DINING: Tapas Eateries

 

Before chef Luis Zambrano opened Viva in Glendale, Massachusetts, he did the requisite research, reading up on Spanish cuisine and visiting Spanish restaurants in Boston and New York City. But he also wanted to gain some serious hands-on know-how, so, in 2004, Zambrano went straight to the source. With Spanish grandparents, the Colombian-born chef could have worked in a restaurant owned by a family member, but, he says, “They would have babied me.” 

 

Instead, he did a stint in a hundred-year-old tapas restaurant in the town of Tarragona in Catalonia, owned by a friend of his uncle. “My uncle told him, ‘That’s my nephew, treat him like crap,’” quips Zambrano, who was amazed at how the tiny kitchen was able to turn out a vast array of tapas—small, savory Spanish dishes served either hot or cold.

 

That visit to Spain, Zambrano’s first since a family trip in 1971, came three years before he purchased the restaurant on Route 183 that longtime Berkshirites remember as Mundy’s. After leaving Manhattan in 2001 and cooking his way through high-end kitchens in the region—including Wheatleigh in Lenox, Massachusetts, and Gedney Farm in New Marlborough, Massachusetts—Zambrano aimed to start his own restaurant; he had even purchased tables and chairs years earlier and kept them in storage for just such a purpose.

 

Recognizing the area’s plethora of French, Italian, and Asian eateries, Zambano reached back to his roots by opening ViVa, a Spanish restaurant, in 2007. “I saw an opportunity to give the area something different,” he says. “It was something new.” Since then, two other eateries have drawn on the tapas tradition: Mission Bar + Tapas in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and (p.m.) wine bar in Hudson, New York.

 

Though all three are relative newcomers to the Berkshires, tapas-style cuisine has long held a place in more established local restaurants. In Williamstown, Massachusetts, for example, Mezze Bistro + Bar, whose name derives from the Mediterranean tradition of diminutive dishes, offers an array of “small plates” on its menu, including several that might be found on nearly any authentic Spanish tapas list—such as cured olives or Marcona almonds—as does its sister restaurant, Allium, in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. 

 

The menu at Stagecoach Tavern in Sheffield, Massachusetts, begins with “Snacks” in the tapas tradition, including a head of olive-oil-roasted garlic and Idiazábal, a Spanish cheese from the Basque region, served with almonds and honey. Diners at Rouge, in West Stockbridge, Massachusetts, will find an extensive tapas menu, including two types of those ubiquitous olives as well as piparras, Basque peppers.

 

For the culinarily curious, tapas are an antidote to the tyranny of the main course. Adventurous eaters who have embraced dining customs from other cultures centered on small tastes of many different foods—dim sum from China; mezze from the Mediterranean; thali from India; and the vast array of finger foods from Japan—will find themselves comfortable with tapas-style dining.
Food historians trace the origins of tapas to the thirteenth century, when Castilian monarch Alfonso X (Alfonso the Wise) decreed that alcohol could not be served without food.

 

Innkeepers began serving small snacks, such as a slice of bread, ham, or cheese, on top of wine glasses or jars, reputedly to keep insects out between sips (though some say it was a good way to cover up the smell of bad wine). This practice gave rise to the word tapas—from the Spanish verb tapar, to cover—and the proliferation of small dishes.

 

From their roots as bar food, tapas have remained a snack for socializing. In Spain, Zambrano explains, “Tapas isn’t a meal in itself.” Seated near the hearth of his restaurant, where red walls predominate among the colors of the Spanish flag, Zambrano describes a sort of movable feast in Spanish cities. “You’d start at one place and have a few [tapas], then go somewhere else. Some places are known for certain items. They have good razor clams here, nice cheeses over there. It’s almost like bar-hopping—it’s tapa-hopping.”

 

With few local tapas bars to hop among, and substantial drives between each, Berkshire diners can content themselves at ViVa, which offers more than twenty traditional tapas, many that challenge the tongue while pleasing the palate. Among the tapas frias (cold) on ViVa’s current menu are alacachofas a la vinagreta (sherry-marinated artichokes with Arbequina olive oil) and jamón Serrano con queso (Serrano ham with Idiazabel cheese), as well as the obligatory dishes of olives, almonds, and sliced meats and cheeses. 

