Tag Archives: tapas bars

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…

my top sevilla restaurant openings for 2024

30 Monday Dec 2024

Posted by in restaurants, sevilla, spain, tapas bars

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2424 top

I don’t like doing “best of” lists because what does that mean anyhow? “Best” according to whom and by what criteria? In the end it’s just a subjective opinion. However, every year I look back on the new arrivals in Sevilla and there are always a few that I think have really made a difference. So I would like to welcome these three places, all new for 2014, all unique and special in their own way. Thanks for making Sevilla a more dynamic and delicious place.

✨ Augurio – March 2024
Fresh and fabulous, a charming minimalist space with excellent service, thoughtful beautifully presented food and terrific wines. Let Carmen and Lorena and their lovely team take care of you.

2024 Dec 16-31

✨ La Carmela – June 2024
Ivantxu expands on his love for meticulous yet still familiar expressions of how much he just enjoys cooking in this new space, adjacent to his original Los Remedios restaurant. Ivan will always surprise and delight you, especially with that wine list.

2024 Dec 16-311

✨ Beirutina – October 2024
You feel the love as soon as you walk into this family run Lebanese brunch-lunch spot and are seduced by all those warm kitchen aromas. Fourat makes you feel at home in her hip modernist space which includes a lovely patio with a century old olive tree.

2024 Dec 16-312

l’armanaque de sevilla 2025

27 Wednesday Nov 2024

Posted by in architecture, art, sevilla, tapas bars

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calendar 25

Before lockdown 2020 my neighbour Alfredo Rodríguez was working at Barra Baja, one of my favourite restaurants in the city. Then of course everything stopped. But not Alfredo. He started creating a series of Sevilla tapas bar façades that he would sketch while out on the few walks we were allowed and then finish at home. This led to a whole other line of business for him that eventually became his new full time job. I have two of his limited prints at home, of Casa Eme and Casa Morales. Then Alfonso had the idea to make an annual Sevilla almanac with a selection his ever expanding collection of façades on each page.

This is the 2025 L’Armanaque de Sevilla, hot off the presses, and once again I have also picked one up for Deb and Paul like I did last year.

the great pumpkin

13 Tuesday Aug 2024

Posted by in food & drink, sevilla, spain, tapas bars

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great pumpkin (1)

Here’s Peter with a pumpkin that weighs more than he does. We stopped in for a snack at Doña Emilia yesterday, which is the riverside restaurant/tapas bar of the Manolo Mayo family. This 100 kilo specimen was apparently their runner-up in the largest veg-fruit competition held annually in Los Palacios (where the Mayo family is from and where they have their original restaurant and their own vegetable garden). So the even bigger pumpkin and giant watermelons (also winners) stayed in Los Palacios.

great pumpkin (2)

filming session

13 Thursday Jun 2024

Posted by in food & drink, friends, gastronomy, sevilla, tapas, tapas bars, television

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filming

I was asked a while ago to help a television production company with an upcoming travel and gastronomy feature in Sevilla and I was happy to do so even though they later mentioned that they also wanted me to be in the programme too (!!!). And well… eep. I had set them up with the perfect bar and chefs for filming the cooking sessions, but later they also wanted to film a “tapeo”. Again, I organised this with two of my favourite bars and got their permission and when Jaime, one of the chefs, said he’d also be going along on the tapeo I thought “great! I’m off the hook!”. Except no. They still wanted me to come along and join the small group going out.

And well, it was fun and I was happy to help my friends get some nice exposure but I seriously hope any shots with me in it end up on the cutting room floor. Also, I didn’t make it to our final bar because everything was running late, my knee was killing me, and I had a lunchtime tapas tour in Triana the next day. So I bailed and hoped they would get some good stuff at the last place. Will let you know when it comes out, sometime early 2025 is the plan. Until then I can’t say much more about it.