At Vizcaya, chef Felix Piedras offers a sophisticated approach to Spain's traditional cuisine, taking diners far beyond chicken and yellow rice.
By CHRIS SHERMAN
Published October 28, 2004
[Times photos: Chris Zuppa]
Floor captain Jose Alvarez serves lunch to Jack Fernandez, left, and Angel Ranon, right, at Vizcaya.
Spain’s favorite fish, merluza or hake, is stuffed with lobster and comes with three garnishes: seafood bisque, calamari ink and caramelized leeks.
TAMPA - The third time, Felix Piedras got it right. And anyone hungry for a fresh approach to Spanish cooking gets it good at Vizcaya, Piedras' newest restaurant, tapas and wine bar.
More than good, depending on your appetite. Although small dishes such as calamari sauteed in their ink are light and distinct, with a smell of the ocean and a mild sweetness, entrees can be impressive innovation and still an embarrassment of heavily creamed riches.
Light or heavy, Piedras gives Spanish cuisine a rare modern presentation, handsome, approachable and comfortable enough to give Carrollwood both a special-occasion restaurant and a neighborhood hangout for the lucky few. And it can deliver true tapas, a seat at the bar with a small dish of purely Spanish tastes and a long list of Spanish wines, new and old.
Vizcaya is a success long overdue for Piedras. Like many chefs, he started out at the Columbia in Ybor City. He then started Maison Basque to showcase classical Spanish cuisine with his regional accent in a tough strip-mall location. He abandoned that to take over the landmark Cafe Pepe on Kennedy Boulevard, but could not overcome the entrenched taste for chicken and yellow rice.
No matter. At the 65-seat Vizcaya, an intimate place named for his home province, he can indulge his love for traditional Spanish favorites such as merluza, serrano ham, chorizo, clams, clementines and blue-veined Cabrales. He can doll them up with luxurious shots of Pedro Ximenez, the most syrupy of sherries, wild mushrooms and risotto, and festoon with new age coconut, fennel seeds and purple potatoes.
Well, duck prosciutto didn't fly high in Carrollwood and the foie gras is scarce for lack of interest. But Piedras' menu is still as much Spanish fun as you can have here outside a Pedro Almodovar movie.
The cooking is not instant, the pace of cooking and dining are relaxed (or delayed), so you should indulge in tapas. Stick to the traditional ones that smack of the taverna - cold cuts, squid, cod croquettes or, especially, oxtails. These, if I must repeat myself, contain the richest of beef, and here are cooked in wondrously rich gravy kicked up with sherry.
You can certainly assemble enough of these to make a meal, and several of the more elaborate can be meaty minimeals.
Indeed, I should have had the merluza in a tapas portion. The beloved white fish, also known as hake, gets royal treatment, enrobed in thick pink bisque of seafood and cream. One fillet stuffed with lobster was almost too much, three were shameful (but might have been more interesting if they had separate sauces.)
Salmon also goes wild, gilded with chorizo, sweetbreads and clams, but if I had my druthers, I'd skip salmon and wallow in the other goodies. Similarly I couldn't resist pheasant - in Carrollwood! - with mushrooms, artichoke heart and a brandy mustard cream. Oh, sweet luxuries.
The most straightforward entree I tried was bouillabaisse translated with a Caribbean flavor: snapper with potatoes, yuca, coconut and cilantro. Pretty clever all around, and always with some sugar and cream to win over the timid.
For the less adventurous, there is paella, zarzuela anhd chicken and mushrooms. For me, the most tempting untried dish is black grouper with clams and baby eels. That's got to be a first in the Tampa Bay area.
Among desserts is what Piedras has the wit to call Just Another Tiramisu. The best bet is a flan with apples and anisette. The wine list includes at least 50 Spanish labels, one of the most inviting in town, especially the choice of sherries. The other treat is smart service, attentive and food-savvy, rare in Spanish restaurants.
This is grand dining on, say, a Tuesday night for most folks, but Vizcaya keeps more entrees $20 and less than more, and most small dishes are $5 to $7.
It's not cheap, but after a century of caldo gallego, black beans and Russian trout, we've gotten plenty of bargains from Spain and Cuba.
It's about time we tried the good stuff. And it's just a first taste of what's cooking in the modern Spanish kitchen.
Vizcaya
10905 N Dale Mabry Highway, Tampa
(813) 968-7400 Hours: Lunch, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday though Friday; dinner, 5:30 to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday
Reservations: Suggested
Details: Beer, wine; no smoking indoors; restrooms adapted
Prices: Tapas, $5 to $8; lunch entrees, $8 to $10; dinner entrees, $17 to $24
