spain restaurant

spain restaurant
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

#25 on my 101 in 1001 list (37/143)
religiously watching episodes of "made in spain" and having a love for tapas may not make me an expert (after all, i've never even been to the country), but i get the feeling this place is authentic. at the end of a nondescript strip mall near the entrance to the freeway, spain restaurant isn't quite a dive, but it's far from trendy or pretentious, and makes me think of comfort food, the kind perhaps my grandma would make if she were spanish.

even if you've had little experience with spanish food, the dishes have familiar elements. take for example, the tortilla de papas. it's basically a thick omelet with potatoes--a classic pairing that's not just for breakfast. they have a variety of tortillas with different ingredients. we enjoyed the one with shrimp. the tortilla is prepared well, with the potatoes being soft, and the eggs being moist on the inside.

we also enjoyed the champignones al ajillo, which are mushrooms sauteed with wine and garlic, and the tomate relleno, tomatoes filled with tuna and topped with flavorful spanish olives.

their tarantela is worth trying if you like sweet desserts and never had it before. it's a combination of two tasty desserts--flan and bread pudding--which has nothing to do with the dance as far as i know.

though all the food was tasty, i wasn't blown away by the few dishes i had, but i would like to return and try their empanadas and paella. they also sell a variety of imported flavored sodas and other spanish products in a little mini-mart section of the restaurant, including chorizo, jamon, rice, saffron and pimenton. Service was friendly and fast.

valentine dinner at the bazaar

hilly & philly cheesesteak @ the bazaar
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

#25 on my 101 in 1001 list (27/143)
a homophonetic and conceptual play on words, the bazaar is not only delightfully strange, thanks in part to philippe stark's eclectic vision but a cornucopia of taste, texture, smell & form created by jose andre, student of ferran adria (famed chef of el bulli in spain) & passionate chef of pbs' "made in spain".

we arrived early to take in the details of moss, where you'll find an assortment of curious, sometimes beautiful, designed objects elevated in stature by their placement in glass vitrines more history museum than "gift" store, a high-end indulgent yet child-like evocation of a dessert hall with "candy" for the eye & tongue in bell jars, and the dark bar centro with various conceptual sitting apparatuses. i marveled at the plate-sized round cutouts in a communal table displaying black & white videos through the texture of wood-grain-like fabric and a pink, fluorescent light, internally lit hot pink armchair. did you know you can have your fortune told behind a curtain or get a caricature drawn on weekends for free?

rojo is dark, semi-casual, sensual and rustic. its menu, a bit heavier, classic spanish tapas, but even that is filtered through the lens of jose andre's vision. we sat in blanca--light, postmodern, contemporary. having heard positive things about the resto, and watched andre's show, i was nervous my high expectations might end in a disappointing dinner. luckily, i was not disappointed. of the thirteen dishes we sampled, all were excellent except two, which were ok, tasty in parts but did not live up to the quality of the others.

philly cheesesteak & hilly cheesesteak - kudos for offering meat & veggie versions of this tapa. the hilly has delicately sliced, tasty mushrooms with a sprinkling of chives on top, while the philly has wagyu beef. both were crunchy sea-creature-shaped bread sculptures filled with creamy, melty cheese that oozes into your mouth w/ each bite. beef had a lovely sanguine taste.

olives ferran adria old & new: liquid & traditional - a ceramic tray of porcelain spoons, each yielding earthy green spheres that explode liquid olive essence. the texture contrasts with the traditional olives stuffed with anchovies & sweet piquillo peppers, a melding of sweet, salty & pungent sea.

brussel sprout leaves, lemon puree, apricots, grapes & lemon air - one of the faves, this delicious combo tickled my tongue with sweet, salty, tart & highly aromatic flavors as well as textures. the crunchy leaves with the creamy lemon puree, the bursts of sweetness from the apricots and grapes were fabulous.

