Bulla Gastrobar
4.5 out of 5 stars
930 S. Howard Ave., Tampa. Small plates: $6-$16; large plates: $21-$39; desserts: $8; beer, cocktails and wines by the glass: $4-$17. 813-733-8626; bullagastrobar.com.
If you’re a fan of small plates and sharing, run, don’t walk, to Bulla Gastrobar. This Tampa newcomer is the closest thing to eating in Spain that you’ll find in these parts, and the joy of authentic tapas is the sheer pleasure of communally sharing many new taste treats. I was lucky to be living in D.C. when a young José Andrés (now an internationally known culinary figure) brought the tapas revolution to the U.S. His first restaurant of what is now a burgeoning empire, Jaleo, celebrates these traditional flavors.
We start with Paleta Ibérica de Bellota Fermín, the caviar of cured meats. Purebred black Iberian pigs run wild and stuff themselves with copious amounts of sweet acorns like a kid OD-ing on Halloween candy at Grandma’s house when no one is looking. The result is dark ham cured for three years that’s cut in long, paper-thin slices revealing yellow striations of the lushest fat imaginable. Culinary supernova Ferran Adrià recommends luxuriating in the seductive texture by first rubbing the widest layer of fat on your upper lip to lose yourself in its pleasure. Then, place the savory meat on your tongue while leisurely taking in the depth of flavor as you chew. Take a sip of red Rioja and see how beautifully the flavors marry.
The same is applied to manchego, that most wonderful Spanish sheep’s milk cheese from La Mancha that’s no impossible dream. Bulla serves an intertwined stack of thin wedges almost resembling arrowheads. A bite of the nutty cheese is mild, but instantly evokes the piquancy of the sheep’s milk. Take another sip of Rioja and you’ll see the magical alchemy of a fine wine match, where both the cheese and wine benefit from the pairing.
These are accompanied by free-form rustic crackers for texture, plus tiny, crunchy and pale pretzel-like nuggets. The cheese plate also include dollops of sweet membrillo (quince paste) and a small pile of candied walnut pieces. It’s absolutely divine — and we’ve barely begun.
We fall under the spell of Pan de Cristal con Tomate, which captures the essence of all that’s celebratory about a tomato bursting with ripe acidity spread over an “ethereal” piece of toasted bread. Simple, but sublime.
That’s actually true of our entire meal. The food exiting executive chef Keith Williamson’s SoHo kitchen is an embarrassment of riches — comfort foods that just make us sigh, bite after bite. I have been to Spain, and have fond, vivid memories of stalwarts from the native gastronomy. But the real delight is watching the glint in the eyes of my tablemates.
Tequeños are two-bite logs of Galician tetilla cheese wrapped in pastry and fried. The restaurant offers two splendid dipping sauces: Sriracha aioli and a sweet tomato marmalade that has the table abuzz. It’s a gourmet version of fried mozzarella sticks on steroids.
An iconic dish, patatas bravas bathes chunks of crisp potato in a spicy, sunset-colored aioli-type sauce piquant with pimenton, Spain’s ubiquitous smoked paprika. My first encounter was in a small town square along the Ruta de Vino in the heart of Rioja wine country. Following an afternoon of tasting wares from vintners in the area, we craved carbs; our server suggested this local favorite, and a love affair was born.
Montaditos de Costilla are little rounds of bread with rich shreds of braised short rib and melted cheese, topped with crossed, mild Basque guindilla peppers and a spoonful of tomato marmalade. The meat has no sauce, so it’s an ideal marriage with some from the patatas bravas.
Pintxos (PEEN-chos) are an omnipresent part of any Basque tapas menu. We settle on two overlapping skewers of juicy, cumin-marinated pork loin smoky from the restaurant’s special charcoal oven with a lovely mojo verde and a squiggle of tangy Greek yogurt.
With many variations, gazpacho is another wonder of the Spanish kitchen. The tomato-based soup, served cold, can highlight the bounty of your garden chunky-style with green peppers, onion, garlic, cucumber and, of course, olive oil. Bulla’s Andaluz version is a silky purée sans cucumber, yet a magical elixir nonetheless.
While the Croquetas de Jamón look deceptively like tater tots, they’re deliciously fried bechamel morsels — coated with bread crumbs, flecked with ham and served with a delightful fig sauce offsetting the fat and salt. They’re great by themselves, but a dip in the sweet fruit takes them to another galaxy.
Albóndigas is a trio of scrumptious meatballs, which seem to be a staple across many cuisines. Perfect veal and pork orbs arrive in a delightfully tangy tomato frito sauce with wonderful aromas of well-integrated onions and garlic elevated with cheesy manchego goodness. The Bulla crew keep hitting the bull’s-eye with their spin on each popular plate.
Perhaps the most seductive of all is the pot of Huevos ‘Bulla’ that your server combines tableside. The ingredients are straightforward. However, the combination is comfort food heaven, eliciting moans all around. Crisp, house-made potato chips are covered with potato foam, soft eggs oozing yolk, truffle oil, and thin slices of Serrano ham. The server uses two spoons to break the ham into manageable bites while coating everything with yolk and foam to glorious effect. My drooling tasters jump to get their fair share of flavor-packed spoonfuls.
The menu features beautiful large plates, too, including paella with Valencia-style rice flavored with red sofrito and saffron that positively overflows with the bounty of the Mediterranean — calamari, shrimp, clams and properly intact king prawns. Cooked whole, prawns retain their natural juices; embrace the opportunity to enjoy the nectar from the heads. Just do it.
There are even plenty of sighs to go around when it comes to dessert. Torrijas is a mashup of tres leches and French toast in the form of caramelized brioche. It’s quite soft on the palate, and the key is the exquisite flavor combo, which comes by eating each bite with a bit of turrón ice cream. Turrón, an almond nougat, is popular at Christmastime, particularly in Valencia on Spain’s east coast. The whole thing is drizzled with honey for a delectable taste treat.
Flan de Coco has a creamy density that announces itself. The firm, but surprisingly smooth, coconut custard is garnished with pristine berries, a single beautiful raspberry, black-and-blue berries, and a tiny dot of flawless meringue. It’s adjacent to a bracing passion fruit sorbet sitting on a bed of toasted coconut, and totally divine.
For those craving something sweet and fruity, the excellent, unusual Sangría de Cerveza is on hand. The drink is made from a mix of Ommegang Witte (a Belgian summer white ale brewed with sweet orange peel and coriander), St-Germain, pear purée and a spritz of lemon. Served over ice, with wedges of both lemon and lime, the result is surprisingly refreshing.
Bulla’s wine list highlights carefully curated choices, celebrating what’s great about Spanish vino, with underappreciated grapes that pair well. Remember the axiom, “What grows together, goes together.” The lineup is mostly Spanish wines grouped by handy categories from bright and fruit-driven to richer and fuller. Stretching the length of our hemisphere from Napa in the north to Mendoza in the south, a small section of New World “vinos Americanos” is available as well.
But my favorites for this cuisine are the tasty verdejo (an adaptable white wine chameleon), Jumilla (a dry red from Basque Country), and the safe bet of 2010 Viña Alberdi Reserva, a great vintage of estate-grown Rioja tempranillo with haunting earthy flavors fit for the menu.
Although Tampa’s Bulla is part of a South Florida-born chain, it instantly joins the pantheon of great Tampa Bay eateries. The team members know who they are, what they aim to deliver — and they do it brilliantly. I can’t wait to return.
CL Food Critic Jon Palmer Claridge dines anonymously when reviewing. Check out the explanation of his rating system, or email him at food@creativeloafing.com.
