Tapas All Day

Where has this week gone? Just when you don’t want a certain Marathon Monday to get here too quickly, the week becomes crazy busy and flies by!  This week has been pretty great; I am busy with work and that’s always a good thing. Even better, I got to spend the day with tapas and Spanish wine on Tuesday, working as the “Media Maven” for an event with Tapeña Wines. This type of work is pretty much what I would love to do all day, every day. By the end of the day and after two events, I was exhausted but fully charged and talking my husband’s ear off.

The first event was a small media event at Kika Tapas in Kendall Square. This was my first time at Kika, and I absolutely loved it.

The interior is very different than sister restaurants Tapeo and Solea. It’s a modern twist on the more traditional tapas bar, decked out in red, white, and black, round booths, and lots of light.

I joined a representative from Freixenet USA and another blogger for lunch and to taste wines from the Freixenet family.

We started off with the Freixenet Cordon Negro and Brazilian cheese bread, which had a cheesy, nutty flavor that went really well with the cava.

We also had one of my favorites, the baked goat cheese in tomato basil sauce with a basket of bread for dipping. Molten goat cheese with tangy tomato sauce and fresh bread is something that I could eat all day.

Another tapas favorite, patatas bravas, were also part of our order. These did not disappoint with their spicy, salty sauce and creamy aioli.

The second wine we tasted was one of my all time favorites, Gloria Ferrer Sonoma Brut. Gloria Ferrer was one of the first places we ever visited in Sonoma and one that we always return to. Their wines are all fantastic, and the Sonoma Brut and Va de Vi hold special places in our hearts. Since bubbles are a great friend to food, they were a wonderful choice for a variety of tapas, including these sizzling garlic shrimp, another must-order for me.

Our feast also included pork loin with blue cheese and mushrooms and lamb meatballs in truffle cream sauce. The meatballs were pretty incredible.

Our meal and tasting also included two Tapeña Wines, the Garnacha and Tempranillo. I like both, but I LOVE Tapeña Garnacha. Fruity, spicy, and delicious, this wine is almost too easy to drink. And to make it even better, it retails for under $10.

Several people in the restaurant stared at our table full of wine bottles and food; it certainly isn’t every day you see three people with four bottles of wine at lunch. We were just tasting, promise!

After lunch I had some time to run a few errands before heading to Tapeo for the main event, a Tapeña Meet Up.

Tapeo and Tapeña put on a fun evening filled with wine, prizes, and delicious tapas.

This time around, we were sipping on Tapeña Verdejo in addition to Tempranillo. As someone tweeted at me after the event, the Verdejo is perfect for a sunny patio. It’s bright, acidic, fun, and perfect for seafood and summer.

I spent the night mixing and mingling with guests; if you came, thank you so much for being there! I hope you had a good time. We had a great crowd, and some great food and service from Tapeo.

Working the Tapeña was truly one of the most fun projects I have had in my consulting career, and it really made my week. Things aren’t always easy in this chosen path of mine, but moments like this definitely make it worth it!

How is your week going so far? Do you get a long weekend this weekend? I obviously am taking a long weekend. . . but I am not necessarily looking forward to it!