquisitive, experimental philosophy.
Trescha: Elena and Leonel, Michelin’s best sommeliers of 2025
Their journeys to Trescha were quite different but just as impressive: Elena began as a bartender and moved on to wait tables before being placed in charge of wines at La Casa de Adán. She then went to Don Julio and El Preferido de Palermo (both of which were also honored in the Guide) before joining Trescha in late 2023. She studied sommellerie at the Escuela Argentina de Vinos (EAV) and then at CAVE, where she is currently in her final year.
Leonel trained as a chef at IAG (the Argentine Institute of Gastronomy) and worked for seven years in the kitchen before moving into the world of wine. He was part of the team at El Preferido de Palermo, then La Malbequería and Uni Omakase, where he was Head Sommelier. In late 2024, he joined the team at Trescha.
The award follows another important Michelin-related achievement in the world of Argentine wine: in 2023, Martín Bruno, Wine Director and Sommelier at Don Julio Parrilla, was named Best Sommelier of the Year in the Guide’s first edition.
Two cellars, all the wines
Today, Trescha offer between 850 and 900 wine labels, with over 5000 bottles spread between two main cellars, one for whites and the other reds. The list is dynamic and always evolving, just like everything else at Trescha: “We’re always shifting, adding new vintages, producers and styles,” say the sommeliers.
The focus – they say – is on demonstrating the versatility of Argentine wine through unusual varieties, emerging regions and independent projects while also including wines from overseas that enhance the restaurant experience.
“The Michelin award was a great joy,” they say. There is no doubt that the honor was given in recognition of excellence and above all the creativity of the pairings. “It’s a spur to keep improving. Now people are paying more attention to what we do, and that encourages us to redouble our commitment. We’re also proud that they appreciated the work we’ve done on non-alcoholic pairings, which took a lot of testing and development.”
In a restaurant like Trescha, where Tomás Treschanski’s dishes explore surprising textures, temperatures and flavors, the pairings were never seen as incidental. “The design develops in concert with the cooking,” say Elena and Leonel.
When a dish is approaching its final version, the whole team sits down to taste and consider it together: “We try different wines and non-alcoholic drinks, we make adjustments, we choose some and refine others. Sometimes we work with contrasts, sometimes affinity, but always with the idea that the pairing should support and elevate the experience rather than eclipsing it.”
Although they prioritize Argentine wines, they add international labels where necessary. “We use sherries, sakes, ports, sauternes or Tokaji when it’s right to, always looking to add new dimensions without losing our identity.” The objective isn’t just to accompany the food but also to tell a story with each glass. “Sometimes we try to challenge the diner’s palate: it all depends on the dish, the moment and the journey we’re aiming to take you on.”
The wine service also occurs in an unusual setting: the bar, where most of the Trescha experience takes place. “Proximity allows us to adjust every detail in real time, to make a more personal contribution and to generate an intimate experience.”
Having won so many awards in such a short time, what’s next? “Our goal is to keep growing, refining and striving. And although an international award is welcome, what motivates us every day is the constant search for coherence, beauty and meaning. Every dish, every glass and every course is an opportunity to say something.”
Tomás Treschanski’s approach is curious, challenging and always open to collaboration, making him a key part of the process. His experimental cooking doesn’t just empower their work, it also demands that the pairings be profound and ambitious. The relationship between cooking and sommellerie at Trescha is not hierarchical or rigid: it’s horizontal, creative and vibrant. A continuous conversation in which wine, far from taking a back seat, is front and center.
The Michelin Guide award is further proof of something regulars at Trescha already knew: that wine, in the hands of Elena and Leonel, isn’t just another drink but a common thread that transforms the gastronomic experience into something unique.
About Trescha
Trescha is a Chef Counter experience for just 10 diners. It’s a unique space in which one can enjoy a different kind of fine dining in Buenos Aires. The main hall has a bar that allows diners to interact directly with the kitchen and appreciate the enormous amount of work that is done in the Test Kitchen, the R&D area that is the heart of the project.
Murillo 725, Villa Crespo, Buenos Aires +598 5572 7724 @trescharestaurant
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