tortilla de patatas 'new way': warm potato foam, egg 63, carmelized onions - a well-composed dish. you can't go wrong with potato, egg & cream. this one hides the flavorful, poached egg with the right amount of liquid under the creamy potato. topped with nutty pistachio oil and mini-barbie sized cubes of crispy potatoes. yum!

mozzarella tomato pipettes: micro basil - you may think this is just an unconventional take on the caprese, but capreses are good. tomatoes, basil, mozzarella are proven palate mates, but the new experience of squeezing creamy, liquid mozzarella & olive oil out of a pipette while your tongue is wrapped around a skinless cherry tomato has the intended teasing effect of creating desire.

watermelon tomato skewers: pedro ximenez reduction, cherry tomatoes - fresh, sweet, salty, slightly acidic, an unusual combination of tomato seeds & crisp watermelon cubes

galician lobster medallions, olive oil, potatoes, paprika - merely ok. it wasn't so much the flavors that bothered me (those were good), but the lobster was a bit mushy in parts. the grassy olive oil, seafood infused foam & earthy paprika were all great with the potatoes and non-mushy lobster parts

tortilla de atun, tuna belly omelet, dry bonita flakes - i won't take eggs for granted. it's not just for breakfast any more. this classic dish is a little moist in the center, with chunky bits of salty tuna, topped unusually with smokey bonita flakes.

crab meat steam buns, pickled japanese cucumbers - good crab meat, though straightforward except for the tart contrasting flavor & crunchiness of the pickled cucumbers. don't expect the steam buns to be as soft & moist as the ones you find in sgv though. the other dish i thought was not up to par.

apples carlota: bread pudding w/ saffron sauce - moist cake, creamy saffron sauce, tasty

nitro coconut floating island - opaque, white "mushroom" cloud that disintegrates into airy coconut creaminess in your mouth comes balanced on short, banana pillars pillars. spots of espresso chocolate contrasts with tropical passionfruit & vanilla bean syrup.

what do i love about the food? jose andre takes simple, delicious flavor combos, deconstructs them, and re-presents them in such a way that i can enjoy food on many levels. good or bad, it's the artistry in the details of the decor, playfully embellished objects and experimentation in food forms that narrowly separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom.

service was good. our waiter seemed unsure but was responsive. i liked the pacing, with several tapas served at a time. pricing & servings comparable to an elegant tasting menu. i didn't leave with leftovers but a deep satisfaction and a hope to return soon.

nov 22 dinner

dinner nov 22
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

our society is always pushing broccoli as the vegetable to eat. sure it's full of the nutrients we need as well as anti-oxidants, but i feel cauliflower which also has vitamin C and the same cancer fighting phytochemicals as broccoli has been vastly underrated. after eating so much broccoli, for years, i was frankly broccoli'd out. my palate preference is for kai-lan, which is chinese broccoli, or brocclini, a cross between broccoli and cabbage. recently, i've been incorporating more cauliflower into my cooking.

i had a craving for olives last night, so adapted a recipe from made in spain, a pbs cooking show specializing in spanish culture and cuisine. the original recipe combines the cauliflower and olives with dates, but i'm not a big fan of dates and don't like things too sweet, so i used these huge grapes i had purchased from whole foods.

Cauliflower with olives and grapes
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
8 ounces (1/2 pound) cauliflower, broken into pieces
4 sprigs fresh thyme
8 giant grapes (or equal amount of smaller grapes)
8 black olives
8 green olives
3 tbs sweet dessert white wine, such as Pedro Ximenez
2 teaspoons pimentón (smoked spanish paprika)

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the cauliflower and thyme and cook until the cauliflower is brown and caramelized, about 8 minutes. Add the grapes and olives and cook for about 1 more minute, until they are heated through. Pour in the wine and deglaze the pan, allowing the alcohol to burn off. Transfer mixture to a serving bowl and sprinkle with pimentón.

