La Tasca Tapas

The fun part about doing a blog and writing about the food adventures my wife and I enjoy, is finding new places to eat. I don't know where we got it but Ginger produced a coupon for a restaurant called La Tasca Tapas Restaurant. We had never been before so I checked the web site on the coupon and was instantly intrigued. Now for the uninitiated, tapas are a style of eating most prevalent in southern Spain. The web site does a great job of explaining the history of tapas so I won't repeat it here. What I will report is tapas more closely resemble appetizers than full meals. This is perfect for Ginger and me since we have been known to order several appetizers and skip the meal entirely. I called La Tasca to inquire about reservations. A pleasant voice asks, "For how many" and I tell her, "For two...." "Oh no problem, reservations aren't needed for two." "Great", I say and hang up the phone. I tell Ginger about it and she is also interested to try La Tasca's concept.
We arrive in downtown Arlington Heights and drive to 25 W. Davis Street. La Tasca is on the corner of W. Davis and S. Vail. An excellent location with one problem... Friday at dinner is a tough time to get a parking spot. This is a popular dining area and all of the prime parking spots are gone. It's a nice evening so despite the fact that I parked four blocks away Ginger and I enjoy the walk to the restaurant. What we notice during our walk is the number of other eateries along both sides of our walking route. This is definitely the food section of downtown. People are out and about also enjoying a stroll to their favorite place; or like Ginger and me a trip to someplace new. The entrance to La Tasca is a wide glass door into a smaller vestibule and another door into the restaurant brings you right to the hostess station in the corner turned slightly to face the door and still have a view to the interior of the restaurant. We are greeted pleasantly and I say we are a party of two and sure enough no reservations are necessary. The hostess motions to another young lady who immediately scoops up two menus and asks us to follow her. Ginger and I follow her past a low wooden wall with a couple of attractive archways to pass into the dining area on the right and the bar with a marble top on the left. To our front we pass through an high archway, flanked by a couple of high tops, into another dining area with tables and chairs that seat four to a table or larger groups if you push several tables together. We are seated at a table near the large window that fronts the street where we had just walked. The walls are adorned with murals of what appear to be 19th century European Hummel-type illustrations of people and landscapes coupled with some attractive posters of Madrid and other cities of Spain. A great atmosphere that screams Mediterranean.
We barely get our knees under the table and a server places water on our table and our waiter announces he will be taking care of us this evening. He introduces himself but to be honest I don't remember his name. Normally this is a detail that I don't forget but for some reason his name escapes me and I wish I could recall it because he deserves mention. Yes, we tell him we would like a cocktail and Ginger ordered the Vinas Del Vero, and yup that's a Chardonnay. I order an Alhambra which is a very nice beer imported from Spain. Our waiter hurries away to fetch our cocktails and Ginger and I notice a stack of at least 20 smallish plates near the center of the table next to a water glass containing a number of small appetizer forks. Before the night is over we will go through half of the plates and a third of the forks. Our waiter returns with our drinks and picks up Ginger's menu and explains the concept of tapas. He tells us we have a choice of cold or hot.... tapas frias or tapas calientes.... or if we prefer they have full meals and of course the thing I know most about in Spanish cuisine.... paella. He cautions us that all their paellas are made fresh and if we order paella, we are in for a 45 minute wait. Ginger and I are hungry and looking forward to the adventure of trying the tapas so we tell him thank you and ask for a little more time to look over the menu. He tells us that we don't need to order everything at once and we can continue to place orders after each dish is tried or finished. Armed with that knowledge we go right for the Variados de Quesos which is essentially a sampling of different Spanish cheeses. Our waiter leaves to place the order and to Ginger's horror, a bowl of olives filled with the three major Spanish varieties is placed on the table in front of me (Empeltre, Arbquina and Manzanilla are represented)..... I'm in heaven! Oh you gorgeous tiny orbs of goodness. Ginger concedes that she "will not be eating any of those!" "Thank you .....all for me!!" I immediately grab one of the small forks and fish one from the dark brine and pop it in my mouth. Mmmmmm......Mmm good. I work my teeth around the pit ensuring I get every bit of the flesh of the olive. I, (as gracefully as most of us can manage), raise the fork to my mouth and deposit the pit onto the tines and place it on the plate in front of me. Ginger is amused..."Is it good?", she asks. "Very", I reply. You see Ginger hates olives and I love them. I don't eat them at home so I never pass up the chance to enjoy them when the opportunity arises. Our waiter returns with our cheeses and they are beautifully arrayed on a plate. There is a young goat cheese, a mozzarella and a saltier number probably Manchego. All are very, very good and we enjoy them all. Excuse me; time for another olive and I repeat the previous procedure and lay the pit next to the one already occupying the center of my plate...it looked so lonely but less so now. Our waiter returns and we immediately order Ensalada Pavo Real which is a red Belgian Endive served with smoked salmon, garnished with red onions, chives, capers, (another no-no for Ginger), and shredded hard boiled egg. At least Ginger can remove the capers from her portions.

