Category: Tapas

ArizonaDog FriendlyRating: N/R (Not Rated)SpanishTapasTapasUnited States

Tapas Papa Frita – Scottsdale, Arizona

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

While dining at a restaurant in Phoenix, our stomachs roiled a bit as a pesky fly took a nosedive into my glass of Mexican Coca Cola.  By the time our server returned, the acid in the Coke had completely dissolved the fly.  There was no evidence remaining that a fly had drowned in the carbonated water.  If anything, that little escapade gave credence to one of two stories that explain the origin of Spanish tapas.  In this particular origin story, the genesis of tapas was in the working class taverns of Andalusia where field workers used slices of bread and meat to keep dust and insects out of their sherry glasses.  That story made me wish I had placed a piece of bread to keep that one fly away from my drink. There are similar origin stories, most involving covering beer or sherry with a saucer to keep flies out.  Bartenders eventually figured they could use the saucer to serve a little ham, some cheese and olives.  This clever move proved very popular among customers who appreciated the bar’s apparent generosity.  In one version of this origin story, devious innkeepers figured out they could serve cheap wine with a plate…

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Damacio’s Bar & Tapas – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

“I wanna open a Jamaican/Irish/Spanish small plate breakfast restaurant and call it Tapas the Morning to Ja.” ~Harris Wittels (Comedian) It wasn’t Wittel’s humorous quip that came to mind as we approached Damacio’s Bar & Tapas but rather something legendary raconteur and television host Anthony Bourdain once said.  During a 2013 episode of his CNN television show Parts Unknown filmed in Granada, Spain, he declared “We will never have tapas culture in America.”  Calling tapas “that greatest of Spanish traditions,” Bourdain added “You may think you know what a tapa is.  Like if you’ve had small bites at some fusion hipster bar where they do a whole lot of little plates. Yeah, that ain’t a tapa. Quite naturally Boudain’s comments got me to thinking: what exactly is a tapas culture and what are we doing wrong here in the Land of Plenty. Accompanied by his longtime Director of Photography Zach Zamboni and his fiancé, who live part-time in Granada, Bourdain was told by the fiancé that “Tapa is for free.  That’s the main issue of the tapa.”  Bourdain liked the concept: “So, you’re just paying for the wine. So if I were like a degenerate wino I could still eat…

AmericanDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: ExcellentSandwichTapas

Pig + Fig Cafe – White Rock, New Mexico

Gil Garduno12:01 AM

In its eighth season, the brilliant sitcom Seinfeld helped introduce casual comic book fans to the concept of Bizarro world, a setting which is weirdly inverted or opposite of expectations. In other words, a Bizarro world is a mirror image of conventionality, logic and reality, everything being reversed. Jerry Seinfeld’s polar opposite Kevin, for example, was depicted as kind, selfless and reliable in contrast to Jerry’s indifference, self-absorption and forgetfulness. Gene was quiet, studious, polite and giving while his Bizarro counterpart George was loud, obnoxious, cheap and slovenly. Some people believe there’s a polar opposite—a Bizarro version—of every one of us. I met “Bizarro Gil” while stationed at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi. While I (all modesty aside) consider myself a bit of a renaissance man, Derwin was atavistic, a throwback to the days of Ralph Kramden when men were short-tempered, disparaging and chauvinistic. He couldn’t understand why I would take my Kim out for dinner so often when there we had a perfectly good stove at home. It galled him that Kim often picked where we’d eat. His retort to that grievous affront was “The last time women decided what to eat, they doomed humanity for eternity,”…