 

Among the tapas caliente (hot), the most popular include chorizo a la Rioja (chorizo sausage sizzling in Rioja wine); albondigas (Spanish meatballs in a sherry cream sauce); datiles con tisono (almond-stuffed dates wrapped in applewood smoked bacon); and gambas al ajillo (sizzling shrimp in garlic, lemon, and white wine sauce). Zambrano draws from the wide universe of tapas to vary the menu, and is sometimes surprised by the popularity of certain dishes, such as espinacas a la Catalana (spinach sautéed with chickpeas, pine nuts, raisins, and apples).

 

Zambrano departs from tapas tradition by also offering a full menu. Patrons may construct their own meals of tapas, appetizers, soups, salads, and main courses (including three versions of paella) in the main dining room—accented by vintage flamenco fans, black-and-white Picasso prints, and a copy of Picasso’s Toros y Toreros, hand-painted by Zambrano—and in the narrow taverna, decorated with collectible bullfighting posters. With a full liquor license, Zambrano emphasizes Spanish wines and sherries, though he also offers wines from other countries. Further deviations from tradition include postres (desserts), most of which he makes himself, as well as coffee and tea service.

 

The more urban settings of (p.m.) wine bar and Mission Bar + Tapas present a more feasible model for tapas tradition; patrons can actually barhop in Hudson or Pittsfield, or walk in for a glass of
wine and tapas before or after a meal or performance.

 

Both also take greater liberties with their offerings. At (p.m.), Kevin Moran, who has visited Spain many times with his partner, Cuban-born Mario Pollan, declares, “I don’t know how we got called a tapas bar—it’s Warren Street tapas.” Indeed, the t-word doesn’t even appear on the menu.   “We’re trying to serve food that people like and not force Spanish food on them,” he says.

 

And yet, the menu is entirely in Spanish; Spanish wines dominate the list (which includes sherries); and tapas aficionados will find familiar fare, such as boquerones blancos (white anchovy fillets marinated in olive oil and vinegar). The albondigas here come in garlic sauce, the gambas are baked with pesto, and the bacon-wrapped dates are stuffed with Spanish Valdeón blue cheese.

 

Pollan and Moran had long dreamed of starting a business upstate as their “exit strategy” from Manhattan. They found a narrow Warren Street storefront near the Amtrak station, which they envisioned as a wine bar. “We wanted a place that we would want to come to—comfortable, not snobbish, but nice,” he says.

 

They researched tapas bars in Manhattan and drew upon their visits to Barcelona to devise a simple menu: “Three cheeses, three meats, a plate of olives, that’s it.” But the liquor authority advised them to expand their menu to distinguish (p.m.) from a bar, which would be a more difficult license to obtain. They followed the recommendation and opened (p.m.) in June 2008.

 

With about twenty choices on the menu, diners at (p.m.) may certainly make a meal during a visit, but Moran suggests patrons pace themselves, recounting his own faux pas in Barcelona. “We ordered six plates all at once. The waiter was like, ‘Americans!’’” Moran’s advice: “It’s more a progressive meal. It should come in stages, not all at once.” He employs subtle tricks to inspire conversation. “We serve odd numbers—three meatballs, five shrimp—so that you can’t split it evenly; there has to be a discussion.”

 

The sophisticated country décor at (p.m.) also inspires conversation. Tiny roe-deer skulls dating from the late-1800s to 1935, purchased on eBay from an Austrian collector, adorn crisp, white walls, and conviviality is fostered by the dearth of small tables. In a nod to Spanish custom, the front room has no tables; patrons must either gather at the white marble bar or perch on stools at the facing ledge.

 

Wine selections are scrawled on a mirror behind the bar, which reflects picturesque jars of sangria, marinated olives, and pecans, as well as the glow of candles burning in antique grain scoops repurposed as wall sconces.

