Author: azahar

Viñafiel Gourmet Wine & Liquor Store

azahar

viña & licor[click on image to enlarge]

There’s a new wine shop in town! Viñafiel opened its doors this past Tuesday and it looks great, with a minimalist clean interior featuring wooden shelving and floors. Aside from an excellent selection of wines, there’s also a wide variety of gins, whiskys, etc and a small section of gourmet food items. Look for tastings and other events coming up soon. A nice addition to the Arenal neighbourhood.

Viñafiel Gourmet Wine & Liquor
Arfe 20
Tel 955 038 522
Open: 10.00 – 15.00 / 18.00 – 21.00 Monday to Friday
10.30 – 14.30 Saturday
Viñafiel Website

Sevilla’s Gastronomic Heritage

azahar6 Comments

seville gastronomic heritageWell this came as a pleasant surprise! I have been chosen to be one of the five gastronomy experts to do the final judging for an ambitious new project headed by the Sevilla Tourism Board to promote Sevilla’s Gastronomic Heritage, AKA the tapa, as a tourist attraction.

From today until September 5th, locals and visitors to Sevilla can vote on both their favourite tapa and favourite establishment. The list of tapas on the Visit Sevilla Facebook Page starts with around 18 dishes but voters can also add their choices. After the judging has taken place this will become a list of the top 14 tapas in the city and the best places to try them, which will then be included in a guide book.

The other expert judges chosen are:

  • Julio Fernández, chef of Sevilla’s only Michelin star restaurant Abantal
  • Fernando Huidobro, president of the Acacademy of Gastronomy and Tourism
  • Javier Compass, culinary and tourism specialist
  • Paco Sanchez, hospitality professional and former owner of the Cervecería Giralda and Bar Estrella

So as you can see I am in excellent company. And as you can also see in the photo below taken at this morning’s presentation at City Hall (photo courtesy of Raúl Doblado ABC Sevilla) I’m not only the only non-Spaniard, but also the only woman. One step at a time…

patrimonio gastronomico

Sevilla’s Gastronomic Heritage

Santas de Zubarán: Devoción & Persuasion

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santas-zurbaran-sevillaThis was one of the most enjoyable exhibitions I’ve seen in awhile. Combining art and fashion is bound to please and it also makes paintings like these feel more accessible. Francisco Zubarán (1598 – 1664) is mostly known for his religious paintings and still lifes, and here the outfits worn by his martyr saints have been interpreted by 12 contemporary Spanish fashion designers, including well-known names Vittorio & Lucchino and Agatha Ruiz de la Prada.

The Espacio Santa Clara is a former convent that has recently been done over as a cultural centre. The space is gorgeous with tiled patios and beautiful wood-beamed ceilings in the galleries.

To find out more about this fabulous exhibition check out Scribbler in Seville’s excellent and detailed review.

Espacio Santa Clara
Calle Becas (just off the Alameda)
Entrance: 6 euros / free for Sevilla residents
Audioguide 1.20 euros (included in 6 euro ticket)
10.00 – 14.00 Monday – Saturday
18.00 – 22.00 Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Saturday / 18.00 – 21.00 Thursday, Friday
10.00 – 15.00 Sunday
Until 20th July

Santas de Zubarán: Devoción y Persuasión

Feria de la Manzanilla (in Sevilla)

azahar3 Comments

feria de la manzanilla
The plan for yesterday was to take the bus to Sanlúcar de Barrameda to visit their Feria de la Manzanilla for the first time. Unfortunately the bus service to Sanlúcar was less than feriante friendly with one bus at 10 am and the next not until 2 pm and when I mentioned this on Twitter my friend and sherry expert Annie Manson said that, knowing me, I’d end up creating my own Feria de la Manzanilla here. So that’s what I did.  🙂

Sanlúcar de Barrameda is located at the mouth of the Guadalquivir river where it meets the Altantic and, along with Jerez and El Puerto de Santa María, forms the famous Sherry Triangle in the Cádiz province. It is also home to the oldest horse races in Spain, which take place just before sunset along the beach during the month of August. Another Sanlúcar event I have yet to witness. But I digress…

My companion yesterday was Peter Tatford Seville Concierge and at one stop Eduardo Blanco Different Spain also briefly joined us. Since my idea was to recreate being in Sanlúcar the obvious place to start was Restaurante Barbiana which not only features wines and seafood from there but also makes the best tortillitas de camarones I’ve ever had outside Sanlúcar. We started with a nice plate of jamón Ibérico de Bellota paired with a manzanilla fina from Bodegas Barbiana, served at a perfectly chilled 1ºC. For our tortillita I chose an amontillado to go with it which worked very nicely.

Then we went on to La Moneda, which was where we ment up with Eduardo. There we tried two different manzanillas (Solear and La Gitana) with fried salmonetes (which I was told came from Sanlúcar) and a very nice soupy rice with gambas, clams and monkfish.

For our third stop we taxied over to Taberna Chani in Nervión to try their manzanilla en rama from Bodegas Baron, which we paired with fabulous fried boquerones (also from Sanlúcar) and some grilled Almadraba tuna cheeks.

And then we were done. I have to say that although the food and wine were all very pleasant the whole Feria de la Manzanilla in Sevilla thing didn’t feel as successful as my recent impromptu World Sherry Day event because I didn’t feel like I’d actually learned anything new. Although I asked lots of questions about the different wines, and about which foods they would go best with, the response at these bars wasn’t as friendly or enthusiastic as I found last week. I mean, I know you can get palo cortado from Sanlúcar, and also some good dessert wines, but these weren’t suggested to me even though I’d told everyone I was trying to learn more about Sanlúcar wines. Bit of a shame, but ah well…