Tapa Thursdays: Taberna Panduro

November 13, 2014 by · 2 Comments

Wee, another posts about a gastrobar! I mean, I love a mushroom risotto and fig croquetas like the next guiri, but even with new restaurants opening all the time offering the same sorts of dishes, I was hoping for a little more.

After spending the morning and better part of the afternoon at the Feria de Jamón de Aracena, we were looking for lighter fare for dinner. Faced with only a Spanish decision – either deep-fried at Dos de Mayo or too expensive for end-of-the-month dining at Nazca – I was surprised to find a newer, second branch of the popular Taberna Panduro halfway between the two on Calle Baños.

We arrived early for a Saturday dinner – around 8:30 p.m. – and a few drinks inevitably turned into nibbles. I opted for a wine after a beer drinking marathon at the ham fair, choosing a hearty Jumilla simply because it’s a DO that’s hard to come by out west. Glasses of wine are not only affordable (3.50€ tops), but a number of DOs are represented.

Panduro is just shy of its third birthday, and noted for the quality of its dishes and reasonable prices. We did things the old-fashioned way: everyone chose what they wanted to eat, and we sampled. Jose María had a tatami de atún, I got grilled squid served with risotto and ñora peppers, Hayley opted for the grilled vegetables and Maru had lagrimitas de pollo with guacamole, though I may be wrong about who got what. We ordered cod to round off the last bit go hunger pangs.

The cod was slightly undercooked, and the guacamole didn’t seem too fresh, but the rest of the dishes were spectacular and beautifully presented. This Panduro’s decor was less harsh than the sleek reds and blacks of the sister tavern at Doña María Coronel, near Calle Feria.

The waiter brought us out more bread and olives as the restaurant began to fill up. Even though it’s de rigeur for places to charge for munchies, Panduro left them off the bill.

Had to put myself to bed after this long day, but five oversized tapas and several drinks each had us hovering at 10€ a head. A job well done, I’d say.

If you like Panduro’s offerings, you’ll also like: La Brundilda | The Room Art Cuisines | La Bulla

Panduro is at Calle Baños, 3, open daily but Monday for lunch and dinner.

Have you been to Taberna Panduro? Which of these tapas would you like to try?

Filed Under: fashion, food, Restaurant Reviews, Sevilla Center, Tapas Bars, Tapas Thursday, Where to eat in Sevilla · Tagged: ,

Learning Photography Basics with Photo Tour Seville

October 20, 2014 by · 10 Comments

How many times have you been on a trip and you hand your camera off to someone, only to get this result?

Dude, I put it on auto for you. How could you have messed that up?

I sadly have pictures of myself in some gorgeous places – Beijing, Romania, Morocco – that have turned out less-than-stellar because asking a stranger to take my photo has resulted in a simple click without considering composition, light or even where my body was in the photo.

And then there’s the traveling-and-not-always-knowing-where-to-look factor. At breakneck speed on trips, I often forget to slow down and seek out details in photos, opting instead for macro shots of famous sites and landscapes.

As a professional photographer, Alberto began Photo Tour Seville to help visitors to the Andalusian capital discover the city’s most beautiful rincones, have professional photos taken in such rincones and receive a personalized photo album to take home.

We met Alberto in Plaza de América one sunny October morning – not optimal for photos, perhaps, but one of those mornings where it’s pleasant in the sun, chilly in the shade and the blue hue of the sky still fools you into thinking it’s still summer.

Alberto gave us a mini-tour through María Luisa park, a historic part of the city he jokingly calls “el despacho,” or the office. We sat in a shady plaza dedicated to Miguel de Cervantes, Spain’s literary mastermind, which had ceramic bookshelves with a few tattered paperbacks for loan.

Alberto explained the various parts of the manual functions, something I’d toyed with from time to time before settling on automatic settings for sake of time. I was familiar with all of the terms – f-stop, white balance, aperture – but haven’t quite worked out how to make them all fit to get the result my own two eyes did.

Then, he gave us a series of tasks around the park to practice what we had learned. First up was a formidable challenge: freezing the water of a fountain located in the center of the park while allowing the colors of the blue sky and lush gardens come out.

Easier said that snapped, as it took me three tries to get it kind of right!

I’d considered shutter speed for making the water not blur together, but couldn’t get the aperture, or the amount of like that gets let into the lens, and the ISO to work together. Essentially, the lower the ISO, the clearer your pictures are but the less sensitive they are to the light coming into the camera.

