Recommendations

Authentic tapas in an environment conducive to sampling, lingering, and sharing.

Guide: Foodie (Heather)
Location: East Village

Strengths

• An authentic slice of Barcelona, with an enormous marble bar, long enough to sit 20 and wide enough to order a smattering of tapas without feeling cramped.
• In true Catalan style, you can find glass vessels on the bar that resemble watering cans. They're not. Instead they are filled with white or rose wine are placed on the bar for patrons to try. The hard part is pouring it into your mouth from above without spilling.
• Reixach designed much of the bar and restaurant himself, blending industrial elements (floor to ceiling glass and steel windows, white polished subway tiles) with rough-hewn touches (shelving above the bar is made from salvaged barn wood, as well as the tables and chairs lining the dining room).
• The menu offers an impressive and tasty line-up of Spanish tapas and larger dishes, prepared with elegant presentation (that’s because two Jean-Georges chefs are in the kitchen). Some of the dishes sound strange, but are in fact delicious; don’t miss the pork belly, angel hair pasta with squid ink, and chickpeas studded with blood sausage and apricots.

Shortcomings

• The dining room is small, so reservations are a must. We arrived on a Monday without a reservation and were told the restaurant was booked for the night. Luckily we got seats at the bar.
• Most of the wine is expensive. There were only a few bottles below $40.

Insider tips

• If you like eating at the bar, this is the place to do it. The bartenders are friendly and knowledgeable, the bar-space is ample, and lingering over a meat and cheese plate and a glass of wine makes for a great date.
• Reixach is planning on opening a (hush hush) private lounge downstairs for friends and locals. I got a sneak preview and it looks pretty close to completion.

Anecdotes

• I’ve dined here with a group of friends as well as with a date, and it proved great for both occasions.
• No matter what time I arrive, I always seem to stay until I'm one of the last parties in the place. It has the kind of energy that makes you want to stay.

Perfect for

Groups looking to order an array of dishes and share, casual dates, and people moving into Ian Schrager’s luxury condo complex across the street.

Credentials

• The chefs have worked at Jean Georges, Casa Mono, Bouley, and Freu (Costa Brava)