Category Archives: tapas bars

a dangerous woman

08 Tuesday Jun 2021

Posted by in friends, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars

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dangerous woman

You wouldn’t know it to look at this innocent smiling face but make no mistake, this woman is pure danger. Or else it’s me who’s dangerous? WHATEVER… it turns out that whenever Reyes Morales and I get together we have, well, a lot of fun. Which usually means we not only end up having a lot of wine, but also lots of laughs, while sharing food and stories and just enjoying our “girl time”. This time we were trying out a new seafood tapas bar next to the Plaza Alfalfa, and I honestly couldn’t ask for a better Tapas Research partner, especially because she owns her own tapas bar and knows what’s what. But mostly it’s just so much fun being with her and I always leave Reyes’ company feeling happy and energised. And it occurs to me – and not for the first time – that this is how one should always feel after spending time with a friend.

josé andrés

26 Wednesday May 2021

Posted by in tapas, tapas bars, tapas tours, we love tapas

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jose andres (2)

So there I was just doing the usual last week when I got a call from José Andrés asking about We Love Tapas and whether I was hiring guides. Well, up until then I had no plans re: rebooting WLT. I had been thinking about possibly starting with my own Sevilla Tapas Tours in September, depending on how things went during the summer re: Covid. But suddenly there was this guy saying he was vaccinated and ready to go, and in fact had already started doing some tours with another company. So we agreed to meet up and, well, say hello to my new WLT guide manager.  🙂

Today we had a tapas tour walk-through so I could introduce him to the bars, show him the route, etc. I’ve decided to start with the Traditional Tapas Tour and maybe start offering some of the others in Sept-Oct. Meanwhile José is going to contribute his ideas for tours (he has a lot!) and hopefully we’ll be incorporating them into WLT too.

So many coincidences with JA. He’s was born in France (parents from Sevilla) but raised in Canada (Montreal) later working in the fashion biz in Toronto, so we know a lot of the same people. I mean, talk about a small world. Plus he’s about 5 years younger than me, so not a “kid”, which is also refreshing. And he’s so full of energy – it’s great spending time around him. Anyhow, wish us luck. Since last week I’ve already booked one tour for late September. Yay!

emeterio

11 Tuesday May 2021

Posted by in sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars

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eme

Well this made my day! Yesterday I met up with Peter after running a couple of errands as we wanted to visit the new location of a fabulous local cheese shop. We started going down Sierpes and Peter said, “let’s take Cuna”, so that’s what we did. And a good thing too because when we almost reached the end of the street I suddenly I heard someone say: “¡Mira! Es la más bonita y más buena de Sevilla!”

And this masked man walks up to me, saying, “you don’t recognise me, do you?”. And I kind of did, but I also didn’t and struggled to recall until he finally said, “It’s me, Eme!”. And oh, how stupid did I feel for not recognising him. Because I adore Eme, but to be fair, he had the mask on and – most importantly – wasn’t standing behind his bar.

In March 2020 I wrote a sad update on Bar Casa Eme’s page on Sevilla Tapas announcing that after 25 years Eme had closed the doors on his bar for good. And I haven’t seen him since, though I had been trying to get in touch with him for his famous solomillo al whisky recipe (hands down the best in Sevilla). Turned out the phone number I had for him wasn’t actually his.

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maskless asshats

07 Friday May 2021

Posted by in covid, sevilla, tapas bars

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maskless

I’m kind of annoyed with myself. I had seen a new account pop up on Instagram for a very typical old-style tapas bar in Triana. It had a cute logo and seemed to be keen on interacting online, so I decided to go try it out. Because as much as I love many of the new innovative bars and restaurants in Sevilla, my heart belongs to the traditional tapas bars. Anyhow, on Wednesday I asked Peter if he wanted to go there with me and at first he said he didn’t really feel like going out, but in the end I convinced him that a walk and some nice food would do him good. Plus I had a nice “take away” for him to pick up on the way home.

And yes, it was a nice walk. We stopped for a quick cold beer en route and then managed to get the last available table at our destination (inside, but next to an open door and window). Unfortunately the food wasn’t great, but that wasn’t the reason I ended up regretting going. At first everything seemed fine, with all the waiters wearing masks and there were only three tables inside, spaced well enough apart. But then half-way through our meal I noticed that the guy behind the bar (serving drinks to the waiters taking care of the terrace and food to the tables inside) started pulling his mask down while he was behind the bar (he’d pull it up again if he stepped out from behind the bar, but still). And then just as we were about to finish I saw the cook and his assistant come out of the kitchen AND NEITHER OF THEM WERE WEARING MASKS. They didn’t have them pulled down, or on their wrists. They simply weren’t wearing them at all. So we quickly finished our last tapitas, got the bill and left. Continue reading →

adiós bodega san josé

27 Tuesday Apr 2021

Posted by in coronavirus, covid, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars

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I wish this would stop. I mean, I know nothing lasts forever but there are just too many wonderful tapas bars shutting down. The latest tragic loss is the amazing Bodega San José, which I really only got to know a few years ago. This time it’s a combination of landlord greed and Covid that made the Bueno family decide to shut its doors after almost 80 years, though the bar itself is much older. When the family first came to Sevilla from Santander they opened a few locations, the first one being El Punto in Puerto Osario, which closed in 2007. Bodega San José was the last one standing.

Anyhow, I just found out about this today after that lovely photo of Nicolás Bueno and his mother Rosario (who worked in the bar until the final day, making her amazing boquerones en vinagre) popped up this morning in my Instagram memories and so I put it up in my Stories. Then I got a message from someone telling me the bar was about to close. In fact, the final day of the lease is April 30th but then I found out the bar stopped functioning on the 18th. I had just been there a couple of days before and was happy to see Rosario there, but nobody mentioned anything about closing. So this has come as quite a shock today. I went over to see for myself and saw the doors shuttered and everything gone from the outside, the signs, everything. So much loss this past year.