Dining in Spain (a.k.a., Dining at Tia Pol)

Whenever I encounter restaurants where numerous reviews expound upon the “epic” waits, I always wonder if any place could be worth such a wait. However, at one particular restaurant in Chelsea, Manhattan, we decided to brave the wait, based on the rave reviews, and some personal recommendations from a Jodi and a Tom, both fellow barflies at our local favorite in Adams Morgan, Washington DC, Cashions Eat Place. Therefore, as planned, we arrived at Tia Pol, at 205 10th Avenue last night at approximately 8:15 PM.

As we walked up, we noticed it seemed to be about the size of a closet, and was packed to the gills with people sipping sangria. The hostess gave us a wait time of 1 hour and 15 minutes. Desperate to sit down after a day of hiking around Manhattan, we gave her my phone number, and peeked into the next door restaurant Isakaya Ten. There we found a wonderful and chatty bartender, and a unique quirk for regulars: you can order a whole bottle of Shochu from their extensive list, and if you don’t finish it, you can put your name on it and have it for the next time you visit. Our hour wait was therefore spent mercifully having a lovely glass of Shochu in air-conditioned comfort, before the main event…an amazingly authentic meal at Tia Pol.

There are very few seats in this little restaurant, and the menu is one laminated page long or small plates, with the daily specials written on a chalkboard behind the bar. The wine list has a broad range of prices on excellent Spanish wines, and the staff is very knowledgeable about each of the wines and dishes available. After our preferred Rioja was unavailable, our waiter recommended a 2003 Laurona Montsant, from the Priorat region of Catalonia. 50% Garnacha, 25% Merlot, 15% Syrah, and 10% Cabernet, and aged for a year in French Oak, it was well balanced, light, and hinted of stewed fruits. A perfect wine for the broad range of flavors we were about to embark on. Everything we saw looked excellent, but here is the list of tapas we ate, representing a broad range of flavors and textures:

1. Montadito de crema de habitas con beyos: a fava bean puree, with just a hint of garlic on toasts, drizzled with excellent extra virgin olive oil (we had them hold the beyos cheese, as it is a cow’s milk cheese, and I am allergic)
2. Gildas: ondarroan anchovies, pickled peppers, and green olives on little martini skewers. It was the perfect little snack, and I’m dreaming of making a martini using these…
3. One of the daily specials, four perfectly small slices of grilled rare white tuna served chilled with a cilantro, almond, and olive oil pesto, and a white bean salad of beans, onions, and olive oil. Eaten alone, the tuna was rather bland, but eaten together, the three elements complimented each other perfectly.
4. Paquetitos de jamón con alcachofa: crushed artichoke hearts mixed with anchego cheese and wrapped into three perfect little triangles of Serrano ham. It was a lovely combination of creamy-ness and salt
5. Piquillos rellenos de ensaladilla rusa: what I would consider one of the highlights of the meal, four small roasted red sweet peppers, stuffed with a puree of potato, garlic, and pimento, topped with shredded pickled white tuna, and served with a salad of watercress. It was at once creamy, tangy, and bitter, and served at the midpoint of the meal was the perfect pallet cleanser after the heaviness of the grilled tuna and the ham
6. Granicha: charred baby green long peppers, simply tossed in salt, were at once bitter and salty, and I can see these served at a bar with some almonds as a nice accompaniment with a cold beer on a hot day.
7. Navajas y almejas: razor clams and cockles, which were perfectly cooked and tender in white wine, garlic, parsley, and butter. We must have gone through a whole loaf of bread sopping up the broth
8. And finally for dessert, we chose a cheese plate including Valdeon (a cow/sheep’s milk blue cheese), Manchego (a creamy lightly aged sheep’s milk), and Garrotxa (a wonderfully stinky goat cheese). Also included on the platter were roasted marcona almonds, lightly candied and spiced walnuts, and the best preserved red cherries I have ever had.

It was a truly decadent evening, with the only downside being the wait. Needless to say, next time I am in New York City, I will be returning for another authentic Spanish treat!

Barbequing in Connecticut

Is there anything more Americana than barbequing on Fourth of July weekend? How about ribs in the Connecticut suburbs on a deck surrounded by trees and hearing fireworks in the distance? Well, it appears that this Fourth of July was the most Americana of times I’ve had in a long time.

It is intriguing to consider how much effort most of us will go through to experience the perfect barbecue. A significant quantity of books have been written on the subject, and it is a multi-million dollar industry. Products on the market range from the food, to the utensils, to the paraphernalia (i.e., aprons, hats, corn-on-the-cob holders, etc.), and $1,000+ grills.

This Fourth of July weekend, we relaxed with friends and grilled on their brand new gas Weber grille. But first, we made an early run to a highly unique store, which has apparently been featured on Ripley’s Believe It…Or Not! Called Stew Leonard's, it was kitchy in the extreme, involving animated animals, barnyard songs, and an entire dairy-bottling operation, backed up by live video pictures of their dairy herd. There we picked up two racks of pork ribs, several ears of bi-color corn, and some cherries.

For once I was not the one cooking up a storm. Our friends marinated the ribs in Penzey’s BBQ 3000 rub, then slow-baked them at 250-degrees Fahrenheit for 6 hours. They cooked up a homemade honey barbeque sauce with a little bourbon (Bulleit Bourbon to be specific), then threw the ribs on the grille for another 30 minutes, glazing with the sauce and turning them four or five times. At the same time, the corn was cooking in its husks for a while, before being peeled and thrown directly on the grille. The result was a beautiful spread for the four of us. Yes…we did eat ½ a rack of ribs a person…but how could you not when they look like this:

The ribs were so tender that they fell off the bone, and some of the bones were even disintegrating, while the outside of the ribs were sticky and happily crusty. A little BBQ Sauce on the side, and a 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon, and it was a perfect evening with friends.

Spain at Home

I have always loved gazpacho. It is the perfect example of “summer in a bowl,” and perfectly lovely on a warm night. I found some great cucumbers, and had a bunch of tomatoes that were too soft to slice, so I thought I would finally try and make this wonderful little cold soup. I can’t take credit for the recipe, as I found it on Food and Wine’s website, based on Chef Jose Andres’ wife’s recipe. Going into it, I had no idea how easy it was, else I would have been making it for years. Ingredients are simply tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet bell peppers, garlic, vinegar, olive oil, and a little salt. Pureed in a blender, chilled for a couple of hours, and it’s ready. I served it up with garnishes of the basic ingredients and a couple pieces of toast.


For dinner last night I served the gazpacho, then simply broiled with lemon a whole red snapper marinated in fennel fronds and olive oil, filleted the fish, and served it with a few marinated beans I bought at Whole Foods.


A light Spanish-inspired meal for a summer evening. Next step: buy a good Spanish cookbook so I can make more of the delicious, simple food that is Spanish cuisine.