After a long day (and almost 15000 steps!) this was a lovely reward. The Hotel Alfonso XIII courtyard bar is always an indulgence, but some days it’s worth it.
little rewards
07 Tuesday Feb 2017
Posted in andalucia, food & drink, hotels, sevilla
Category Archives: sevilla
updating…
04 Saturday Feb 2017
Posted in sevilla, tapas, tapas bars
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Diego, Antonio, Pepe (2012)
Pepe, Julio (Diego’s son), Antonio (2017)
So as most of you know, I’ve been running this food website for about ten years now, called Sevilla Tapas… 😉
But what you may not know is that I don’t actually make a bean off that site. It started off as a labour of love, and has remained so. Also, I don’t get offered free meals (as many people suppose), which means I actually pay for every tapa and every glass of wine you see posted. And all of that is fine because I think it is what sets me apart, and it also means that Sevilla Tapas has become my online portfolio, showing that I am far more than “just another tapas tour guide”. It also means that I am free to post my own opinions.
And very often it enriches my life in other ways. Like when I went back to El Cairo five years after my first visit (hey, there are more than 3,000 tapas bars here – I do my best!). As usual I got to talking to the guys behind the bar, who looked familiar. So I got out my iPhone and looked up my previous entry for El Cairo and the guys loved it. Especially Julio who saw his father Diego in my 2012 pic. So he very happily posed with the same two barmen as before, Pepe and Antonio, and that encounter totally made my day. Love my job.
february skies
01 Wednesday Feb 2017
So it’s been kind of rainy, which nobody ever really complains about much this time of year… because we do need the rain. But it’s also lovely to see skies like this. And enjoy midday temps of about 18º, warm enough to enjoy a nice cold beer outside…blue monday 2017
16 Monday Jan 2017
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Yes, I am one of those annoying people who LOVE Mondays… for me the concept of something called Blue Monday can only be something beautiful and blue.
michelin star birthday lunch
09 Monday Jan 2017
Posted in birthdays, restaurants, sevilla
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After years of “meaning to go” to Abantal, Sevilla’s only Michelin star restaurant, I decided that my 60th birthday was a good excuse for a decadent splash out meal. I’ve known chef Julio for many years, and even worked with him on the Turismo Sevilla tapas app, so I was looking forward to finally trying out his place.
We did the tasting menu – descriptions are below, and you can click on the photo above to enlarge the image…
- razor clam with cauliflower cream on fried wonton
- garlic soup with egg yolk and seta foam
- quisquilla (prawn) carpaccio with seaweed and artichoke pilpil
- red tuna galette, orange escabeche, cucumber granita and mint foam
- seasonal mushrooms, sopa morisca purée, truffled egg yolk, onion bizcocho
- confit cod with spinach and garbanzo purées
- presa Ibérica with truffled pumpkin cream, grapefruit, lime
- passionfruit creme with mint granita and chocolate
- orange wine zabayon, torta de aceite, mandarin, cinnamon
This was my second Michelin experience. The first was pretty much a disaster at the JC GarcÃa Restaurant in Málaga, also a 1-star like Abantal. This time the experience was actually quite pleasant, with excellent service. But the food was somehow lacking. Nothing was terrible (as at JCG) but nothing was exceptional either. Still, it was a lovely afternoon and a very nice birthday present – thank you Peter!
casa azahar 