my life.' ~ Monica Bellucci
I had the pleasure, nee the privilege, of being invited to a sumptuous and exquisite
dinner at one of Old Montreal's trendiest 'restaurantes' surrounded by a bevy of beautiful
ladies.
Entering the restaurant I was taken aback by the crowds, the decor, and the crackling
ambiance. I spied the thirty-to forty-something crowd that consisted of many groups and
couples. 'Tapas, 24 Montréal' is modelled after the original in Spain owned by Barcelona's
highly regarded Chef Carles Abellan…the Montreal contingent includes two partners. Québécois
radio and TV personality Sébastien Benoit and restaurateur Jorge Da Silva of 'MTL Cuisine',
and star sommelier François Chartier was brought in to consult on the liquid part of the
menu...in-house chefs are Haissam Souki Tamayo as well as one who goes by the name of
Ildemar (who came to the table to say hello because he's friendly with one of the ladies),
this was an opportunity to discover their craft.
As it is always the case with tapas outside of Spain, the ingredients can rarely speak
for themselves, so sticking to items relying heavily on the ingredient is a bit like
expecting the sun to shine at night. However great the ingredient, it simply won't
reproduce the effect of its Iberian counterpart. Bombshell and I allowed our Hostess
to choose from the menu, which comes in a children's booklet-like format. We went through
sixteen or twenty plates of morsel-sized orgasmic explosions in our mouths, so I will
only name a few.
Our first wave of plates began with fat calamari rings, fried to golden perfection and
served with a saffron-enhanced dipping sauce. The delicate, pop-in-your-mouth cod
croquettes, enhanced with honey and lemon. What a perfect pairing with our 'Cantiga
Rioja' a delicious, fruity red wine. 'Bomba de Barceloneta' (potato croquette) is, of
course, not a big deal, but unless someone is devoid of any 'sense for nuances', the
appreciation of that croquette I was having had lots more to reveal: the technique
in keeping the croquette low in fat while maintaining the taste delicious and rich is
not a secret but few are delivering it this well, a fabulous croquette of the sort that
only a handful of the finest restaurants of Montreal can pull off. The accompanied aioli
and salsa brava simply perfect.
The next round included 'coco con tomato', porous coca bread rubbed with tomato and
drizzled with olive oil, and a trio of luscious charcuterie meats including Iberian
sausage, a pitch-perfect-spiced chorizo, and ribbons of nutty-tasting 'jamón', a.k.a.,
Iberian ham.
The pace of the service was perfectly timed, with meals that take longer to cook
taking the relevant time it needs to be served. As for the portions, it was in line
with the quantity of food that is usually served nowadays at most contemporary
restaurants of this sort. What we sampled, and there were many, is all I needed in
order to assess the cooking skills at 'Tapas24MTL', were items forcing the kitchen to
'focus on the substance': personal touch of the cooks, their sense of flavors, palate,
and the ability of extracting the most out of the least (maximum flavor out of simple
ingredients or from simple flavor combinations which is essentially the point of tapas).
I love tapas as it forces a good kitchen to extract a lot out of virtually very little,
which for me is what cooking should be all about. Coupled with the stellar ingredients
of the Mediterranean can turn into mouthfuls of bliss.
* From Where I Sit!
www.fromwhereisit.co
June 22, 2015
* Tapas, 24 Montréal
420 Rue Notre-Dame West (near McGill St.)
Old Montréal, H2Y 1V3
(514) 849-4424
www.tapas24.ca/
No comments:
Post a Comment