Next, I worked on taking a portrait of Laura on a bright day while experimenting with depth of field. Without Alberto’s help, I fumbled through the settings to be sure Laura’s face was in focus and the backdrop of the Museo de Artes y Costumbre’s mudéjar facade a bit blurred, taking into account all of the light that would be in the frame.

Fail. I’d need to work at this.

Once I’d reset and looked for a place with less light, I snapped another picture of my friend with better results:

The pigeons at the western end of the plaza were our next challenge. I’ve long tried to capture them in flight, but had never gotten the shutter speed fast enough to have their wings fully outstretched. But that had an easy fix: shutter speed. I set my shutter as fast as it would snap – 1/3200 of a second – and waited for the birds to fly.

Even when the pigeons weren’t flying, I experimented with depth of field and closing the aperture to focus the photo.

Alberto then led us through the lush gardens of María Luisa, constructed for the 1929 Ibero-American Fair and full of hidden fountains and busts. Apart from tutorials, Sevilla Photo Tour also takes photos of families (which eliminates the more-than-likely chance that you’ll have a photo like the one above of a rooftop rather than the Giralda).

Like any good tour, we ended with a beer and a few tapas before I jetted off to work. Laura spent a good chunk of her afternoon in the park and Plaza de España testing out her photography skills. When I met her at 10pm that night on a ceramic bench in the picturesque half-moon square, I tried to remember what I’d been taught.

Yeah, add a tripod for Camarón to my registry wish list!

Alberto graciously offered Laura and I the tour free of charge, but all opinions are my own. If you’re interested in learning more, get in touch with Alberto at Photo Tour Seville!

Have you ever been on a photo tour, or any sort of out-of-the-box tour while traveling?

Filed Under: blogging, El Centro, Featured, Habla de Tu Ciudad y Vive de Ella, Parks and Gardens, photo post, Photographer Sevilla, Sevilla Center, Seville Shots, Things to do in Sevilla, Tours in Spain, travel photography · Tagged: ,

Tapa Thursdays: Nazca

May 22, 2014 by · 6 Comments

We stumbled on Nazca one afternoon when our friend Scott was visiting from Madrid. I’d heard talk of the place – a Japanese and Peruvian fusion restaurant – for ages, and we quite literally stumbled there after spending a sweltering afternoon at the river catching up. Named after the Peruvian Nazca lines, the restaurant is just one of Seville’s gastro pub hotspots these days.

We arrived early enough (around 9pm) to snag a high table with bar stools in a bar that mixes industrial with international with a dash of Spanish (in the tiled floor of course). They were a bit unsteady, which made it difficult to share food once we’d ordered, but the food made up for it.  The menu is a mix of the nigiri and maki you’d expect to find at a Japanese restaurant, along with South American inspired meat dishes.

We settled on niguri topped with presa ibérica, a fresh chopped salad with chicken fingers (my life in Spain is complete!) and potato towers topped with a cherry tomato and some sort of cream sauce. Along with olives and picos, Nazca sets the table with chopsticks and Kikoman’s soy sauce.

Still hungry, we saw a waiter rush by with a hunk of meet. Hayley simply pointed and we soon had the dish at our table, which came with a deep-fried sort of croqueta, a slew of grilled and seasoned vegetables and a creamy, peppery sauce with rock salt.

Hayley says she went back the following week with her visiting parents and literally ordered everything on the menu. Don’t blame her – the food was really good and the presentation was incredible. I probably wouldn’t order the presa nigiri again, but stick to a ceviche or maki. From all accounts, the fish dishes stand out at Nazca.

Los detalles: Nazca is located on Calle Baños at number 32, just west of Plaza de la Gavidia. Open about 1:40 to 5 and 8:30 to midnight or so. They’re closed all day Tuesday and for lunch on Wednesdays. Expect to pay 12€ or more a head, particularly if you order wine.

Filed Under: El Centro, Featured, gastronomy, Sevilla Center, Tapas Bars, Tapas Thursday, Where to eat in Sevilla · Tagged: ,

Seville Snapshots: Costaleros Practicing for Holy Week

April 7, 2014 by · 9 Comments

The capataz knocks once. As if mechanically, the 40-off men beneath the wooden structure heave together, resting on their heels, hands gripping the wooden beams above their heads.

A second knock, and they launch into the air together.

On the third, the simulation float has rested on their shoulders, and they begin a coordinated dance down the street, walking in sync as they practice for their glorious penitence – Holy Week.

You all know that I paso de pasos (and the crowds, and the brass bands and even the torrijas), but the grueling pilgrimage from one’s church to the Cathedral and back fascinates me. No one bears the brunt more than the costaleros, who must pay for this prestigious position within their brotherhoods and seek penitence through their labor, carrying over 100 pounds for an average of eight hours.

