Tapas Paradise

Laiola opened up on Chestnut about 2 years ago and it's been a great spot for sitting at the bar with girlfriends and savoring happy hour in the sun. A gorgeous copper bar mirrors the copper ceiling in a warm, inviting, modern space. The menu is like Black Bottle's, which might be why I'm so drawn to it: small plates are separated into sub categories of savory and sweet, though the categorization is a mystery beyond the meats, seafood and veggies. 3-4 plates is usually good between 2 people, at least when you're supplementing with tinto de veranos or sangria! The sangria is advertised as fruit salsa with your choice of wine color and it really hits the spot in the summer.

In Spain, Museo de Jamon taught me the marvel of well-cured pork. Comparing prosciuttos really gives you a taste for why paying a little more for a slice is worth it. Laiola usually has at least one smoked ham on the menu and the one we ordered last week was so flavorful. I love to put a piece on my tongue and let the saltiness fade into the smokiness into the hearty, sweet meat. Even the ribbons of fat tasted like herbs and was sweet like milk. We also went for crispy cauliflower (yes, another nod to Black Bottle's blasted broccoli) which really was pizza-oven blasted with heat to get crispy. Green onions and olive oil added some garlic spiciness and grassy smoothness to the typically bland vegetable. If I had a pizza oven, I would make blasted broccoli or cauliflower every night, it's such a great texture, add a little olive oil, garlic...I may need to attempt this tonight.

My favorite (well, until this recent visit) item on Laoila's menu are the chickpea croquetas. Served like a Jenga puzzle, these fried, spicy, custard-like fingers are dipped in kalamata olive spread. This is such a salty, savory indulgence. To round us out, we went for the pork meatballs with heirloom tomato remoulade. I can't place the spice that was overpowering these. The meat was ground so fine that when I took a bite, the meatball fell apart in my mouth and it seemed like the flavor was everywhere all the way to my ears.

But the coup de gras of the meal (and maybe the month) was the pan con chocolate (#31 on 7x7's 100). UNREAL. A rolled up slice of chocolate ganache sat in a pool of olive oil topped with giant chunks of sea salt. You then take scoops of the ganache and spread them on toasted baguette, also generously doused in olive oil. This is the single best dessert I've had this year. If not ever. The chocolate is cooled to maintain its shape, but the baguette is warm from being toasted...It's taking the phenomenon of uber-savory sea salt with too-sweet dulce de leche to a totally new level. Salt and chocolate. Cool and warm. Smooth and crispy. If you can't tell from this blog that texture is crucial in my appreciation of food, then....um....well, it is. Pan con chocolate. Do it.

Another fun thing about this meal was sitting at the bar next to a chef who was interviewing to be the head chef at Laiola. To hear it from his side, he was hoping they would consider him but he was keeping his options open. To watch it unfold, the cooks and maitre d' and bartenders wanted to seriously impress this guy. While we spent 20 minutes narrowing the menu down to 4 items and selecting drinks, I want to say he tried nearly every dish on the menu, tasting style. It was amazing to watch and impressive that he could take down each plate paired with a different Spanish wine that someone different presented each time. At the bar, you face the kitchen, so you think there can't be more than 7 people dancing around each other between the narrow kitchen and bar, but they all got an opportunity to approach our barmate Michael. I sincerely hope he takes the job there, I can't wait to go back and see him in action.