Drown your sorrows at the (tapas) bar
A few things had gone wrong that week and the week ahead wasn't looking any easier either. I had tried the wallowing in self-pity, which, for the record, wasn't helping and didn't WANT to resort to pouring myself several glasses of wine. I reached, instead, for the 2016 edition of The Spaniard's Playbook for Getting out a Funk, and sure enough, there it was: "To solve all of life's problems: round up the gang and hit a tapeo." (I'm truly hoping, reader, that by now you're aware of my love for the literary device and that there isn't really a publication out there with that title.)
We were received with gusto and advised to wait 'till they found us the best seats in the house'—takin' home the brownie points, folks. The intricate carving on the wood ceiling was definitely turning heads but we busied ourselves with decoding the exotic names of the signature dishes. Their well-designed menu makes good use of negative space, and then it hits me that the little things, like picking a typeface that is just right, become a big part of the overall experience.
We get the seats we are promised and lovely staff ask if we need help with pairing our tapas. Skipping past all the Cerveza on offer, we go big with two pitchers of red sangria and no less than six tapas. Don’t let Wikipedia ever fool you into thinking that tapas are a variety of 'saucer-sized' drinking snacks.
A friend at uni tells me that arguing over where tapas originated is something of a national sport in Spain. I also discover that 'tapas' is derived from 'tapear', which in Spanish means 'to cover' and name the little plates of snacks that according to one version kept flies from drowning in people's drinks. And seeing as entertaining guests at home wasn't a thing for the average Spaniard back in the day, the local tapeo or tapas bar, served as the de facto living room—for everyone in town!
Back at our table, the collective roars of the diners is matched by the energy of Olé’s dynamic service staff delivering more drinks and more tapas to every table in superbly choreographed sequences. When it’s our turn, with a big announcement our waiter lays out the magnificent spread, before nearly bowing himself out.
croquetas del dia pulpo con chorizopatatas bravas
pincho de cordero
On a side note, pun intended, I highly recommend ordering the verduras asadas listed under the Adiciones (extras). It's a delectable confusion of roast seasonal vegetables, chickpeas, and goat’s cheese with whispers of a sharp, mustard dressing: a great accompaniment to most dishes on the menu.
Running a restaurant is theatre and the folks running Olé know that well. Amid delighted cries of ‘muy rico’ and ‘brava, gracias’ all around, I hear the sounds a great night out and raise my glass to being forever carefree.
As the excitement of the tapas-aficionados gathered here reaches fever pitch, who's to say if I'm still in Brisbane or at a true-blue Andalusian tapeo, thousands of miles from here?
***
Service: 4/5
Ambience: 4.5/5
Food: 3/5
Cover image courtesy: Maddi Bazzocco's Unsplash
