As promised from my previous post was my lunch at Tia Pol with Ariel. I originally picked out this place for two reasons: I haven’t eaten tapas for lunch before since there are not that many restaurants serve it for lunch. The other reason is because of Yumondo; I need something trendy and ethnic kind [...]
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If you’re looking for a good tapas place in New York City, Tia Pol is most likely recommended. I rarely make it around the Chelsea neighborhood, so I visited about two years after the entire city has already fawned over it. Ever since they opened in 2004, the wine hasn’t stopped flowing and the customers haven’t lost their patience waiting for a spot. We waited for about 45 minutes to be seated with our glasses of wine one warm winter night. When we finally made it, it was as if the bartender was waiting for us all along. She was very busy, yet attentive. She forgot to bring out the lamb but everything else we ordered lifted our spirits. The food brought us back to Catalunya. The owners of Tia Pol say they opened a tapas bar because of an on-going love affair with Spain. I give it three stars for the same reason.
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Maybe because I’d just paid a bunch of visits to Boqueria, I felt the need to drop into Tía Pol. Both are tapas bars, in their different ways, in a city without a surfeit of tapas bars. You can wander across menus that emphasize modestly portioned dishes, so you can sample a bunch of different things, which is precisely what a companion and I did at Tía Pol.
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Tia Pol, unlike most of the restaurants in this space, is THE HOTNESS right now. Seriously – two days ago, Erin of No Parachute waited 90 minutes for a table from 8:30, and I was expecting more of the same when my girlfriend and I arrived at about 8:00 yesterday evening.
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I had heard great things about Tia Pol - diverse fare, fresh ingredients, and excellent technique - all at fairly low prices. Sometimes the first two get lost w/ tapas in the States since the strong flavors can often mask subtleties in freshness or expertness to the average taste bud. So it was off to Tia Pol, which i missed on my last NY trip, in hopes of finding a cheap alternative (re: excellent food) to the Bouleys & Jean Georges of NY.
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I visited the dentist early this morning and his office is up on 40th near Grand Central. It was an early morning appointment (my teeth and gums are in excellent shape) and nothing in the neighborhood was open so I decided to go for a walk. It was a beautiful morning, crisp and sunny. Well, walk I did, all the way over to 10th Avenue and down towards Chelsea.
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If you asked people which recent restaurant openings have made the biggest impact on the Manhattan dining scene, their lists would likely be limited to places like Per Se, Masa and Hearth. But if you asked me for my list, I would include two lesser known restaurants, who, in spite of their not being temples of fine cuisine, have earned their place on the list because they have redefined the inexpensive dining experience . You ask how Tia Pol, a tapas bar in Chelsea, and Momofuku, an Asian noodle bar in the East Village, could make such an impact? Well that’s an easy one. Both restaurants have found a way to deliver the same market based cuisine you will find at the top restaurants in town. And all for a price that everyday diners can afford. I know you find that hard to believe, but at both restaurants you will find dishes that use the same ingredients they use at places like Daniel and Craft. But for a cost of between $8-$15 a dish. Take a walk over to your local Greek Coffee Shop and see what they give you in that price range. You are likely to find meat or fish that was frozen, and served with vegetables that come from a can. I know that by now you are saying to yourself, this sounds too good to be true. But I assure it it’s not.
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Lisa doesn't love tapas. In various conversations, Lisa's explained that when you eat tapas (small appetizer portions of food) you spend lots of money and you go away hungry. And so Tia Pol, the fairly new tapas bar on 10th avenue--part of the 10th ave. restaurant boom--didn't seem like an obvious choice for dinner with Lisa. But last night she was feeling free-spirited and she said, "I can eat anything, really" and I said, "Ok, let's go to Tia Pol."
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Patatas bravas; fried chickpeas; fava bean puree; pork loin sandwich with piquillo and manchego; jamón serrano with artichoke and manchego; Bleu cheese croquettes; chorizo with chocolate; almond torta with ice cream and dulce de leche; two glasses of Cava.
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Casa Mono is probably my favorite Spanish spot in New York City. In my book, Andy Nusser, the chef and a partner, can do no wrong. The service is flawless, the food is always a thrill, and the place just works, really, really well. But Casa Mono is owned by veteran restaurateurs—including Nusser, Mario Batali and Joe Bastianich. They’ve been in the business for years. At this point, their efforts should border on perfection. And they do.
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