A thick and refreshing Gazpacho.
Today was a relaxing kind of day. I had planned for some brunch and then lunch, but by the time we were ready, it turned out we were going to just do lunch. No loss, as breakfast/brunch can be had easily enough in Toronto, and so we opted for some San Sebastian style tapas at Txori (cho-ree). I had quite enjoyed a small meal eaten at Harvest Vine on my last visit, and Txori was a sister venture. And small plates! I really like the lots-of-small-plates style of eating. Between the menu and the specials, there were quite a few options that intrigued us, so we decided we’d just start and keep leisurely ordering as we went along.
Conejo (rabbit) confit (I think).
The Gazpacho that we began with was really perfect. I’m not usually a fan, but the flavours were fresh and just a bit sweet. The soup had body from the bread crumbs, and the lovely crunch of fresh peppers and onions on top finished it off nicely. I had contemplated ordering another, but decided to wait, as we were off to a good start and I knew there could be more tasty dishes I didn’t want to miss out on.
Up next was rabbit, and I want to say it was rabbit confit on top of two pan-fried smashed potatoes. Memory is fuzzy here. This was good to have tried, but not on the re-order list.
Pimientos de padron. With garlic and salt. Tasty bar snack.
Revuelto de pato confitado y stas. Lightly scrambled eggs and duck confit.
On the board were fried peppers nearing the end of their season. Fried with garlic and finished with crunchy salt, this was an ideal bar snack. It reminded me of how edamame is served with beer. Not hot at all, but I did get one that had a bit of kick to it. Would like to try it with a full bowl of kicky peppers at some point!
Revuelto de pato confitado y stas was up next, which are scrambled eggs with duck confit and chantrelles. However, this got made the old way – minus the chantrelles – and thus the dish was comped to us. Light and tasty, I did miss the mushrooms, but this was a nice dish nonetheless.
Veal cheek.
Sadly, I can’t remember how the veal cheek tasted. Not bad (I’d remember) and not super good (I’d remember). So I’d say this was good and a decent-sized portion of meat. I did remember thinking that I liked the dishware, despite the fact that it’s probably a pain to wash.
Blood sausage stuffed in a piquillo pepper.
One of the more interesting dish preparations we had was the Piquillo relleno de morcilla. Blood sausage stuffed in a piquillo pepper, lightly coated in egg and placed on a pan-fried slice of baguette. Later on, we would see him prepping the peppers, piping in the blood sausage. The sausage itself was really smooth with some chunkier bits. Quite nice and not grainy at all, in contrast to the actual sausages that I’ve had in the last year in Montreal and Toronto.
Cured chorizo and roasted garlic purée on Columbia City rolls.
By this time, we were quite full and not sure if we wanted to eat anymore. However, I had remembered spying on the opposite side of the menu earlier the Bocadillos (sandwiches) on offer. Of all the options, it was the chorizo and garlic purée that caught my attention. We figured we could fit one more dish in and relayed our order over to the chef.
Topped with a chunk of pickled pepper (more please), the garlic puree was a nice hit against the spice of the chorizo. This made quite the tasty snack-sandwich. Something I would order frequently if I worked in the area. That and the plate of peppers would make a lovely lunch.
- Txori 2207 2nd Avenue, Seattle
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