Tapas Anyone?

Hello Foodies,

Last night, two of the Forks - Melissa and Lisa -and Tour de Forks alum - Jackie Chasey -discovered a new tapas restaurant called Boqueria. Pictured to the left are Jackie and Melissa. My apologies for the photo quality - the snap was taken with my new phone that I barely know how to use. However, the photo certainly captures the fun of our evening.

Boqueria was packed last night. Monica, the hostess, was amazing at keeping everyone posted on the ETA of their tables. Not an easy job, I assure you. We were lucky enough to score seats at the bar before our table became available. We were also lucky to be at the bar because we were seated right in front of Marga, the tapas chef. Marga gave us excellent recommendations and Joe the bartender was very attentive.

So this is what we ate: The queso: Monte Negro, La Sarena, and Valdeon. The cured meats: jamon serrano and salchichon de bellota. Txipirones - it's baby squid, garbanzo, olive, radish, and al i oli. A wild boar pate. Dates stuffed with almonds and Cabrales, wrapped in bacon (datiles con beicon y almendras. Fried quail eggs and chorizo on toast (dojonudo). White anchovies. Jamon on a flatbread. And patatas bravas - fried potatoes and spicy al i oli. We loved everything but we all agreed the patatas bravas could have been crunchier. We drank a rose cava and enjoyed a Spanish Malvasia after dinner. For dessert, we devoured a chocolate and coffee mousse with hazelnut ice-cream and candied hazelnuts. Marga also suggested that we try (the next time) a dish called Arroz Cremoso - it's like a rosotto made with creamy bomba rice, salt cod, Manchego, lychees, and mussel broth. One big yum!

We're definitely going back and maybe we'll see you there. Let us know what restaurants you go to this weekend.

Enjoy,

the Forks


P.S. Boqueria is located at 53 West 19th St. between 5th & 6th Avenues. Visit Boqueria online at http://www.boquerianyc.com.