LEO/LHB: Small bites add up to fine dinner at De la Torre's

[Robin Garr]

LEO's Eats with Louisville HotBytes.com

The next time you settle down to a selection of tapas and find yourself feeling grateful for small-plates dining, you might want to pause for a moment of silence in memory of King Alfonso the Wise of Castile.

Legend says that Alfonso, the 13th century monarch known for his smarts and taste for good eats and drink, invented the tapa as a get-well snack to be taken with good Spanish red wine when he was under a nasty illness. When he recovered, it is said, King Alf was so delighted with this healthy diet that he ordered taverns throughout the kingdom to serve it.

Another story traces the tapa to Andalusia, where Sherry bars developed the custom of serving glasses of the strong, sweet local wine with a slice of bread to serve as a cover or lid ("tapa" in Spanish) to keep the fruit flies out of one's beverage. Soon a cagey entrepreneur dropped a few olives atop the bread; his competitor countered with a slice of Serrano ham, and before long, tapas had evolved.

Maybe so, maybe not. One thing is sure: Tapas are trendy, and Louisville's dining scene hasn't lagged far behind larger cities in adopting the concept. After all, what's not to like about small plates, whether we're talking Spanish tapas, Greek meze or even Chinese dim sum? You can nosh on a snack or two before moving on to more serious dining, or - as I usually do - make a convivial meal out of a squadron of small plates, reveling in the variety.

As it was in Spain with Alfonso, so it was in Louisville with De la Torre's: Twenty years ago, Spanish-born Miguel De la Torre and his American-born wife Maggie gifted Louisville with their eponymous eatery, an authentic Castilian Spanish restaurant that has shown exceptional quality from that day to this.

Read the complete report [url=http://www.leoweekly.com/arts-entertainment/food-drink/small-bites-add-fine-dinner-de-la-torre’s]in LEO[/url] (page down to the end) and on LouisvilleHotBytes.

De la Torre's
1606 Bardstown Road
456-4955
http://www.delatorres.com
Robin Garr's rating: 94 points

Great review. I haven't been to De La Torre's since I moved back to Louisville a little over a year ago, but it's definitely one of my favorite restaurants. Absolutely need to go back soon, esp. to compare DLT's tapas with Mojito's tapas (which are also excellent).

Any other tapas suggestions in Louisville? Robin's review mentions them being trendy, but I can't think of anyplace that serves more traditional versions besides DLT and Mojito. And I think the tapas wave definitely crested in New York at least five years ago (that said, there are some amazing, if over-priced, options in that regard there). Really can't beat tapas from Sevilla or Madrid or Barcelona but that goes without saying.

I'll take the overwhelming silence to mean, "no, there are no other tapas joints in town."

Anyway, again, great review Robin.

[Robin Garr]

I'll take the overwhelming silence to mean, "no, there are no other tapas joints in town."

Not a lot, Joel, but if you think in terms of "small plates," the numbers grow a bit. Certainly Mojito, although I'd say Fernando is doing a cool job of melding traditional Spanish tapas there with the vibe of Cuban and Caribbean tastes. (Another recent LEO review, by the way.)

North End Cafe had a lot of "tapas" for a while, international in character. Loved it, but I seem to recall that they dropped that part of the menu, a shame.

Think of Maido's small plates as Japanese tapas, and Jade Palace's dim sum as Chinese tapas. I've also been known to make a small-plates meal out of a group of apps in place of an entree. Did just that at Westport General Store recently with their $5 app special to celebrate their fifth anniversary.

So, what's a tapa? For the real thing, it's pretty much limited to De la Torre's/La Bodega and Mojito. But define it broadly as noshing on small plates with broader cultural boundaries, and there are lots of 'em around town.