Category: restaurants

Marmite

azahar8 Comments

After a whirlwind week I ended up having a whirlwind weekend. And all because of Twitter.

About a month or so ago a Twitter pal suggested to @MsMarmitelover that she get in touch with me about an upcoming visit to Sevilla. So she did, and I tried to help her find accommodation for a couple of nights. But as it was the weekend before Feria there wasn’t much available that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. So I offered her the option of the sofa bed at casa az. And then the fun started!

Turns out that MsMarmitelover (aka Kerstin Rodgers) is one of the pioneers of the whole underground “pop up” restaurant scene in London, and in fact had asked me if I knew of any such “secret suppers” going on in Sevilla. Well, I didn’t at the time. But a few days later I happened to meet Fourat (@Lebanicious) and then a whole lot of magic happened.

Not only did Fourat inspire me to get my upstairs room set up for sewing projects, along with me getting her set up on Twitter and starting a blog, but various other projects started taking shape. And so when I told Fourat about Kirsten looking for a Sevilla “secret supper” she said she would be happy to organise one of her fabulous Lebanese feasts during the weekend Kirsten would be here. As for who else would come, that was kind of up to me.

And so Kirsten arrived around 7 pm on Friday. Of course I had already picked out a few places to try out for that evening’s tapeo, but was also playing it by ear. We ended up stopping at four different tapas bars (Casa Moreno, Enrique Becerra, Bodeguita Romero, Vineria San Telmo) all very traditional other than the last one. The extra challenge for me was that Kirsten doesn’t eat meat (though she does eat some fish and seafood) so obviously I couldn’t do the obvious – jamón, chorizo, pringá, caña de lomo, carrillada…

On Saturday we visited a few specialty shops in town, including Patricia Buffana (hatmaker extraordinaire) and Bazar Victoria (Sevilla’s most eclectic hardware store) and at lunchtime we went to a non-traditional place which was a total hit – La Azotea – amazing food and service. Then back home to rest up for “Lebaniciousness”. Although a couple of the people invited couldn’t come due to prior commitments we ended up with a fabulous group including restaurant owners Juan Tarquini and Reyes Moreno, bespoke holiday organiser Sam Lister and Sevilla’s Queen of  Tapas (that would be me). Along with Fourat’s amazing family. It really was a family affair and the selected guests fit right into the very cosy ambiance as if everyone had known each other forever. And MsMarmitelover had no idea – ooops she does now! – that this whole beautiful evening had been arranged for her visit here.

The next day (today!) I thought it might be possible to take Kerstin to one more fabby tapas bar before she had to catch her afternoon flight home. Of course this morphed into “tapeoexpress” during which we attempted to – and succeeded in – getting to three tapas bars in two hours (Eslava, El Rinconcillo and La Giganta) and having a special snack at each one. Then it was a quick sprint back to the apartment to collect bags and get a taxi to the airport.

In the end we managed to hit eight tapas bars in two days. And four out of my Top Five Tapas Bars in Sevilla.

Seriously? I LOVE Twitter for all the amazing people it has put me in touch with. Makes living as a weirdo semi-recluse in Sevilla *way more interesting*!

[also posted on the casa az blog]

Seville Orange Days

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It’s a sure sign of spring coming in Sevilla when the orange trees lining the streets and squares are harvested.

This year for the first time there will be week-long “Seville Orange Days” festival (starting Monday), sponsored by the provincial tourism board and Hosteleria Sevilla, with 38 restaurants in and around the city taking part by creating special dishes made from Sevilla’s emblematic bitter oranges.

I think it’s a great idea and some of the dishes sound terrific. Check out the PDF list of participating restaurants and their offerings here…

I Jornadas Gastronómicas de la Naranja de Sevilla

Pigging Out In Style At Restaurante Alcuza

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One of the perks of having run the Sevilla Tapas blog for almost five years now is that I occasionally get invitations to interesting (usually food-related) events. Yesterday I was invited to Restaurante Alcuza by gastronomy photographer Manolo Manosalbas, to preview their “Iberian Pork Days” menu, which will be available to the public starting today until March 3rd. Everything from starters to dessert featured cerdo Ibérico de bellota, the best of the best, made from Sierra Mayor’s acorn-fed free-range Pata Negra pigs.

