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Little dishes pack big flavor
At Sangria's in South Tampa, the menu items range from little mouthfuls to surrogate suppers.
By CHRIS SHERMAN, Times Staff Writer
© St. Petersburg Times
published May 9, 2002
[Times photos: Thomas M. Goethe]
Sangria’s, a new tapas bar in South Tampa, serves dozens of dishes, including calamares fritos and several fava bean specialties.
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TAMPA -- Maybe we've been after the wrong bean. Not that the black bean is wrong; it's just it's not the only one, not even the only bean in the Spanish kitchen. Indeed, as much as we love black beans, we cannot fail to yield to the temptations of the fava bean. That big, flat, dusty-colored bean isn't much to look at, no more glamorous than a butter bean or a big ol' lima.
Sangria's, the newest spot on the Tapas Trail through Tampa's Soho, provides two fine examples of the fava's charms.
The first is a hearty rendition of fabada, the thick bean stew that is second only to paella as a signature dish of Spain and especially beloved in Asturia. Yet here, in the home of so many Asturianos, it is frustratingly rare. Now, I'm partial to white beans with spinach, with shellfish and so on, but these husky beans, smoky sausage, onions, garlic, saffron and, at Sangria's, a hint of tomato and almonds fill a bowl with flavor and sustenance that have nourished a country for centuries.
Too rustic? Make a date with torta de judias blancas, a seductive cake the kitchen makes from fava beans and almonds. It comes with thick white icing, but it needn't: This is more dense than a pound cake, more moist and encased in a crust that's almost caramelized. Nothing better ever came out of a bundt pan or a patisserie.
That two tastes so rich and so very different come from a lowly legume is remarkable. That I found them in a tapas bar run with an international crew and an owner from Mexico City, rather than a traditional restaurant, is puzzling. But it's still encouraging that better Spanish food is on the way.
[Times photo: ]
One of the pricier items at Sangria’s, where most dishes go from $4 to $10, is the paella.
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And it also means that I can commend the food rather than dwell on touting the Spanish custom of tapas, in which bars offer dozens of foods, from anchovies to fried calamari, in small portions all day and night to go with beer, wine and tables full of never-ending chatter.
After 15 years of hype from foodie trend-mongers, making a meal of the "little dishes of Spain" clearly has caught on. Ceviche, Tampa's first tapas bar, has been squeezing the night fantastic crowd into its booming little boite for several years at one end of Howard Avenue. Now, a few blocks north, Sangria's has people standing in line on weekends, although it's been open barely a month and is still missing essential ingredients. That's not to mention the slick tropical twists on tapas at Samba Room in Hyde Park.
At Sangria's, the decor is not so clubby, but if the rosy walls and tile work are muted, the weekend buzz and energy are not; weeknights it is more of a warm taberna. And those little dishes -- and bowls and miniplatters in odd lots of brightly colored peasant pottery -- pack big flavor.
There are dozens to choose from, priced from $4 to $10 (plus pricier paella and seafood). They can provide frivolous mouthfuls, like bollito balls of dried cod as delicate as sea foam, or a surrogate supper of stewed lamb shank in a thick reduction of Rioja on mashed potatoes.
There are other big plates, like mussels in a hearty tomato sauce (or sherry and garlic), or a platter of seafood infused with saffron. More typical is a small bowl of clams and chorizo, or a pile of ceviche with greens tossed in sherry vinaigrette, or creamy stuffed eggplant. Add wine and crusty bread (make mine crustier) and you can eat, drink and talk all night.
Don't try to impose order. The fun of tapas is that plates come and go. Order more when you're hungry.
Only a couple of my choices disappointed. Salmon catalan had a crisp crust of crushed hazelnuts, but the promised fennel sauce was actually anisette. Similar flavor but too sweet for me, and the waiter took it back without charge. Pisto Manchego, a Spanish vegetable stew of zucchini and tomatoes, ought to be thicker like ratatouille, but mine was a steaming bowl of undercooked V-8 and smacked of more time in the microwave than a saute plate.
Owner Victor Perez offers a wide variety of items on Sangria’s menu.
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My other problem was big gaps in the menu of the most treasured glories of Spain -- its cheeses, sausages and Serrano ham and its best olives. These are the original tapas, simple local foods, placed on the bar of a taberna -- or on a slice of bread topping a wine glass to keep the flies out. Today they are precious delicacies that must be imported, and Sangria's needs to line up its supplies. Ditto on wine: The initial list is too short and offers no sherries at all. It needs a full line by the glass so that you can taste your way from Catalunya to Rioja and across to Galicia.
Even without these goodies in place, Sangria's has still managed to cook up a fine taste of Spain, using its basics of onion, garlic, almonds, olive oil, sherry, saffron and, of course, white beans. And that's worth celebrating.
It's appropriate that it's on the corner that brought hip decor and big plates of pasta to Howard. Now this block is a launch pad for foods of a small sort. Next door to Sangria's, B.T. Nguyen fashions precious bites from around Asia; beyond that you can get a slice of pizza at Cappy's or pork buns from the dim sum cart at T.C. Choy's.
We're eating better and smaller around the globe. Including Spain.
Sangria's Spanish Tapas Bar & Restaurant
315 S Howard Ave, Tampa
(813) 258-0393
- Hours: 5 p.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 5 to 2 p.m. Friday, Saturday.
- Reservations: No
- Details: Full bar, smoking section provided.
- Credit cards: Most
- Prices: $4 to $26
- Special features: Live music on weekends; late night dining.
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