Editorial
Rants by Fitz & Briana Diver
Fitz
Put simply, tapas here in Hampton Roads is a joke. Good tapas bites in Spain (the place of origin for this type of eating) are based on simple methods, the inventive use of seasonal vegetables, and local ingredients. At our tapas restaurants, very little if any of those practices are taking place. Further, Spanish tapas are essentially unpretentious and straight-forward in presentation. Here, tapas is defined by overly fussed with plates adorning bloated menus.
Fitz at Pacifica
Several times I’ve been with friends while they’ve run up $150 to $200 plus bills on mediocre plates. Nine dollar souped up Mac and cheese, fifteen dollar broccoli and cheese, eighteen dollar charred octopus– I’ve had these and so many more bites of blah around town. Every time, they’re as unremarkable as they are overpriced. The broccoli is almost never sourced locally, nor the cheese, and certainly not most of the proteins. Sure, there are four sauces and foam drizzled on the Mollusca that took a long drive to limp on the plate. Yeah, there are six discounted Sysco cheeses lacquered on the pasta and, more often than not, the plates will be gussied up for your gaze. If you listen real closely you might even hear the tweezers drop in the kitchen during plating cause you know, let’s throw a little micro green on that deconstructed donut. Beneath all the visual pomp however, you will not find a showcase for the tastes of our area.
In contrast, if you go to any decent tapas bar in the Andalucia region of Spain you’re getting local olives. Go to Murcia or Valencia, you’ll see bites featuring oranges and almonds from local groves. In the Basque Province, you would expect to see some of the local cattle, sheep, and dairy products the area is known for. When was the last time you’ve seen Brothers or Cullipher or Henley greens as the feature component of a tapas bite here? There was a reason why Chef Dustin Haney, at the now closed Empire formerly located in downtown Norfolk, was able to flawlessly pose small plates for a plethora of daily Facebook food porn he’d create each day, he had the time. No one was in there eating. They weren’t in there because, despite his admitted talent, he was more often than not using inferiorly sourced components. I’m not just relying on my palette to make such a discernment however, from long time Crackers employees to former kitchen warriors at Pacifica, I’ve outright been told they very rarely source locally.
For those that want a faux campfire set up featuring melted Hershey bars for dessert, hit Crackers. Want a sweet potato noodle enchilada bowl of palette confusion fusion? Visit Pacifica. Want some twice fried eggplant fries, I’m sure Bardo has you covered. I’d rather just get an app or two at LeGrand, Simple Eats, or Commune. Odds are my greens, maybe even my proteins, will be local, and a true reflection of the tastes of our area.
Diver
First of all, we are not in Spain. Here in Hampton Roads, Tapas is a concept. Concepts are born out of a need or a desire. There are a variety of stories depicting the birth of tapas. One such story is that of a king who could not drink alcohol on an empty stomach, hence he decreed everyone should take food with their drink. Another version is that barkeepers handed customers a slice of cheese or a hunk of bread to cover their drinks and keep out the flies. After all, ‘tapa’ literally means lid or cover.
Diver at Pacifica
While the origin of tapas may be arguable, there is no question that they‘re small plates of food. In Hampton Roads, we have a handful of restaurants specializing in tapas and others that simply include a “small plates” section on their menu. My editor zeroed in on a few that I’ve been to and enjoyed, Pacifica being one of them. His comments surprised me and prompted me to go back with a critical mind. I did, and I still think he’s wrong.
I ordered three plates: Roasted Oyster Mushrooms with Lemon-Tarragon Butter, Grilled Peach & Waffle with Goat Cheese Mousse, Maple and Blackberry Syrup, and Fried Green Tomatoes with Compressed Watermelon, Halloumi and Chive Oil. The main component of each was locally sourced. The other locally sourced items on the menu were micro-greens, stone ground grits, crab, and catfish. I even confirmed that the menu changes seasonally.
Photos of Diver by Jason Christie
The plates were beautiful and everything on them added to the scrumptiousness of the dish as opposed to being a pretentious display of pomp. Hey, it doesn’t get much simpler than a small bowl of mushrooms. Furthermore, those three plates and my two cocktails only set me back $34.57 before tip. Perhaps, someone’s watched his friends make poor decisions when ordering – don’t take that out on the chef or owner – just don’t order the $15 broccoli, man.
I talked about tapas being a concept. That concept includes a communal sharing of the small plates. This facet elevates the experience for me in a way that traditional dining out often does not. At one point, I looked around Pacifica and not one person was looking at their phone or trying to catch Pokémon. Everyone was talking. The room was lively. It was an experience.
This, my friend, is what it’s all about. The experience. Trying new food. Trying food you’ve already had but would never have thought of preparing that way (nor have been able to). Conversing with those you love, like, or barely know. This social element appeals to my heart much more than the idea of just eating a few olives or oranges the neighbor grew so that I don’t get too wasted on my bourbon.
Don’t Agree with Fitz’s or Diver’s take on Tapas in Hampton Roads? TELL US! southerngritmag@gmail.com
We could publish your response.
17 Comments
as an employee at one restaurant mentioned in the article, I’m highly offended by this. people who don’t know about food shouldn’t write about it and bash people. that’s like me writing about art. I’ve been cooking in Hampton Roads for many years and it irritates me that food writers cant just support us and give credit. also to bash someone at a restaurant that was shutting down is just wrong. and to say such degrading things and posting pictures of yourself is just odd to me! How would you know how much a restaurant locally sources? Have you been in their walk-in? I’m sure most places try to locally source as much as possible, but there are not that many options. I know for a fact that Brother’s Farm is now shut down until the middle of the fall, so no one is getting anything from them. Please check your sources before you feel the need to bash local restaurants. Why not support those local places as much as possible? If you want to call out places, why not all the tons of places that use sysco and us foods and claim that everything is “from scratch”.
