Category Archives: tapas bars

my 27th sevilla anniversary

16 Wednesday Sep 2020

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Twenty-seven years ago today I drove down from Salamanca with a friend and with all my worldly belongings in the back of his car, along with some precious cargo – my two cats Lua and her son Sunny. We arrived in Sevilla at 8 pm, as previously arranged (to meet landlord and pick up keys), and miraculously found parking almost in front of my new home in calle Mateos Gago. But there was no landlord. And as this was 1993 there were no cell phones, so we just waited. And waited. Finally we asked the bar we were parked in front of if we could get something to eat and drink, but we didn’t really want to leave the car because of the cats and all. And bless them, the people at Bar Campanario actually brought food and drink out to our car, like we were at a drive in, and it was lovely. The landlord finally showed up at 11pm full of apologies, but we were fine (though the cats were happy to see a litter box!). Bar Campanario ended up becoming my local, heck even my living room (my studio apt across the street was tiny), and the owners became fast friends.

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the return of the vermutería yo soy tu padre

10 Thursday Sep 2020

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My lovely friend Esteban has not only reopened his inimitable vermouth bar Vermutería Yo Soy Tu Padre today, he has also moved location. I stopped in to see the new place and it’s great. Cosy and friendly like the previous place, though I am a bit sad to now have to walk a full ten minutes from home instead of three.  😉

Same great vermouths, made by Esteban from a base of finos and manzanillas en rama, as well as the usual selection of exquisite small-production wines and E’s killer negronis. Tapas are also available. Only open in the evenings for now. Go show him some love guys!

Vermutería Yo Soy Tu Padre
Conde de Torrejón 21

bread baskets of death…

04 Friday Sep 2020

Posted by in coronavirus, restaurants, sevilla, spain, tapas bars

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For the most part the tapas bars and restaurants I have been to over the past couple of months have been doing their best with taking precautions and keeping their establishments as safe as possible for both staff and clients. But you know, nobody’s perfect and also, as time passes, people tend to slack off a bit. Even as a second wave looms (reported cases and deaths keep mounting) some people are still in denial. Not me though! I am not only at a higher risk of catching this fucker due to previous cancer and chemo, but with my age, etc, I am also not likely to survive it. So yeah, you could say I have a vested interest in how the public is behaving in terms of the pandemic.

The other day I posted this photo of stacked up bread baskets on my Instagram. Some of you may remember that this disgusting practice has always been, well, disgusting to me. I mean, the baskets (filled with bread and often also napkins and cutlery) are put on tables, placed on chairs, passed from person to person, then taken away, stacked up, NEVER CLEANED, and then reused. In some cases, even the uneaten bread is “recycled” (yes, I have seen this happen with my own eyes). And while it was always an unsanitary and disgusting practice before COVID, now it’s actually criminal.

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putting your money where your mouth is

03 Thursday Sep 2020

Posted by in restaurants, sevilla, spain, tapas bars

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The topic of restaurant booking deposits has been a hot one in London for quite some time now, and I think it is about to become an issue here too. Frankly, since lockdown was lifted, the bars and restaurants that have managed to reopen are all in “survival mode” and, if they are lucky, are just breaking even. So when I saw my friend Javi report on Twitter that he has had groups of 6 and 10 as no-shows this past week and that he has decided to ask for a deposit upon booking, I completely agreed with him.

I have always thought this was a totally reasonable request, with a 24-hour cancellation policy, otherwise you forfeit your deposit. Even at the best of times restaurants seriously suffer from no-shows, especially when more than one happens during a service, or if they are larger groups. It seems there have always been assholes who will book 3-4 restaurants and then decide last minute which one they want to go to and then don’t have the decency to make a quick call to cancel their extra bookings. Clearly these are not the best of times and so a deposit would help put a stop to this.

I honestly don’t understand the resistance to this policy. As I said to Javi, if these people don’t want to pay a deposit then they are not your people. Because a no-show is even worse than a last-minute cancellation as the table is held… and held… and other possible walk-in clients are turned away until it’s too late.

I should think that with all our favourite bars and restaurants struggling to reopen and get back on their feet we would all be happy to put our money where our mouths are and make sure they are covered in case of… I don’t know. Possibly forgetting we had a booking? Because I don’t personally know anyone who would just not show up. But as I say, it’s a problem because people can often be thoughtless and selfish, as we have been shown many times during this pandemic.

What do you think? Would you be fine about leaving a deposit on your credit card for a bar or restaurant booking?

adiós pasos largos

26 Wednesday Aug 2020

Posted by in coronavirus, friends, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars

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Last Sunday I was out for a walk and, well, FUCK IT WAS HOT, so I thought I’d take a detour on my way home to see if one of my fave places Taberna de Pasos Largos was open for a cold beer (as it used to always be open on Sundays). Well, not only was it closed… IT WAS GONE. I mean, totally gone. Empty. And my heart broke a little, once again.

The toll of this fucking virus can be seen everywhere, but in my own world I am (so far) mostly affected by the restrictions it puts on me, including having lost my job and only source of income, as well as the loss of so many wonderful bars and restaurants. And this time I lost something very special. I don’t even know what to say, other than I will miss Paco, Pepe and Isi very much. Yes the food was great, the wine too, but I will mostly miss just being there with them. So sad.

Paco & Pepe

Isi

Isi