The place is filling up and we can see just how popular La Tasca is. There is a relaxed feeling here and it almost seems as if we aren't in Chicagoland anymore but have some how magically transported to the south of Spain. A couple is seated next to us but away from the window, they are slightly at my back but I can see them out of the corner of my eye with a little effort. They appear to be in their late twenties or early thirties and their dress is reminiscent of the late 1960's or early 1970s and the male's long hair pulled further cements the impression. I glance at their table and our waiter is taking their order and I turn back to the table and help myself to another olive and then another. I explain to Ginger that each pit, now lined up on the plate in front of me, is different in size, color and shape and defines the type of olive... Ginger is as uninterested in the olive pits as she would be in say......the life cycle and science of the common fruit fly.....maybe more so.... she, however, remains amused at my antics. The salmon arrives and it too is absolutely delicious. We decide to order hot this time and go for Queso de Cabra al Horno, which is a baked herbed goat cheese in a tomato basil sauce served with tomato baguettes. Man is it good. The richness and creaminess of the cheese mixed with the basil tomato sauce is a happy marriage of flavors and texture in my mouth. Out of the corner of my eye I spot the waiter return to the table near us and deposit what is unmistakably sangria. I turn back to our baked goat cheese and try another olive in between bites. The number of olive pits, on the plate in front of me, is growing in number and variety.

Now I didn't really see what happened but suddenly from the nearby table comes a splash of spilled liquid, a female gasp and a crash of broken glassware. I turn to see this poor woman, having leapt to her feet, holding her short tie-dyed dress away from her body and I can see the wine all over the front of her. The table has a puddle of sangria and the man at the table is on his feet trying to rescue what he can from the table and to make sure his companion is okay. I ask Ginger what happened and she tells me she thinks the glass just broke. As she tells me that, I hear the man tell the waiter that the bottom just fell off the glass as she was about to take a sip. The manager was there in a flash to apologize and the staff immediately set to work to clean everything up and reset the table while the man waited nearby and the woman retreated to the restroom to clean up. The man was reseated at the table just as the woman returned and Ginger and I are impressed with the way everyone handled themselves. Despite the accident with the sangria, the couple maintain a great attitude and sense of humor about the situation. Ginger and I laugh as we hear the woman tell us with a grin "Thank goodness they had one of those blowers in the restroom. I just stood in front of it and held my dress under the blower until it was dry." The manager was incredible as he directed the activity to reset and in his conversation with the man as he explained that the meal would be on the house.

After all of the commotion Ginger and I turn back to the menu. She tells me she thinks she is done but I want something with beef. Ginger agrees and I stab at another olive. While I'm nibbling on my latest olive the server swings by the table to recover our last dish and used plates and before I can swallow and speak he latches onto my museum of olive pits and adds them to the small pile of dishes in his arms.... "Gaaaaa", is all I can manage to say as he hustles away. Ginger explodes into laughter at my apparent distress over the purloined olive pits. I grin back at her and realize how stupid it is to horde olive pits since after all I'm the only one at this table with any interest in them. Our order of Pincho de Solomillo con Champinones y Cebollitas or a grilled brochette of beef tenderloin, mushrooms, pearl onions drizzled with a Spanish sour cream sauce and served over shoestring potatoes arrives. Once again this is delicious. Four dishes and four great experiences. I know Ginger enjoyed it as much as I did even without tasting the olives or capers. What a great evening it has been and we tell our waiter as much as he brings us the bill. Now I almost never talk about restaurant pricing in this blog. I will say this... the bill is extremely reasonable and for half of what we normally pay in a moderately priced sit down restaurant we got a meal we thoroughly enjoyed. We walk to the front of the restaurant to the hostess station and I ask the hostess if there is someone I can send the link for my blog as I intend to write about La Tasca. The manager (who I believe to be the owner) is summoned and he shakes my hand, asks how everything was and we tell him how much we enjoyed it. He produces his business card and a coupon for our next visit. He is as genial a host as you would ever want to meet and we thank him again and step out into a beautiful evening to have a leisurely stroll, hand in hand, back to our car.

I know Ginger and I will return for another go at this wonderful restaurant. Next time I might try a paella because although it takes up to 45 minutes I believe the tapas and atmosphere can occupy the time while I wait. I so very much recommend La Tasca Tapas Restaurant. If you haven't been there yet, you owe it to yourself to go. I'm certain you will have a wonderful experience and great food.





http://www.latascatapas.com/menu.html