Category Archives: tapas

jueves santo 2025

17 Thursday Apr 2025

Posted by in sevilla, culture, spain, tapas, tapas bars

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Today I went out mantilla hunting… love seeing the women dressed in black on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, so elegant with their black lace mantillas draped over a tall tortoise shell comb. I especially love the older women (some of the younger ones are in tight black mini-dresses with cut-away fronts like… wtf??). The idea is that the women are in mourning because Christ has died, and it’s a lovely tradition when done properly.

As I had to get deep into the Cathedral zone and my old neighbourhood Barrio Santa Cruz to catch the mantilla ladies out in force we ended up stopping in at Casa Román on the off chance they had a free table… and yes they did, a perfect spot by the open door. Half an hour later the place was pretty much mobbed, so we got the timing right. Then on the way home I saw a couple of things that made me, well, sad. So when I got back I started writing about it… look for a new post on Substack tomorrow!

hannah

25 Tuesday Mar 2025

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The other day Hannah got in touch. She’s an American who has been living in Santiago de Compostela and is now spending the winter in Cádiz. She found me on Instagram (her account is called A Hungry Pilgrim) and told me she’d like to meet up. So that’s what we did. First stop was Manolo Cateca for a bit of sherry and then a shortish hobble later we were at Zurbarán. And before we knew it Zurbarán was preparing to close up… time just flew! Anyhow, lovely to meet another food-obsessed pal and hopefully we’ll be seeing each other again, either around Cádiz, here or even in Santiago.

175 years

30 Thursday Jan 2025

Posted by in anniversary, friends, sevilla, spain, substack, tapas, tapas bars

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chef Óscar with Reyes

Today I spent the afternoon with my friend Reyes Morales. Nothing unusual there as some of my most pleasant afternoons are spent with Reyes. But this time was different in that I was there to interview her (!) for an upcoming Substack post on the 175th anniversary of Casa Morales. I mean, I already knew a lot about the bar and its history, and also a fair bit about Reyes, but I discovered there was so much more that I didn’t know. It was fascinating listening to her story as we sat at the bar with me scribbling notes while we enjoyed tapas and wine together. Hoping to get it published over the weekend. Stay tuned…

lunch with reyes

08 Wednesday Jan 2025

Posted by in birthdays, food & drink, friends, restaurants, sevilla, spain, tapas, tapas bars

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birthday reyes (1)

It’s always a great time with Reyes. It’s become a bit of a tradition for us to meet up sometime during Birthday Week so today we met at her iconic bar Casa Morales, founded by her great grandfather in 1850. We started things off with a glass of Codorníu rosé cava and a bit of exquisite jamón Ibérico de Bellota from renowned producers Sierra Mayor before heading out to our lunch destination.

birthday reyes

This was to be La Barra de Inchausti just around the corner. Another family-owned spot, now run by siblings Isidro, Concha and Jorge Inchausti.  MORE fish and seafood and that was totally fine by me. We got there early enough to get “my” table next to the window and it was perfect. Afterwards Reyes suggested we have a penúltima at Morales as that was also on my way home.  So a little more cava rosé, a bit more jamón and I think I got home from lunch about 8.00 pm. One more birthday lunch planned this week. Stay tuned!

birthday reyes (2)

We had…

  • Codorníu Ars Collecta Blanc de Noirs Cava 🥂
  • Tortillita de camarones
  • Bodegas Santa Marta Godello Viñaredo 🥂
  • Albóndigas de choco
  • Alubias with prawns
  • Breaded monkfish liver
  • Garlicky grilled monkfish
  • Torelló Special Edition Costa Brava Corpinnat 🥂