I had the opportunity to hang out with foodie and chef, Jerrome Abustan, and Anna, for dinner after a long day of being an Xtreme Lashes practice dummy (it was a favor for a friend and I got free lashes in the process). We found ourselves in the West Village and checked out Tertulia, a new restaurant that had just opened at the time, with Chef Seamus Mullen celebrating the taste of Spain in all his dishes. He is best known in New York for Boqueria, a tapas bar and restaurant first opened in the Flatiron in 2006 and then at a second location in Soho.
I loved how rustic the place looked, with worn out wood and barrels behind the bar and a huge fire grill at the back, where most of the food is cooked.
Jerrome did the ordering for us, I was just happily surprised with all the food that came out of the kitchen. We started the night off with their Tosta Matrimonio ($9) - black and white anchovies on top of slow-roasted tomato, sheep's milk cheese, aged balsamic, and Surtido De Embutidos ($15) - a selection of 3 types of cured meat.
The anchovies were a playful mix of slightly salty, tangy, and sweet and were devoured in two blinks. The cured meat we would just pop into out mouth like you normally would with tapas, or sandwiched it between slices of complimentary bread.
The Pulpo A Feira ($15) came out next. Grilled octopus on a plate with with potatoes, apple, olives, and Pinent d'Espelette was so good! Cooked perfectly, the octopus was tender with a bit of bite, with the apples giving the salad a nice crunch.
Jerrome also ordered Caballa Y Fabes ($12) - Spanish mackarel, faves beans, roasted and pickled peppers. I'm not a huge fan of fava beans, but I liked how it complemented the mackrel, with the peppers giving just the right amount of smokey flavor to the dish.
I especially liked the Chorizo Criollo ($19) - a mildly spicy, grilled pork sausage that was just amazing (they make this in-house, mind you), swimming in a shallow pool of chickpeas, carrots, onions, and smokey red bell peppers. I guess this was supposed to be some sort of a stew, but I likes mopping up the soup-y goodness with a piece of bread.
By now, Tertulia has garnered a lot of great reviews and is one of NYC's up-and-coming restaurants, perhaps even a contender to beat out Boqueria. I am looking forward to going back and eating here again soon. I just hope the wait list won't be too ridiculous.
Tertulia
359 6th Avenue
(corner of Washington Place)
New York, NY 10014
+1 (646) 559 9909