Two different takes on Tapas were presented in this editorial. In relation to sourcing practices… the con opinion was based on talking with employees. Key to note is in the second, again editorial opinion, was a different take on sourcing practices from info gathered by the pro Hampton Roads tapas writer.
I am curious as to how often you dine in Andalucia, Murcia, Valencia or the Basque regions of Spain. Are you writing from your own experiences or are you relating tales of food that others have eaten?
The con editorial was based on talking with a source currently living in Hampton Roads who has been to two of the above mentioned areas and eaten tapas. It was also heavily based on research conducted online and an email conversation with bloggers who frequently write about tapas in Spain. I encourage you to research both the sourcing practices of tapas in those areas, and also look into presentation/pricing of those bites. You will find it is considerably different from tapas here by and large. Also important to note is in the pro Hampton Roads tapas editorial it was put forth that it should be different here as we are not in Spain.
i don’t believe he has ever even been to Spain. everyone can use google search, some use it to write bashing “opinions.”
i like to say “those who can’t cook, write.” if you are going to write about food, please at least know what you are talking about. as a matter of fact, where i work, we have been using locally sourced food including produce, meats, seafood and even micro greens and herds for 18 years. if you indeed speak to employees about info for the article, how about talking to ones who actually care about where they work and are not your close friends. go on dave and dees website, they list the restaurants they sell to.
If the first opinion (of two) is so off base, it seems curious that you are so defensive. Two opinions were put forth that give two different takes. Sorry you didn’t agree with the first one. We all have opinions.
what an amazing argument – “you’re being defensive, I must be right “. the actual reason Matthew is being ‘defensive’ is because you are accusing us of lying, having second-rate sourcing, and putting out overpriced plates. when someone calls you a liar and a hack, your natural response is to defend yourself – for example, if I said you published unverified rumors without even investigating the contrary side, that you had no journalistic integrity and were only interested in fulfilling a personal vendetta against a local restaurant company, and that you didn’t even bother to do your proper research interviewing current employees or actually trying more of the menu than 2 specials, one of which sat for 15 minutes while you took misleading photos, you’d probably be defensive as well, the only difference being that you weren’t angry that someone lied about you, your company, and your practices – you’d be defensive because I didn’t miss the mark by much.
No one at the magazine has a vendetta. We write about our experiences with food locally and we do not pander. The con portion of the article as it pertains to Pacifica, in part, was based on being served multiple unremarkable dishes on several different visits and, most recently, a dessert that was nearly inedible. In addition, for both the quality of food you get and the size, considering what else is available around town, I very much think it is over priced. In terms of lying, nothing of the sort was done. I stand by my take in the editorial in regards to a lack of substantial local sourcing and I reached that conclusion via my sources, the make up of the menu when I visited (on multiple occasions), and my palette. The other editorial take on tapas in this article, as it relates to Pacifica, disagrees with mine however and both sides are available for the readers to make up their own mind.
so let’s jump to why you bashed a great local chef at a restaurant as it was closing and you were asked to write about him. when asked to write about him, i would say nothing but good things, you actually said very degrading things. if you had any support of the local restaurants and chefs, you wouldn’t write such wrong things. all comments i have read of yours, haven’t really answered any of our questions or issues.
The questions have been addressed. It seems you just don’t agree with the answers put forth. Further, we have written a wide variety of opinions and features about Chefs, Servers, Sous Chefs, restaurants and food in Hampton Roads. Ultimately, we do not go into producing content to be nice, mean, or any other emotion. We go in and let our experience, in addition to our research, lead us to what we produce. Locally, this is not the practice by many who write about food. In regards to Dustin, again, his talents were not called into question. I suggest you read closer.
Andrew, i could not have said it better myself. i sir, owe you an academy award and a drink.
What a nice yelp write up!
Well luckily everytime you came in with your girlfriend she seemed to highly enjoy her food and experience. Enough so that she actually bought the chef a couple of post work shots while he sat at the bar. Bashing is understandable. It makes people like me, who would never read an article in this magazine, to actually take a moment of my day to read something in your magazine. Nobody is looking for undeserved praise but this article is so unfactual. If your evidence is based on a former employee who was fired and then begged for his job back with no success, then shouldn’t this also be mentioned? Regardless of your complaints, I am glad that everytime I saw you leave here you had a smile on your face, a full belly and a little stagger to your giddy up. Cheers.
Personally, I have never been, as you said, “smiling, [with] a full belly and a little stagger in my giddy up [at Pacifica]”. I’ve consistently been quite let down by the quality of the food and found it overpriced. Also, most of the time, I am the designated driver due to not drinking much. However, you are right about one thing, I have been with people who enjoyed the food at Pacifica, not unlike the other opinion in this editorial article.
There are several definitions of the word “con”. You seem to live up to most of them. I’d rather eat a bowl of Cheerios poured by Dustin Haney than share a meal with the “con”. To blame a chef called in to save a restaurant that was feeling the ill effects of a previous idiot chef is akin to blaming a fireman for not saving the building that was engulfed in flames prior to a 911 call. This is just bad journalism. Nothing more. Food critics should be made of sterner stuff.
I would read closer Anonymous, his talents were not called into question as you imply.