Monkey meals! - Buenos Aires restaurant serves up cutlets in shape of Punch the viral macaque

"A restaurant in Buenos Aires created a face-shaped milanesa inspired by viral images of Japanese baby monkey Punch and an orangutan plush toy after videos of the pair circulated widely on social media. Footage shows a chef preparing a monkey 'Punch' face-shaped milanesa and an IKEA orangutan plush toy milanesa, garnishing semolina on the cutlet and basting it with sauce before serving. "All I did was use Damian’s art. Because he makes cakes with faces, he is a childhood friend. And he is an architect. So I saw potential there that could be taken to another level with the milanesa," Cristian Franco, one of the creators, said in an interview on Monday, adding, "It is something crazy that occurred to me." "Honestly, it really moved me to see him hugging his teddy. It kept appearing on my social media. So I said, 'I have to make the little monkey,'" Franco noted. "When I saw how it turned out, I was very impressed. That milanesa feels like I am going to frame it and keep it," the man added. Damian Zanotti said the chosen image 'touched our hearts a bit'. He added, "The process of making the milanesa is basically the same as any Argentine one. I just work it as if it were plasticine, shaping the face." Punch drew attention after being abandoned by his mother, a rare occurrence among macaques. Zoo staff introduced an orangutan plush toy to support him. The toy, dubbed 'Oran-mama', was often seen in his arms as he gradually gained the trust of other monkeys. "