Serving tapas and Spanish cuisine, Barraca is located on a Greenwich Village corner.
Pick a Paella
Explore a menu packed with wonderfully inventive Spanish cuisine at Barraca, a cozy new restaurant in a prime Greenwich Village location. From appetizers to dessert, Chef Jesus Nunez’s inspired dishes range from grilled Boston lettuce softly nested in Bilbaina vinaigrette to cinnamon ice cream melting on traditional Catalan toast. In between try a veal shank dressed up in onion compote and apricots with Crema de Cabrales or the garlic infused Spanish potato omelette with pan con tomato.
Six different versions of paella include squid ink infused Paella Negra, Paella de Mariscos with shrimp, clams, mussels, scallops, swordfish and squid, and the chef ‘s favorite Paella Roja De Carbaineros with red shrimp stock, prawns, rock shrimp and carabineros. To avoid discord at the table, the paellas can be served in special divided grills enabling each guest to select his preferred combination.
New Greenwich Village restaurant Barraca serves contemporary Spanish cuisine.
Three accompanying sangrias are sake based Sangria Compostela or saffron infused passion fruit in the Sangria De La Mancha, but we preferred the grapefruit based Sangria Valencia enhanced with Rosé, citrus oil, vodka, and ginger. Not to be missed is the Higos & Vodka—the clear liquor infused with manzanilla sherry and spiced fig syrup—served in a glass with a smoked paprika rim.
Barraca, 81 Greenwich Avenue, 212-462-0080, www.barracanyc.com.
It’s a chocolate extravaganza at the annual Chocolate Show
Chock Full of Notions
The annual “celebration of all things chocolate,” the New York Chocolate Show held its 15th anniversary edition the weekend of November 9th. More than 49 exhibitors brought all things chocolate—bars, truffles, pralines, bonbons, wines, gelatos—plus “I love chocolate” bracelets and tote bags to the Metropolitan Pavilion for three days of sweetness.
Wandering the show we were on the lookout for unusual combinations and turned up some of the following chocolate innovations:
Dark chocolate flavored red wine with a note of raspberry www.chocolatrougewines.com
Eclat’s pink peppercorn chocolate www.eclatchocolate.com
A spread of hazelnut, cashews and chocolate from Noiseraie
Dark chocolate /rose covered almonds at Les Cinq Amandes www.fivealmonds.com
Melt in your mouth tidbits from No Chewing Allowed www.NoChewingAllowed.com
Soothing green “Earl Gray” tea flavored white chocolate wafers from Prestat www.prestat.uk
Layered chocolate and salted caramel “OMG” brownies from NYC’s Salt of the Earth Bakery www.saltoftheearthbakery.com
Spiced chai bonbons from Tache Artisan Chocolatier www.tachechocolate.com
Caramel + pretzel + sea salt gelato from Sccreme Gelato Bar www.screme.com
Fudges infused with Pina Colada and Jack Daniels from Magnolia’s Fudge and Gift Shoppe buzzfudge.biz
Chocolate covered crisp bacon “Pig Candy” from Roni-Sue’s Chocolates www.roni-sue.com
The dress created by Michelle Tampakis features leaves made of chocolate.
Not to mention classic truffles and bars from Pralus (chocolatspralus.com), fresh cream truffles at 5th Avenue Chocolatiere (www.5thavenuechocolatiere.com), and four brands of farmers’ home grown chocolate from Ecuador (www.proecuador.gob.ec). In the demonstration area, sculptors created chocolate statues, chef Zac Young of David Burke Kitchen baked caramel sticky buns with bacon and Valrhona chocolate bits, and Michelle Tampakis’ daughter modeled her mother’s design, an autumn “frock” scattered with leaves made of chocolate (www.chocolateshow.com).
