Work, work, work…
Market & Tapas Tours
Category: bars
Puro Centro
Ever since I published the blog post about Lab 4 last year I’ve been telling myself that I need to set up a “bares de copas” section on Sevilla Tapas. The difficult thing about that is it’s hard to group these places into one category as some are strictly cocktail bars, others also offer snacks, some have full kitchens, but the one thing they have in common is that the focus is on drinks more than food. The other difficulty for me is that I seldom “ir de copas” (go out for drinks), preferring food and wine to straight alcohol, so these aren’t places I would usually visit. Then the other day I happened upon Puro Centro, which seems to be in a category of its own, and although it would probably fit better under “bar de copas” than “restaurant” it actually has quite an interesting looking Asian-Spanish fusion menu.
Well, a bit about Puro Centro. It’s the latest offering from Grupo Kudéta and is situated just off the Plaza Magdalena. It’s all done out in deep reds and golds, and furnished with a curious mix of classic Asian and ultra-modern Western designs. There are a couple of large open spaces as well as several cosy nooks, which are nicely distributed over the two levels of this stunningly refurbished old townhouse. Manager Fernando García says that the initial response to the opening has been great and promises lots of special events which will be posted on the Puro Centro Facebook page. Puro Centro is open 7 days a week from 1.00 pm until the wee hours. The kitchen is closed from 4 – 9 pm but you can still go for coffee, drinks and desserts. Looks like a perfect place for a cosy late afternoon merienda.
Puro Centro
Murillo 6
Tel. 661 577 535/ 954 088 518
Open: 13.00 – 02.00
Kitchen is closed 16.00 – 21.00
Birthday Tapeo
So today is my birthday and, wanting to do something a bit special, I thought I would go and have a meal at a very special seafood restaurant that I haven’t visited here yet. But then after getting a bit of feedback from friends I wondered if I really ought to spend so much on lunch for me and my best friend/flatmate/biz partner Peter (aka Seville Concierge). And so almost last minute I decided to ditch the too expensive plan and opt for – what else? – a special tapeo. After all, it’s what I do. Except that when I do it for others I’m actually working and don’t partake other than a couple of drinks and a tapa or two throughout the evening.
But today this was MY tapeo and so I decided what I really wanted first of all was a gorgeous plate of jamón Ibérico. So we went to Flores Jamones y Vinos and I got chatting to Federico about the different jamones. Well, turns out Federico has been cutting jamón for 30 years and his father still keeps pata negra pigs in the Huelva mountains and cures his own, so I was very pleased to have this guy cutting my birthday jamón for me. As a treat he made a plate from two different legs, both from Huelva. One he cut open fresh for me, the other he took from another leg closer to the bone. And both were exquisite. A perfect start to my birthday tapeo. Especially the bit when they all sang “Cumpleaños Feliz” to me.
Next it was off to the Alameda to have a couple of special snacks at Al Aljibe. You know how some places have that one special dish that keeps you going back for more time and time again? Well, Al Aljibe has about half a dozen such dishes for me. Today we settled on the secreto Ibérico confitado with polenta and their amazing langoustine burger with huancaina sauce and poached quail egg. And it was especially nice to enjoy this snack outside on the terrace on a sunny January 7th afternoon.
Last stop was supposed to be at the absolutely fabulous La Azotea but, as it was a bank holiday, the place was packed to bursting even more than usual. So after a bit of a wait we decided to move on and ended up at the spectactular Restaurante Cuna 2. One of the things I love best about this beautifully restored old mansion is that it’s so unstuffy, so don’t let it intimidate you. You can just as easily pop in for a quick beer or a full meal. And the staff are terrific. You can get tapas at any of the three bar areas on the main floor so for my last tapeo stop we ordered delicious plump and garlicky langoustines al ajillo, and also a tapa of salt cod with garlic confit and plum tomatoes. By this time we were fit to bursting and had spent less than half of what we’d have spent at the original choice. Plus we got to walk around between tapas stops.
No wonder people love tapas tours so much! And although I’m always doing them, this was the first time in a while that it was my very own tapas tour. We had a great time. How about you? Do you prefer going out to restaurants or tapas bars?
Bread Baskets – WTF?
So here is a typical sight in most tapas bars and restaurants. Bread baskets stacked up just like this. And it happens to be a personal peeve of mine because, well, ewwwww…
Have you ever thought about it?
Bread baskets are used repeatedly day after day and are seldom if ever washed out. Just stacked up again and again after use, after being on dirty tables, cleared away on dirty plates, being handled by all and sundry, and on one memorable occasion, even used to practice football moves and then returned to the stack after having landed on the floor several times. Ick.
Adding insult to injury, we are sometimes charged up to 1.50€ per person to have bread served to us in filthy baskets. What gives?
And what can be done about it?
Occupy Plaza Pescadería
[click on image to enlarge]
This morning on the way to the gym I passed through Plaza de la Pescadería and saw this colourful display – and so of course I had to find out what was going on!
Turns out it’s a one-day event being put on by Seville University architecture students, protesting the way that the four bars and restaurants in the square are taking up the public space there by continually extending their terrazas.
They are using yarn to represent “home” and homeowners occupying the public benches and the spaces between them. The students were still hard at work when I left them, so if you’re in the neighbourhood be sure to check it out.
Plaza de la Pescadería