My teenage daughter left for camp on Sunday.
We’ll miss her, but what a pleasure for my husband and I to be
alone again. To celebrate our independence we went to Zipi Zape,
the new tapas restaurant in Williamsburg.
The laughter of the crowd around Zipi Zape’s bar could be heard
half-a-block away. When we entered around 9 pm, locals nibbled
on tapas and downed beer and sangria. A guitar and violin duo
filled the room with melancholy Spanish music that proved irresistible
to one patron. His voice, rich with emotion, accompanied the
musicians. Hoots and laughter followed.
We settled into a comfortable booth in the small dining area.
The room hasn’t changed much since April, when I visited the
restaurant in its previous life, as Nar Meze Bar, a Turkish tapas
eatery that lasted less than a year.
The owners have added refrigerated cases, like those you see
in sushi restaurants, behind the bar where deep terracotta serving
dishes hold jewel-like rows of red and olive tapas. The traditional
Spanish appetizers, known as "antojito" or little whims,
make an enticing welcome. The dining room’s walls are a combination
of distressed tin and warm gold paint – a color that reflects
the vibrant dishes of chef Diego Gonzalez.
Opened in June, Zipi Zape, named after Spanish cartoon twins,
is a collaboration between twins Ayse Telgeren and Asu Whiteman,
two of the former partners in Allioli, a tapas restaurant nearby,
and Gonzalez, who was Allioli’s chef. The trio offers tapas individually
or in "tasting menus" of five or 10. It’s a great concept
that allows diners to snack cheap on a piece or two, or create
a complex, multi-plate dinner.
Seeing those plates of gorgeous ingredients arranged on the table
was almost as exciting as the feast itself. A dish of huge shrimp,
their bright, pink jackets studded with grains of coarse sea
salt, sat beside pale green peppers and tiny quail eggs with
buttery centers; ruby red peppers that oozed creamy tuna salad
edged a plate of gray Portuguese sardines. Discs of wine-scented
pates smeared over chewy bread neared plates of salty ham croquettes
suspended in béchamel that were dipped in spicy, rose-tinted
romesco sauce.
With all that succulent food, order the white sangria or a glass
of Spanish wine from the carefully edited wine list. Either would
be an improvement on the house cocktails that are too prissy
to stand up to the assertive flavors of the tapas.
Two large cloves of unadorned, preserved garlic are house freebies.
They’re surprisingly mild and crisp like miniature ivory pickles,
and make a playful lead-in to the spicier dishes. We began with
the quail eggs, which resembled tiny chicken eggs, paired with
pungent, pickled green peppers. The crunchy peppers played up
the creaminess of the eggs.
We loved the huge shrimp – served four to a plate atop thick
slices of lemon – that tasted of the grill. There was monkfish
liver with a delicate flavor, somewhat like veal, that were as
unctuous as butter. Rivera pairs the liver with a fine dice of
cucumber and red onion and piles the mix atop thick slices of
country bread. It’s superb.
Ham is an important ingredient in Spanish cooking, and Rivera
offers plenty of it in intriguing combinations. Batons of bechamel
(a mild white sauce) studded with salty Serrano ham then fried,
had us sighing with pleasure. Salty and creamy with a brittle
crust, they were delectable on their own, but even better dunked
in the mildly garlicky, tomato romesco sauce thickened with ground
almonds.
Unusually moist roast loin of pork topped a stew of chopped green
peppers slow-cooked in white wine. A Portuguese sardine served
on a slice of coarse bread, was almost as rich as the fabulous,
cognac-laced chicken liver pate. And a dish of sharp-yet-mild
Manchego cheese calmed the saltiness of anchovies.
The only dish that disappointed us was the roasted red peppers
filled with a mayonnaise-heavy tuna salad. The dish was fine,
but lacked the drama of the other offerings.
Telegren says dessert is rarely served in tapas bars. Right now
they’re offering Manchego cheese paired with slices of tart apple.
A little quince paste adds a honeyish note to the dish. It’s
a fitting way to end the meal, although something sweet wouldn’t
hurt. Rivera will soon add single servings of creme caramel,
flan and seasonal fruit compotes.
We left Zipi Zape high on wine with our mouths tingling from
garlic. We’ll visit again while our daughter is away and stay
late into the evening. One month of unencumbered adulthood is
a gift that we plan to use wisely.
Zipi Zape, 152 Metropolitan Ave. at
Berry Street in Williamsburg accepts Visa and MasterCard. Tapas
prices: $1-$14. The restaurant is open for dinner Tuesdays through
Sundays. Closed Mondays. For reservations, call (718) 599-3027.