Pintxo cuisine Espagnole

This was actually our second attempt at eating at Pintxo. We had tried to make a reservation around Valentine’s Day. I’d called several times and repeatedly received the answering machine. I left a message asking for a reservation, my number and request for confirmation. When I didn’t receive one, I tried calling again, but received the machine, so I sent a follow-up e-mail. I assumed, after all this, that someone would have heard our message and/or read our e-mail, and a reservation would have been made.

Unfortunately, when we showed up to dine, this was not the case, and we failed miserably at finding a back up restaurant at 8:00pm on a Saturday. We ended up returning home to make taco salad from bits of stuff leftover in our refrigerator.

That Monday, the manager replied to my e-mail to make sure that our reservation was successful. I explained that it wasn’t and he gave me his personal information and told me I could contact him directly the next time we needed to.

This week we were ready to give it another go, and a reservation was set in stone by the manager himself. I should hope that when you try to visit you don’t have similar problems. Making a reservation well in advance is perhaps your best bet as the whole restaurant was seamlessly filled for our dining duration.

Pintxo is small, like the food that the name implies. Pintxos are small tapas, and if you’ve ever eaten tapas, you’ll note that they’re not particularly large to begin with. The restaurant is comprised of two rooms divided by a small, cozy foyer complete with fireplace, waiting area and a few assorted magazines, some featuring articles on the restaurant itself. In many restaurants its size, the foyer may have been packed with additional tables to increase revenue, so the comfortable entryway was a nice touch and very welcoming. From the doorway, the kitchen, no bigger than the foyer that greets you, is clearly visible.

We are soon whisked away to our table, the only vacant in the dining room. Amongst diners rather rambunctious for their formal wear, the volume in the room is a notch above comfortable. Understanding our soft-spoken waiter was proving to be difficult, and understanding each other required only a touch less effort. We order a bottle of sparkling water and begin dissecting the menu.

The “menu degustation” for $30 seemed reasonable, including four pintxos of the chef’s choice with our choice of main dish. After establishing that the chef’s choice included salmon tartar, strawberry and bell pepper gazpacho, grilled vegetables and torched foie gras with onion confit, we both decided to choose our own pintxos for a few extra dollars. After having some difficult choosing altogether, I quickly tallied up a rough total of ordering every pintxo on the menu. Unfortunately this would have put my meal at over $150, so we decided on three pintxos each and a piece of beef. Unaided by pen and paper, remembering our final decision was a challenge in itself and we’d soon worked up an appetite from all of this deciding.

Our first course arrived quickly, accompanied with crusty rolls and a small bowl of fruity olive oil. We’d consume a half dozen of these rolls over the course of our meal, each roll lightly imparted with a smoky char and warmth, presumably from a grill, that left them tasting as though they’d just been retrieved from a forno oven. Besides being delicious in their own right, they were the perfect accompaniment for sopping up the juices that may have otherwise remained on our plates.

I received Galician poached octopus with olive oil and paprika, while Shannon received the aforementioned gazpacho and a duo of fresh marinated crab and shrimp with peppers. The octopus was incredibly tender and chilled atop a slightly overcooked potato, but the flavor was far too delicate for me, especially pale to the harsh contrast of the coarse finishing salt.

The single shrimp, plump and flavorfully seasoned with salt and garlic, may have sat atop the crab, but of the two, the crab clearly came out on top. A very generous portion of crab meat, torn apart and reassembled in the shape of a patty, was combined with cooked peppers and a light sort of vinaigrette. The flavor was exquisite and fresh. To pay merely four dollars for this dish is reason enough to brave the eighty-some inches of snow we’ve received in the last week. You can’t even buy a can of crab in the supermarket for that price, unless it is a no name brand with a coupon. This is a wonderful combination that surely could fetch thrice the price without repercussion.

For the same price, the gazpacho, served reasonably chilled in a small wine glass, was a beautiful harmony of both the strawberries and bell pepper that it was composed of. A light herbal note, touch of citrus and essence of celery made it a nice palate cleanser as I stole sips between bites of my octopus and Shannon’s crab.

Across from us I could see that the tasting menu portions were actually smaller than the standard pintxos (which are smaller than standard tapas - thus making them very, very tiny). The gazpacho, for instance, at the table next to us, was served in a shot glass. A feeling of validation set in for our decision to make our own decision on pintxos.

Our second course arrived, Shannon receiving a fig stuffed with Serrano ham and Mahon cheese and I receiving goat cheese ravioli with duck stew and seared foie gras on a bed of lentils with a reduction of sherry vinegar. The bite I had of the fig was overpowered by the strong flavor of the cheese, but I’ve been assured that, in combination with the ham that was absent in my mouth, it was pleasing.

Being completely ignorant of such things, my six dollar foie gras portion seemed quite reasonable at roughly the size of a commercially prepared fish stick. I would have perhaps liked it seared a touch more, but it paired beautifully with the slightly-sweet sherry vinegar reduction and contrasting firmness of the lentils, all of which were soon sopped up with another roll if they failed to adhere to my fork.

The raviolis were actually more of loosely shaped dumpling housing a dollop of goat cheese and easily devoured in two bites. The duck stew beneath them was rich and gamy and gave a pleasant nod to the future, where I’d soon receive a hearty portion of braised beef cheek.

How anything can be so tender and still sliced for presentation perplexes me. The slices of beef cheek fell apart as I tried to lift them with my fork. Once it reached my mouth I began to praise it, reaching across the table to share (only afterward reminding her of where cheeks are located, as she had forgotten what I’d ordered). Adjacent to the beef was a mound of mashed potatoes mixed with whole grain mustard, which lent a nice tang opposite the stew. I forced my stomach to expand as I devoured a third roll and the remaining beef juices. Our dishwasher must have been pleased, as not a single plate returned to the kitchen without being previously scrubbed clean with bread.

Shannon had ordered the fillet mignon with goat cheese. The goat cheese seemed almost unnecessary, a tiny round sitting atop a massive chunk of beef, but was still a pleasant addition. For only $21, this was among the best beef tenderloin I’ve yet tasted. Normally rather bland in comparison to other beef cuts, this was beautifully aged and uncharacteristically beefy, as though marinated in rib eyes for three weeks. It was cooked medium rare with perfection and easily sliced as though through butter. Served with simple mashed potatoes, though completely unnecessarily, as it could clearly stand alone.

Three desserts were offered, none of which we really had room for: frozen nougat with pear and nuts, Spanish cheesecake with berry coulis and chocolate creme brulee. We shared the creme brulee, which was more to Shannon’s liking than mine, rich, creamy and chocolaty with a nicely burnt exterior served in a small ramekin.

We sat for a while, finishing our water, and allowing our food to digest. Several tables were emptied, reset and refilled and we’d become temporarily forgotten. Even after catching our waiter’s attention, we still waited a while for our cheque. Getting a reservation to get in and getting our cheque to get out was a bit of a challenge, but everything in between was nothing short of fantastic. Our final total came to roughly $100, including a very generous glass of wine, a bottle of sparkling water, six pintxos, two entrees, a dessert and taxes.