Octopus And Spanish Wine At José Andrés' Place

A Baltimore vacation needs a bit of variety sometimes, and there are only so many crab cakes one can eat.  There are only so many snowballs one can enjoy from Bmore Licks, only so many water taxi rides one can take.  So, there's a casino in Maryland, down by the nation's capital?  Why not?  I figured I might run into a Trump administration official I could be rude to in public.

While Denise was playing the slots at the MGM National Harbor, and after I had "finished up" at the blackjack tables, I ambled over to the shopping and dining area.  I had some beers at a sports bar called "Tap," but let's save that for later.  Let me tell you about one of the best snacks I ever had, one that only cost about half what I won at blackjack.

I was tempted to visit the bar at the Voltaggio Brothers' Steakhouse, but I'm really glad I opted for a Spanish wine with octopus at "Fish," by José Andrés.  If there are tentacles on a menu, I'm there.  The octopus appetizer was a double down opportunity if there ever was one.  It came in a marinara salsa, with peanut crunch mixed into it.  Really.  It was the best octopus dish I've ever had, and I've a few really good ones.

When in a Spanish restaurant, get the Spanish wine, I always say.  The wine I chose was made from the Hondarrabi Zuri grape variety of the Basque region.  It's called Txakoli, or Txakolin, or Txakolina if you're really nice to it.  Pronounce the "Tx" like a "Ch."  I dined in my favorite solo way, at the bar.

The 2014 Txomin Extaniz colors up pale gold in the glass and features a nose big with minerals, salinity first.  The palate is savory, salty and citrusy.  There are beautiful nutty notes - all the better to pair with that peanut crunch - with grapefruit and orange peel on the finish. 


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Lunching Amongst The Wine Bottles

It was a great day for a great meal out.  Denise and I had a midday repast at Wally's in Beverly Hills, the full-blown restaurant version of the longtime Westwood wine store.  She had lunched there the day before and knew I would love it.  Not just an eatery, there's a store full of wine shelved around the diners.  I can't think of a better way to have food than when surrounded by thousands of bottles of wine.  We sat near the Bordeaux stash, but it was a culinary trip to Spain for me.

The grilled chicken salad de La Mancha is a real delight, making the term "chicken salad" seem outdated, simplistic and downright foolish.  It contains escarole, chorizo, raisins, piquillo, almonds, olives, shaved manchego, quince and toasted garlic dressing.  I know it reads good, but you should taste it.  You should especially taste it with a wonderful Spanish wine.  The 2016 Txomin Etxaniz Txakoli, Hondarribi Zuria from Getaria.  The Basque Country wine has been around since the 16th century.  "Txakoli" is the style and is usually somewhere sparkling and quite dry.  The grape is the "Hondarribi Zuria" and the location of origin is the town of Getaria.  That's a tiny spit of land that barely juts into the enormous Bay of Biscay, just west of Spain's border with France.  The wine is produced and marketed by the Txueka Etxaniz family.

The wine is extra dry, pale and smelling of wet rocks and cantaloupe.  It's not particularly fizzy, but the winery makes another style that is.  The heaven that happens when the wine hits the quince in the salad is simply indescribable.  I often repeat dishes on return visits to restaurants, but I can't imagine getting the same wine when there are so many others from which to choose.  Perhaps my next visit will be to Italy, or France, by way of Wally's.


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