After two weeks of sightseeing in Oregon in which I tried to shed some of the pounds I have accumulated blogging for RestaurantsCT.com, including a strenuous three-day ascent of Oregon’s third highest peak, the South Sister (elevation 10,358 feet),
I returned to Hamden to find Restaurant Week in full swing. I caught a lunch at Japanese standout Sono Bana,
where they were still offering the wonderful blue shrimp appetizer,
and then dinner at Ibiza Tapas & Wine Bar, which recently added nice patio seating
and even an herb garden.
During this September 18-26, 2011 edition of hugely popular Hamden Restaurant Week, which I in all modesty helped organize, there were thirteen participating restaurants, including the two stalwarts I have already mentioned plus Café Amici, Eli’s On Whitney, Le Petit Gourmet, Mickey’s Restaurant & Bar, Park Central Tavern, Playwright Irish Pub, and SBC Restaurant & Brewery. There were also four new participants, including Dunn’s Pub, DeMil’s On Whitney, Kumo Japanese Restaurant and Mikro Craft Beer Bar. Formerly Contrassegno Restaurant, Mustard Seed Restaurant, and Friends & Company, DeMil’s On Whitney is located across from Brooksvale Avenue. Also located on Whitney Avenue, Mikro Craft Beer Bar occupies a high-ceilinged space in the Mount Carmel Center strip mall that formerly housed the Pepperidge Farm Thrift Shop.
Participating restaurants offered three-course prix fixe lunches and dinners for $12 and $24 respectively. But Ibiza Tapas’ amazing menu actually two-upped the requirements, offering five items in all (click to enlarge).
My lovely wife works as a hostess at Ibiza Tapas a couple of nights a week. As the restaurant finally quieted late in the evening and the attractive bar emptied,
we were invited by owner Ignacio Blanco
to try out the menu.
During Restaurant Week, Ibiza Tapas put aside its regular menu and served only its special menu. Every guest received a deliciously refreshing chilled gazpacho soup,
and then they were allowed to choose three additional tapas plus dessert. There were also great specials on wine.
The tapas that my wife and I selected included a salad of Hindinger Farm tomatoes and roasted beets in a Pedro Ximénez vinaigrette,
braised oxtail croquettes,
chorizo, potatoes and chickpeas sautéed with Spanish smoked paprika,
baked goat cheese, plum tomato sauce and herbs with parsley toasts (a customer favorite that Blanco popularized at Pika Tapas in New Haven before he changed it to Ibiza),
bomba rice with chanterelle mushrooms, tomato and saffron,
roasted pork tenderloin with chimichurri sauce accompanied by a smoked bacon and potato purée,
and finally, grilled Atlantic salmon with a leek and potato emulsion.
Anyone counting may notice that we were slipped an extra tapa.
For dessert, we enjoyed a Spanish-style rice pudding with strawberry coulis and passion fruit foam
as well as a Spanish sponge cake with dulce de leche filling and chocolate icing.
Was everything as good as it looked? Actually, better! Is this not the face of contentment?
Ibiza Tapas & Wine Bar, 1832 Dixwell Avenue, Hamden, 203-909-6512
ibizatapaswinebar.com