the combination of salty olives with cauliflower means you need no added salt. along with this, i made a simple salad with slices of heirloom tomato and some rocket arugula and a lemon vinaigrette using olivier's lemon olive oil and some white wine vinegar, sea salt and cracked black pepper. the dinner was not complete without a little snacking of some cheeses--bucheron (a soft, goat's milk cheese), unie kaas robusto (salty, hard cow's milk cheese and amadeus cheese (nutty and creamy semi-soft cheese) and crusty french bread.

tasca

tasca
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

#25 on my 101 in 1001 list (6/143)
after our mediocre meal at cafe sevilla a few weeks ago, i was still craving spanish tapas, so we ate here. we arrived early on a saturday night without reservations, and were promptly seated, which made me a little nervous about the quality of the food because any good restaurant in LA would not be empty on a saturday night, but it turns out maybe we were just a little early, as people didn't start filling up the restaurant until 7pm.

have you ever ordered a good burger seared so it gets that smoky flavor on the outside but is still juicy on the inside, then the juice flavors the lettuce. well, the ceasar salad--a special--we ordered reminded me of that. it consisted of a heart of lettuce that had been grilled and thus infused with a nice, smoky aroma and drizzled with a tart, lobster flavored dressing and plated with a single grilled shrimp. the only complaint i had was the shrimp was a little overcooked and mushy.

in addition to the salad, we also ordered two similar, but different tapas--bunuelo de bacalao, which were salted cod fritters in salbetxada sauce and arancini, which were wild mustroom risotto fritters. both had a light crispy shell like a japanese croquette. the tender cod had a light texture that reminded me of canned tuna and a subtle flavor. the accompanying tomato relish, however, was very garlicky and slightly tart from a vinaigrette. in contrast, the arancini had a creamy, earthy flavor that was further enhanced by the creamy sauce that came with it. both were tasty.

they offer both tapas and entrees, although the entrees aren't full entree size, and the tapas are a little bigger than typical tapas. we shared the pasta special, which was a tagliolini pasta with chanterelle & shitake mushrooms with shaved black truffle. if you like mushrooms, this is earthy, nutty dish is for you. the mushroom sauce is creamy and rich as well.

we ended our meal with a pot de creme, a sizeble cup of chocolate mousse with cardamom infused whipped cream and copious amounts of shaved chocolate topping. the mousse was a little more sweet than rich like i like it, but it was still good. i loved that they give you lots of bits of chocolate, and the cardamom in the whipped cream enhanced the dessert.

we tried two different wines that were specials that night--a french bordeaux (chateau sorbey) rich in tannins & an earthy chilean syrah (bayo oscuro--and a sweet, oaky meritage from mendocino. the first two were ok. i liked the last the best, as i thought it had a richness that had a strong finish.

our waiter was very attentive, although service slowed towards the end of our meal as more people filled the restaurant. a good meal overall. i would come back to try other things on the menu.

la espagnola

la espagnola
Originally uploaded by bluepupae.

mike & i toured the meat plant at la espagnola in harbor city. they make a variety of gourmet charcuterie meat products as well as importer of spanish foods, including rice, olives, meats and cheeses.

alex, the son of husband and wife who originally started the company because the only chorizo in california in the 60s was mexican, informed us of the history as well as the traditional process they use for curing meats as evident in the moldy casings. it may sound gross, but it's a process that has been used for decades in the caves of europe.

completely safe, and producing a more refined flavor, it is a process that few companies these days use because it is more time-consuming. like some fine wines, apparently, meats can come to fruition with aging. we sampled some of their 18-month cured serrano hams, which was surprisingly not as salty as we imagined, but delicate not only in cut but in flavor.

there's a deli adjacent to the plant where you can purchase a variety of gourmet food items, and an outdoor patio area where after the tour we dined on tasty paella made in a huge pan with chicken, shrimp, several types of sausage, pimentos. i bought some rice to try to make some at home.