AlbuquerqueBrunchDog FriendlyNew MexicoRating: GoodSpanishTapas

VARA WINERY & DISTILLERY – Albuquerque, New Mexico

Gil Garduno3:53 PM

In 1620, King Philip III of Spain issued a royal decree mandating that each of the 19 recognized New Mexican Pueblos elect by popular vote, a governor, lieutenant governor and other officers as might be needed to carry on the Pueblo’s affairs. The decree required that elections take place at the close of a calendar year with installation into office occurring the first week of the new year. In commemoration of each Pueblo’s recognized sovereignty, each governor was presented a silver-headed Vara de Soberania (Cane of Sovereignty) with a cross inscribed on the sliver mount as evidence of the support of the Church.  This symbol of the governor’s commission and authority has been passed on to succeeding governors ever since. * In 1629, nine years after the Varas de Soberania were issued, Fray Garcîa de Zuñiga and Antonio de Arteaga smuggled vines out of Spain. In defiance of Spanish law prohibiting the growing of grapes for wine in the new world, they planted New Mexico’s first grapes on the east bank of the Rio Grande slightly north of the village of present-day San Antonio. Thanks to the audacity of the two Catholic monks, the major shortage of wine in the…

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El Farol – Santa Fe, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno4:34 PM

For over a quarter century, the most popular section in New Mexico Magazine (the nation’s oldest state magazine, by the way) has been a humorous column entitled “One of Our Fifty is Missing.” The column features anecdotes submitted by readers worldwide recounting their experiences with fellow American citizens and ill-informed bureaucrats who don’t realize that New Mexico is part of the United States. Some travelers from other states actually believe they’re leaving their nation’s borders when they cross into New Mexico. Others think they need a passport to visit (not that they’d visit considering they’re wary of drinking our water.) Merchants and banks throughout America have been known to reject as “foreign credit cards” American Express and Visa cards issued by New Mexico banking institutions. Sometimes you have to wonder if “one of our fifty is missing” applies also to American History textbooks. As an unabashedly proud New Mexican of Spanish descent, I always wondered why public schools taught impressionable students that America’s history was the exclusive domain of the thirteen colonies. You would think this great country’s history began when the pilgrims descended on Plymouth Rock. Seemingly unbeknownst to history books was all the history transpiring across the Land…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2019Gone But Not ForgottenNew MexicoSpanishTapas

The Cellar – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno1:20 PM

While touring Granada, Spain during a 2013 episode of CNN’s Parts Unknown, Emmy award-winning celebrity host Anthony Bourdain bemoaned that “we will never have tapas culture in America.” Then, to emphasize his contention even further (and perhaps to rankle the ire of American foodies who frequent “tapas” restaurants across the fruited plain), he challenged viewers: “You may think you know what a tapa is, like if you’ve had small bites at some fusion hipster bar where they do a whole bunch of little plates. Yeah, that ain’t a tapa.” Bourdain, a best-selling author, world traveler, renowned chef and “poet of the common man” doesn’t just vociferate controversial statements because it’s good television. Agree with him or not, he knows what he’s talking about. When he says we will never have tapas culture in America, the operative word is “culture” as in the social practices associated with tapas. In Spain, tapas isn’t a formulaic approach in which a restaurant (or more likely, a drinking establishment) serves “small plates.” It’s so much more than that. In modern day Spain, tapas are not only a gastronomic custom, they are a deeply rooted social and communal event described by Travel and Leisure as “walking,…

AlbuquerqueClosed in 2013Gone But Not ForgottenSpanishTapas

Cosmo Tapas – Albuquerque, New Mexico (CLOSED)

Gil Garduno8:34 PM

Some of the world’s most elegant and refined cuisine has its genesis in very humble circumstances.  Today, Spanish tapas are widely regarded as sophisticated and exotic, but they didn’t start off that way.  In fact, Spanish tapas are an excellent embodiment of the axiom that when life hands you lemons, you should make lemonade.  The words “tapa” (singular) or “tapas” (plural) are derived from the Spanish word “tapar,” which means “to cover.”  In Spanish, a tapa is also the literal term for a “lid.”  How the word “tapas” became the term used to describe a popular epicurean craze is an interesting tale. It’s well established that in Spain, it’s traditional for many people to take an afternoon respite from the rigors of their daily lives and jobs to visit the local tavern or inn for snacks and refreshment.  In Old Spain, snacks and refreshment are inseparable, a tradition dating back to the Castilian king Alfonso the Wise who decreed that no wine was to be served in any inn throughout Castile unless accompanied by something to eat.  This precaution was to counteract the adverse effects of alcohol on an empty stomach. Observing that glasses of wine or sherry served to…