One of the perks of the biz is when I am invited to previews and openings of new bars and restaurants in Sevilla. I was excited to hear the other day that the long-awaited arrival of Cañabota will be realized this coming Monday (October 17th), and I was very lucky to be one of the guests at their fabulous preview lunch. Much more coming up very soon on Sevilla Tapas.
Preview tasting menu: “solid cocktail” of Hidalgo fino, Lustau vermouth with trout roe and orange zest; grilled oysters with toasted butter and artemia; onion crisp topped with larded tuna, onion purée and tuna fat; cod liver salad on mushroom slivers, baby spinach and lettuce, fish emulsion and spicy vinegar; squid ink potato parmentier with cuttlefish roe and chipirón; sea bass with confit black trumpet mushrooms and fish emulsion; lemon meringue “pie” on a crispy biscuit.
A bit like when you see bullheads in a bar, you can always spot an inauthentic travel piece on Sevilla that talks about all the “spit and sawdust” bars here, with napkins strewn all over the floor. I’ve lived here for over 23 years and the very few bars in the centre that used to put down sawdust have long since stopped this practice. But every now and then you find one. This was taken at Taberna Azahar, a bar I’ve been planning to go to for ages (mostly for the name, truth be told). It’s up in the Macarena barrio, not a place I frequent very often. Anyhow, although they still put down sawdust, there are little bins throughout the bar for paper napkins.
Chef Óscar here at Casa Morales has no idea what the barmen have written on the specials board. Do you? The past couple of days I’ve been checking in at my usual “tapas tour bars”, saying hi to everyone, you know, just staying connected. And today this happened. Cracked me up…
Back in the “old days” women in Spain (as in many countries) weren’t allowed in bars, so of course there was no need to have a toilet for them to use. You can still sometimes come across old urinarios like this one, which didn’t even used to have doors on them. This relic is in one of my favourite sherry bars, 
casa azahar 