TAPAS WITH TONY
Saint Anthony Bourdain inspired our whirlwind of eating and drinking in Granada last week. We were determined to walk in his footsteps. The late great chef provocateur filmed an episode of “Parts Unknown” in 2013 featuring five tapas bars here. We planned to check out the same ones. But not all in one night, as Boudain and pals did. And not eating exactly everything he did. We’re no match for his try-anything appetite, stamina, or even his biting, irreverent prose. Who is?
Our Last Lunch in San Sebastian: Geralds Bar
ur last wonderful lunch in San Sebastian was at Geralds Bar, the same friendly place where we enjoyed our first meal on this visit. As much as we love pintxos bars and fine Basque restaurants, sometimes we need a break. Geralds offers just that — delicious international comfort food perfectly prepared with the best local fresh products. And they offer an excellent selection of wines in the $20-a-bottle range. Our menu del Dia included a braised quail with leeks – warming and delicious on a rainy spring day. A perfect ending to our San Sebastian adventure.
La Charca Taberna: Asturian Cuisine in Madrid
Cachopo is pure comfort food, think chicken fried steak but instead of gravy, it’s stuffed with cheese and all sorts of tasty ingredients, depending on the chef’s preference. We’ve had a cachopo craving ever since we landed in Spain and yesterday we satisfied it in a lovely little restaurant, La Charca Taberna. It lived up to its glowing reviews on TripAdvisor.
Basque Cooking School: San Sebastian
Most food lovers who pintxo crawl through San Sebastian’s old town are more than satisfied sampling these legendary Basque bites. Among them, though, are a passionate few who want to take their experience to the next level – that is, learning how to cook pintxos...
EATING DUBLIN: FAB FOOD TRAILS
For our first stop on Fab Food Trails Dublin, Eveleen Coyle, our friendly tour guide and founder of the 10-year-old company, gathered us in from the day’s showers in a favorite coffee shop, just steps from bustling Grafton Street. “I began doing this mainly because I knew Irish produce wasn’t getting the recognition it deserves,” she explained over warming cappuccinos. “I was very aware that our reputation abroad for food was not great.”
IRISH CUISINE ROCKS
Innovative food pros are putting Ireland on the map as a culinary destination by drawing deeply on its homegrown bounty. In Michelin-starred restaurants, B&B dining rooms, rollicking pubs and cozy tea shops, Ireland today proudly dines off the abundant land and surrounding sea.
WINE TIME WITH TOM GABLE
It’s easy to write about the most expensive wines from around the world – the first-growth wines from Bordeaux, Grand Crus from Burgundy, Grand Reservas from Spain, Super Tuscans from Italy, and cult wines from California, to name a few. The bigger challenge is to find the little gems from smaller producers, discounted wines from the giants looking to clear inventory, or limited editions not selling through the traditional retail channels and find excellent values that titillate the taste buds and are easy on the wallet.