 

The back room has one slender farmhouse table, perfect for communal dining; antique portraits and a large ram’s head keep company with the roe-deer skulls on the wall. The bathroom walls sport chalkboard paint and usually lively commentary. A tiny kitchen, just ten feet square, occupies the back of the space. “We just have a little electric stove,” says Moran. “We’re trying to keep it as simple as possible until we redo the kitchen.”

 

Sliders aren’t found on many tapas menus, but that doesn’t stop Jim Benson from offering mini-cheeseburgers at Mission, the tapas and wine bar he opened last summer on North Street in Pittsfield. After five successful years at the helm of the first franchise of Arizona Pizza Company (in Lanesborough, Massachusetts), Benson was ready to create his own restaurant.

 

“I thought that downtown Pittsfield was underserved,” he says. “I was interested in making a place that I would want to go to.” Eventually, Benson found a 1,600-square-foot storefront neighboring Yoga on North and Dottie’s Coffee Lounge in the historic Greystone Building across the street from Ferrin Gallery. “It was the right size,” he says, “and I really liked this block.”

 

Benson had no particular affinity for tapas, but his first idea was taken. “I’m a huge fan of Brix,” he says, referring to the popular wine bar on West Street. “I would have opened a French bistro but they beat me to that.” Unwilling to buy a full liquor license, and limited by the small space, he examined the possibilities and struck upon the tapas concept.

 

Having never been to Spain, and having never eaten true tapas, he gave himself a crash course in his chosen cuisine. “I took one trip to Boston; I hit eight or ten tapas restaurants in a day,” he recounts. “I grabbed every tapas cookbook. The thing I found was there’s this accepted core of tapas. Individual chefs do their own versions of potato croquettes, Spanish meatballs, garlic shrimp. It’s really just a matter of getting a grip on the vernacular and doing it well.”

 

Benson borrowed from the palette of artist Joan Miró as inspiration for Mission’s interior, which is painted mostly in a deep, textured red, with accents of brown, gold, and blue. He commissioned local artists to create new work for the walls, including Michael Boroniec’s triptych of faux-brick panels with a graffiti-style bull and flamenco dancer. “It’s supposed to be like a back alley somewhere in Spain that someone tagged,” Benson notes. After developing the menu in Arizona Pizza’s kitchen, Benson staged a soft opening in June 2008.

 

“It was an experiment in word of mouth,” he says. “We had no advertising—we don’t even have a phone. By the end of summer we were super busy.” Pittsfield readily took to his freewheeling interpretation of tapas, which include classics such as Marcona almonds, assorted olives, Serrano ham, and Manchego cheese, alongside sweet potato croquetas, Australian rack of lamb, and honey brava drumsticks. Benson defends his innovations, pointing out that Spain is home to today’s most inventive chefs.

 

Benson has also become a proponent of the tapas philosophy. “This is the hang-up—that you’re not getting a big plate to yourself,” he says. “You’re getting lots of small plates and you have to share them.” He also educates his patrons about Spanish wine, which is listed on chalkboards. “There’s no Cabernet, no Chardonnay. It’s all Spanish, ready to drink now. It’s not about exclusivity; it’s wine to socialize with, wine to eat tapas with. Everything about this place is intended to be simple. The food is simple, the wine is simple, the selection is simple.”

 

Like (p.m.), Mission has a bar with a facing ledge to encourage conviviality, plus two long communal tables, as well as a smattering of low four-tops. Benson added live music soon after opening, which has proven to be a popular draw—not only for audiences but also for hot acts. (He has booked larger shows at Barrington Stage Company’s Stage II nearby on Linden Street.)

 

But when the music’s over, the crowd lingers, nibbling, sipping, and mingling until the midnight closing, fulfilling Benson’s vision. “I just want this to be a place where people want to hang out,” he says. “There’s no TV, no phone. Everybody’s just talking. It creates this great evening of conversation and fun.” [JULY 2009]

 

Bess Hochstein is a frequent contributor to Berkshire Living.

 

THE GOODS

Misson Bar + Tapas

Pittsfield, Mass.

 

(p.m.) wine bar

119 Warren St.

Hudson, N.Y.

 

ViVa!

/Route 183

Glendale, Mass.