Nita Nita: Learning to Love "Tapas"

Nita Nita
146 Wythe Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 388-5328
nitanitabk.com

After more than a requisite number of trips to Madrid in one lifetime, I have a soft spot in my heart for Spanish culture and nothing sends that heart into palpitations quite like a restaurant serving appetizers masquerading as "tapas."

If the French began piling beef on a croissant and calling it a hamburger, Americans would be outraged, right? If we Americans started freezing fish on rice and selling it in supermarkets to be deep-fried into sushi, the Japanese would all-out invade us, right? So, I find the co-opting of an inherently Spanish tradition to fuel sales of small-portioned food a rather annoying excuse for culinary innovation. For crying out loud, American culture spreads like a virus that no amount of orange juice and chicken soup can stop. You'd think, at this point, that we could just make up food 'cause we feel like it and call it what it is. It worked for Jimmy Dean, I'm pretty sure NYC restaurants could pull it off too.

Well, Nita Nita missed my memo.

Roxie coxed Mint and I out to this new Williamsburg spot, which we found absolutely packed on a Friday night. The drink specials were few, but stellar. Mint, who doesn't usually opt for oddly-contrived creations, ordered a pumpkin martini of remarkable substance--with actual pumpkin puree in the mix.

The "tapas" menu, aside from olives, chorizo, and a plate of garlic shrimp, hardly hinted at Spanish anything. And yet, I was impressed. The mojo potatoes, suggesting perhaps bravas inspiration, arrived quietly herbed with a bit of spice. Not bravas, but not bad. Nita Nita's bar pizza was a simple, crispy crust with superbly fresh tomato sauce and glowing white melted mozzarella. The specials were far more creative--salmon served with fried herbs of its own (a curious twist) and champagne-doused pears with biting blue cheese and shaved dark chocolate. Decidedly some of the most memorable creations I've had in a while, I'll grant Nita that much.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: At the end of the day, I still question invoking the Tapas Gods, but I will surely return. What can I say? Good food is good food.

Photo courtesy of Nita Nita.

Street Fair & Spanish Football

Xunta
174 First Avenue
New York, NY 10009
(212) 614-0620

BEFORE REACHING XUNTA, Aaron and I chanced across our first Street Fair of the season while crossing Second Avenue en route from the Strand to Spanish football. It was an oddly empty, quiet four lanes of pavement that first gave us pause. Then, we saw it off in the distance, a highway of white-topped tents and colorful signs buzzing with the movement of a crowd. Our priorities shifted. We turned north and crossed 14th Street, wandering into a world of $2 socks and corn on the cob. Nothing brings together discount clothing and streetside cuisine quite like Street Fair, a staple of summer in New York City.

Falafal was an immediate draw, as were bonsai trees, but my sights were set on "$1 Thai Food," my own personal Holy Grail of Street Fair foods, significantly easier to find than the elusive Biblical treasure, slightly less delicious once found, but certainly cheaper in the long run. We found it soon enough. After few minutes spent eduring the equivocations of an elderly couple, Aaron and I snuck of to a nearby park, Thai food and iced lemonades in hand.

While the actual costs of our combo and veggie pad thai were $5 and $3, respectively (only a single spring roll actually costs $1), it's still quite a deal--food as filling as you could hope for, with all the flavor of food made on the street, and just a few bucks needed to enjoy it! Be sure to keep your eyes open this summer when wandering in the City on the weekends.

Up next, Xunta is a dimly lit, unsuspecting tapas bar often overlooked in the East Village. Unlike many a trendy tapas newcomer, Xunta is entirely unpretentious, surely costing itself many a new customer for its insistance on keeping with tradition. Erratic hours don't help it either. But on any evening you find it open, you won't find Spanish tapas served with any more authenticity than you will at Xunta.

You'll also find Spanish football on Xunta's televisions, which is a surprsingly rare find in Manhattan (one can only stand so long to watch a match in the dirty, black box that is Nevada Smiths). Aaron and I arrived at Xunta in time to catch the second half of Real Madrid-Zaragoza, the toughest of the remaining games for any of La Liga's title contenders--Real, Barcelona, and Sevilla.

No tapas for us on this trip, but plenty of sangria was shared, and with Real, Barcelona, and Sevilla all playing at the same time, the pro-Madrid atmosphere was tense. There were cheers as Real pulled even with a tough Zaragoza side, quieting as Real soon feel behind again and Xunta learned that Barcelona had taken the lead against Espanyol--a result that would see Real lose its grip on the title headed into the league's final weekend.

(Note: the holding company that owns the rights to broadcast Spanish football keeps forcing down clips posted on YouTube from this game. But I'll keep replacing this link as long as I can find one to replace it with.)

At the last possible moment, however, Real's striker pulled Madrid even at 2-2, still a meloncholy result, but a thrilling one as just 18 seconds later Espanyol drew a last-gasp goal at Barca. As Sevilla, too, drew in its match, the sandings stood as they did two hours before, and leave Real to play Mallorca next weekend with a chance to wrap up a title. Not too shabby.

As for us, now watching USA play Trinidad and Tobago, we were getting hungry. With Ms. Walker joining for one last pitcher of sangria, our thoughts turned to dinner. The suggestion of a brightly-lit Indian meal was made and accepted. And so we wandered south towards the beckoning lights of Milon.

TO BE CONTINUED!

Spring Break, Part VIII: Begin the Grand Finale

Hell's Kitchen
118 Princess Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 763-4133
www.hellskitchenbar.com

Circa 1922
8 N. Front Street
Wilmington, NC 28401
(910) 762-1922
www.circa1922.com

THE PROBLEM WITH being "on vacation" is the part where you start eating every meal like you can afford to eat every meal like you're on vacation. Arrived with my mother in Wilmington to stay at my brother's place for a few days, we immediately began this with lunch at Hell's Kitchen. Of course, Adam, my brother, works at Hell's Kitchen, which makes it a easy choice.

I've eaten at Hell's now a handful of times, and not once have I been disappointed. Not only is the food excellent as bar fare, it would be excellent by any standard at any other restaurant. It's that good. And the kitchen is vegetarian friendly (which is not always the case at bars) in that they can actually tell you what's in the food (which is not always the case at a bars).

My ma and I had the grilled tuna sandwich and black bean burger, respectively, both with the sweet potato fries that are a signature item at Hell's (NOTE: ask them to go light on the brown sugar if you don't want yours to be too sweet.) And while the menu is solid, the kitchen is good enough that you would do as well just to try the daily specials, whatever they happen to be.

For dinner, we dropped in on Circa for tapas and wine--a "happy hour" special of sorts that offers any item on the tapas menu for $3.

Now, I'm perpetually annoyed by restaurants that have taken to calling appetizers "tapas" simply because they are small portions of food. The "tapas spirit" is a poor excuse to use a singular Spanish culture as a way to sell more appetizers, and there are only three things on the "tapas tradicional" menu at Circa that you would ever find at a bar Spain: Serrano ham, olives, and cheese.

That said, Circa is one of the more enjoyable restaurants I've ever been in. The places looks incredible, the food is great, and while the "tapas" menu is laughable, the bruchettas and grilled shrimp are excellent deals for $3 each.

MIKE EATS NEXT TIME: Yes on both counts.