[click on image to enlarge]

I have to admit that I wasn’t crazy about the ice-cream, but everything else was sensational and was perfectly accompanied by wines from Bodegas Torres. After six tapas I was quite happily stuffed! I was also glad to have a chance to revisit Alcuza as I had first gone there almost two years ago but hadn’t been back. Question of too many tapas bars, too little time and €€€. But after what I sampled yesterday I will definitley be going again soon, and I recommend you drop in to try these special Iberian pork dishes created by chef Victor Gamero. The “serranito inverso” (centre photo) is the only one offered as a tapa – the rest are available as main dishes.

Restaurante Alcuza
Campamento 29
Tel. 954 542 477
Open: 13.00 – midnight
Kitchen closed 16.00 – 20.30
Closed all day Sunday and Monday evening

3rd Sevilla en Boca de Todos

azahar

The third edition of Sevilla en Boca de Todos (Seville on Everyone’s Lips) promises several new features such as a competition by area, the final where the tapas have to be prepared before a jury, and the first Ensaladilla Competition.

I’m assuming that, as with the two previous editions, the main competition will be to create the best tapa in Seville for less than 2.50€, but so far the neither the official website or Facebook page is giving out much information yet, not even the list of participants.

As I did last year, I will be posting photos of the tapas I manage to sample, though I think I’ll skip the ensaladilla competition…


[update: new dates announced for this competition]

Sevilla en Boca de Todos
2 May – 27 June 2012.

Sevilla Tapas Policy Change

azahar6 Comments

For almost five years now, since first starting my Sevilla Tapas blog, my policy has always been to only put up tapas bars and restaurants that I would recommend to a friend. If I didn’t like a place it simply didn’t get included. I guess I just thought I wanted my tapas blog to have a positive and helpful feel to it. A couple of years ago I did put up a very scathing review of a place that had treated my friend and me horrendously, but I don’t know, it seemed to throw a shadow on what I like to think of as an upbeat and friendly site and I removed it.

But lately I’ve been wondering if this is actually the best policy, especially as fewer of the places I visit these days end up on the blog because I know I wouldn’t ever recommend them to a friend. Was I getting jaded, I asked myself. Or just more experienced and discerning? Then today happened.

I met my friend Pablo for lunch at a place that had not only been recommended to me many times over the years, but people couldn’t actually believe that I had never been there, as it was apparently such a popular location. So as I had a meeting right around the corner from this place that finished at lunchtime, that’s where we went. And well. I should have known upon entering that it was going to be dire, but again, you never know. Sometimes the shabbiest looking places serve up the tastiest tapas (though to be honest, this almost never happens in the city) and this place was certainly shabby. It had the look of someplace that had had its day about fifteen years ago and hadn’t bothered to paint or replace the tacky furniture. It wasn’t DIRTY exactly, but it had an unclean feel to it. So why didn’t we just get up and leave? Well, because I had to find out if all those who had praised this joint were right. They weren’t.

The food was not only pedestrian in the extreme, but most of it seemed past its time, hard and dry and tired looking. And the service was haphazard and impersonal. Even if the tapas had been cheap (they weren’t at 3-4 euros each) it wouldn’t have made up for such a dismal meal. Pablo and I were left feeling upleasantly full and unsatisfied and, well, a bit annoyed. And I felt ripped off thinking I’d wasted my time and money at a crappy tapas bar that I wouldn’t even be able to put in my tapas blog.

After lunch we ran into a friend of ours, Markus, and told him about our experience. His office is nearby and he said he never eats at that place. But both Pablo and Markus told me that it would actually give my tapas blog more credibility if there were some negative, or at least not glowing, reviews. So they convinced me to change my policy a bit, if only as a public service. Because I truly pity anyone who might end up eating where we were today, especially when there are so many other terrific places nearby.

I’m actually quite excited about this new policy. It means I can include everywhere I eat and not just the places I like. And by doing so perhaps I can help others avoid a nasty or even just mediocre meal.