In the weeks leading up to Viernes de Dolores, no less than 60 brotherhoods will crisscross the city to practice, placing cinderblocks on top of the metal float to simulate the large statue, each depicting the final moments of Jesus Christ’s life or of the weeping Virgin Mary. For ten days, Seville is full of religious fervor as the ornate pasos descend on the city center.

For an official route plan with approximate times, check here. You can use this to either catch the processions, or totally avoid them!

What are your Holy Week plans? Have you ever seen Semana Santa in Seville?

Filed Under: Andalucia, Churches, culture shock, El Centro, Featured, festivals, Hey Macarena!, Holy Week, living abroad, Semana Santa, Sevilla Center, Seville Lore, Things to do in Sevilla · Tagged: , ,

El Mercadillo el Jueves

February 18, 2014 by · 15 Comments

“Vengaaa, José, I prefer to lose a little money on a friend than sell it to someone who won’t enjoy it as much for far more.”

Luis sells books every Thursday morning at the Jueves flea market, and I flicked through his offerings on Spanish war planes for the Novio a few weeks ago. José is a repeat customer who bargains him from 20€ to 15€, snagging an EADS-issued encyclopedia on Air Force machines.

I met Raquel at Casa Vizcaíno one Thursday morning to browse the stands at the mercadillo, not having anything in mind to buy but bringing Camarón just in case.

My father would disappear every Sunday morning to swap meets when I was a kid, always looking for a bargain and spare car parts. The first time he took me, promising an elephant ear and new pogs, I was overwhelmed at the amount of stands, spread blankets and objects being sold.

El Jueves gave me the same feelings, just with no fried dough. There’s de todo un poco: old books, a version of my first cell phone, paintings, flamenco dresses and even trajes de luces.

In the end, I bought an old school BINGO game for the academy, bargained down from 5€, and five lapel pins for a euro each. I didn’t sift through much junk or feel pulled towards splurging on any one item (except for maybe a bust of the Virgin Mary), but I think I’ll be back.

As Raquel’s boyfriend said, they find new things to hock every week.

If you go: El Jueves takes over the southern end of Calle Feria between Calle Castelar and Calle Correduría every Thursday morning. Things begin to get started around 10am and last until around 1pm. Be sure to bring small change and watch your belongings.

Have you ever been to el Jueves? Know of other famous swap meets in Spain or beyond?

Filed Under: El Centro, Featured, Habla de Tu Ciudad y Vive de Ella, Markets, photo post, Plazas and Squares, Sevilla Center, Seville Shots, Shopping in Spain, typical Spanish · Tagged: ,

Tapa Thursdays: Room Art Cuisine

February 6, 2014 by · 4 Comments

With the hiring of MaCuro’s head chef, ROOM Art Cuisine went from an American food bar to one of the center’s newest gastrobars only steps away from Plaza Salvador. When my friends and I used to meet in the city’s famous botellón plazas, we’d be stuck for a decent restaurant that catered to many international tastes.

I was invited in November to the Room’s soft opening, along with several other American friends and Tapas Queen Shawn Hennessey. We got a sneak peek at the revised menu, wine list and comfortable yet modern interior while waiters passed around small samples of dishes straight off the menu.

A month later, we were celebrating Mickey’s engagement and wanted to try out a new place. Most of my friends are vegetarians, so the Room has enough to keep their bellies full and Puja and I still got our meat fix with a delicately cooked presa ibérica.

It’s hard to categorize the Room’s food, as the gambit of Spanish wines can be paired with food from around the world – from Ireland to Lebanon. We tried fried cheeseballs in marinera sauce, guacamole with fried plantains, perfectly seasoned humus, a crisp salad with goat cheese and spicy papas bravas.

The service was exceptional – our waiter was quick to fill our glasses and served us two slices of cake to share to celebrate the occasion. The food was artfully prepared both times I went, and prices and portion sizes vary, depending on what you’ve ordered. We paid about 22€ a head, which included wine.

the Room is open for all meals and located at Cuesta del Rosario, 15, just across from Cuesta Sport gym on the Plaza de la Pescadería. They’re also open for happy hour and coffee. I was not compensated in any way for eating at the Room Art Cuisine, nor for this article. All opinions are my own.

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Filed Under: El Centro, Featured, food, gastronomy, Restaurant Reviews, Sevilla Center, Sobremesa, Tapas Bars, Tapas Thursday, Where to eat in Sevilla · Tagged:
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