2010 Apr 28 Taste Spain: Gourmet Deli Opens in Nali Patio

Taste Spain, the city’s first shop to focus exclusively on gourmet Spanish food and wine, has opened in Sanlitun. Adjacent to Crepanini at Nali Patio, the long, narrow shop has one room dedicated to Spanish delicatessen products, and the other packed with Spanish vino and cava.

In the deli space, various grades of authenticated deboned Jamon Iberico are available, along with preserved mojama (salt-cured tuna), and manchego cheese.

Also available are over twenty brands of Spanish olive oil, tinned chickpeas, olives, sea salt flakes and paella seasoning, plus dried pasta.

The small shop is a noticeably more humble venture than Pizza Italia, the unrelated triple-floored Italian food and wine centre that closed abruptly last year. The passionate owner of Taste Spain, Carlos Chordi, is also the proprietor of successful tapas restaurant Carmen, so we’re banking on a long and fruitful future for this new establishment.
You might also be interested in :
Pinchos Yourself at Bar Code

It’s usually a bit of a cop-out to begin a restaurant review by commenting on its name, but Bar Code? Bafflingly, it’s not a “Chinglish” blooper. A flashy logo of wine bottles lined up supermarket scanner-style shows that the folks in charge meant the joke, tragically.
Taking over where Spanish restaurant Mosaico left off, the new management has put much of the emphasis on wine, shifting the culinary focus to reflect their Basque roots.Rice and Spice: Squid Ink Paella Triumphs at Saffron

“Back for More” is a regular magazine dining column in which we revisit old favorites.
On a summer day of growling skies, sticky T-shirts and short tempers, thoughts of flight drove us to seek out this little-known slice of the Mediterrranean. Inside the glass courtyard, restorative A/C coursed over tables like a levant breeze, and, bolstered by good olive oil and the Verdejo grape, we were soon lost to the delusion of deliverance – chewing, chatting and clinking glasses as if on the Catalan coast. But the tremendous squid ink paella (RMB 198 for two) still caught us by surprise.
Beijing Bulli: "World's Best Chef" at Nali Patio

Revolutionary chef Ferran Adria is in Beijing for a flying visit today, visiting Nali Patio's stronghold of Spanish restaurants and hosting a demonstration class at Raffles Hotel's East 33 later this afternoon. We were fortunate enough to catch the elBulli mastermind on his tour of Nali - he visited Agua, Migas, Mosto, Niajo, Carmen and Taste Spain - and got a few snaps of the man who has been variously described as cooking's Salvador Dali (Gourmet magazine), Pablo Picasso (Rafael Anson, World's 50 Best Restaurants) and, ahem, Elvis Presley (New York Times). More to come later!

Inspired Pairings: Cheese & Wine Made In Heaven Comes to Chaoyang

This spot, Cheese & Wine Made in Heaven, takes a simple idea and runs with it, adding something different to the Chaoyang Park West Gate scene. But let’s call it simply “Cheese & Wine.” After all, wine produced in the vineyards of paradise is an unknown quantity. Hardly necessary when you’ve got racks loaded with bottles from France and Italy.
Big-City Wine Bar: Enoterra Touches Down at Nali Patio

Enoteca has said goodbye to The Place and relocated to this winning spot at Nali Patio. Issues with name registration have compelled a name change, but the innovations don’t end there. For a start, Enoterra actually has a bathroom.



