It’s good to be chef Jose Garces, he of Amada and Tinto. While the brand new Tinto racks up the mentions in every publication imaginable (and for their much-discussed policy of requiring reservations for the bar), the older Amada just got some love from New York Times food critic Frank Bruni in his Diner’s Journal blog.
Bruni claims he discovered Amada while walking by and was wowed by, yup, the cheese plate:
Why not just order whatever I was in the mood for, freeing myself from any compulsion to nibble across different sections of the menu? Why not just cheese?
That thinking suited the restaurant: Amada is devoted to tapas, which of course are a formula for spontaneous grazing. It reminded me in a few ways of Tia Pol and in a few ways of Boqueria, although it feels like a slick, slightly Disney-fied invocation of the muse that guides those restaurants as well.
The cheese selection was neither broad nor surprising, but I was fine with Manchego, Garroxta and a terrific blue cheese from the Basque region that they had. The presentations of the cheeses were beautiful: slices of each fanned out beside slices of fruit and alongside one interesting condiment or another. My favorite condiment, a dulce de leche infused with roasted garlic, was out of this world.
But that wasn’t — isn’t — really the point. And while I was happy with my two glasses of xarel-lo, a grape used in blends for cava, the quality of the wine wasn’t — isn’t —the point, either.
The point: I’d stolen an hour, liberated myself from the day’s to-do list, surrendered to the comforting advances of a restaurant and sated my hunger all on a whim. Is there any more rewarding way to approach a meal out?
It’s good to be chef Jose Garces, he of Amada and Tinto. While the brand new Tinto racks up the mentions in every publication imaginable (and for their much-discussed policy of requiring reservations for the bar), the older Amada just got some love from New York Times food critic Frank Bruni in his Diner’s Journal blog.
Bruni claims he discovered Amada while walking by and was wowed by, yup, the cheese plate:
