Cúrate bar de tapas

So... People are rubbing Spanish olive oil all over themselves over this place. Asheville is not exactly the destination for global cuisine but it's trying to get a little piece of themselves on the map. It's a small town with a ton of breweries, handful of bars and a quiet restaurant scene that is slowly gaining the attention of people who seek out good grub. It's a town that feels more comfortable with the farm to table theme than the avant garde big city slicker dining scene because they are a small southern country town after all... But the culinary scene in this quiet town has been growing quickly in the last few years. If it wasn't for the Biltmore estate, it would just be another sleepy one horse town that you would blow by like Gatlin, Nebraska on your way to Vegas.
This town's beard to razor ratio is like 100:1... This town can not get anymore hipster, even though that whole trend is fading out, but they still embrace it like they just got the new 2009 calender made from kale papyrus. Speaking of kale... We are not gonna eat any of that shit but squid ink is on the agenda, though... I have so many places to hit on my list that I have to be like a tornado and leave a trail of destruction in the next couple of days.
Tapas was a huge hit across the nation for a few years then people got kinda bored with it. The novelty wore off but in Asheville, it's still a big draw... That's one good thing about small towns, things take forever to cycle out. I was secretly looking to see if they still have pay phones... Let's go munch on some muff, cabrón!

Tabla de Jamón- jamón serrano fermín, jamón ibérico fermín, jamón ibérico de bellota. That's a mouthful of jamón right there... and from there in it goes straight to da pouch. The iberico and bellota were the best of course and worth every penny... Well, kinda, at the moment.

Rossejat Negro, similar to paella but made with thin noodles, squid in its ink, garnished with aioli and salsa verde, the essence of the ocean. This was a must try and it turned out really good. The thin vermicelli like noodles absorbed the squid ink fully and the baby squid portion was spot on. The aioli and salsa verde gave it a nice color contrast to the blackness of the noodles and pan but it didn't do much on the overall taste. I would get this again.

Pulpo a la Gallega, sea salt, olive oil, spanish paprika, and yukon gold potato purée. Another classic dish... Gotta get the octopus when you're doing tapas. I hate the word tapas because it has been bastardized so much, everything on a small plate is tapas. A freshly laid pigeon dropping on a saucer is considered tapas... But how was the octo?! The tender little cephalopod nuggets were really nice, swimming in olive oil a bit too much but it didn't take away from the overall taste. The tater puree was ultra smooth, almost Robuchon-esque, you can only imagine the amount of butter used.  

Berenjenas la Taberna, fried eggplant drizzled in wild mountain honey, garnished w/ rosemary. Another popular dish here... These large disks looked kinda like fried green tomatoes at first which I assume that was their aim but once you bite into them, there is no mistaking them with the crispy crust and spongy enter. The honey and rosemary gave it a little herby sweetness to the usually bland eggplant.. It was decent because this shit was fried, so it's got that going for it.

Chistorra con pure de Patatas. Maybe it's just me but these were kinda disappointing on first glance... Is it cold out? Did they put in a ice bath? You know... Shrinkage. But they did make me feel better about my manhood. Well, they were chistorra, chorizo's skinnier kin like Snoppy's bro, Spike. I wished they served them in a coil versus Bobbitized on a skewer. They weren't bad but it didn't do much for me.. They tasted more like a fancier Slim Jim. The ultra buttery smooth tater puree was good as usual.

I can see why this place is killing it here, good location and good gimmicky concept. The dishes were mostly pretty good. I should have tried more dishes to get a better feel for the kitchen but I think they're doing a good job here. It's not the best Spanish tapas by any means but for this this area it's a great addition. There was another tapas joint that I walked by, Zambra, that people were also losing their shit over it... Don't worry, you will probably read about it on this dumpy blog.

11 Biltmore Ave, Asheville, NC 28801
http://www.curatetapasbar.com/