eLt A B U R e t e (CHEFS & SOMMELIERS ON WINE)

Chef Jose Garces. All photos courtesy of Garces Restaurant Group.

tinto is located at 114 South 20th St.,
Philidephia, PA 19103
Tel: 215-665-9150

Amada is located at 217-219 Chestnut St.,
Philidephlia, PA 19106
Tel: 215-625-2450

Village Whiskey is located at 118 South
20th St., Philadelphia, PA 19103
Tel: 215-665-1088

Distrito is located at 3945 Chestnut St.,
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Tel: 215-222-1657

TINTO & AMADA:

Bringing tapas and Pintxos to Philly
chifa is located at 707 Chestnut St.,
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: 215-925-5555

About the author: Brian Freedman is a food and wine writer, wine educator, and food and wine consultant. He is Director of Wine Education at The Wine School of Philadelphia, contributing writer for John Mariani's Virtual Gourmet, contributing editor and food and drinks writer for Philadelphia Style Magazine, restaurant writer for ICON Magazine, contributing writer for Where Magazine and the annual GuestBook, wine columnist for Affluent Magazine, contributing writer for Catersource Magazine, and WineChateau.com's resident blogger on www.UncorkLife. com.

By Brian Freedman

Before chef and restaurateur Jose Garces opened up Tinto in March of 2007, it’s fair to say that few Philadelphians had ever heard of pintxos. In the time since then, though, Tinto’s riffs on the small plates of the Basque region have become some of the hottest dishes in Philadelphia. That’s the power that Garces wields here. Regardless of concept, his restaurants are some of the most successful in a city with no shortage of great dining destinations. His first restaurant, Amada, introduced the city to traditional, Andalusia-influenced tapas. Subsequent projects include Distrito, which focuses on the traditional fare of Mexico City; Chifa, whose Peruvian-Cantonese adventurousness has won over this notoriously fickle city; and the brand new Village Whiskey, his first American concept.

Garces is a busy man these days, working with his restaurants, planning future projects, and even dealing with the publicity and responsibilities that have come from his victory on the Food Network’s “Next Iron Chef.” With all his travels and work, he didn’t have time to sit down for a face-to-face interview, but he did respond to the questions I put to him via email. I also spoke with Paul Rodriguez, beverage manager for Tinto and Village Whiskey, about his wine program.

Brian: You’ve done more to introduce
Philadelphians to spanish and Basque food
than anyone else in the region. Did you set out
to do so?

Jose: My focus with all of my restaurants has been serving a specific genre of food – usually Latin-influenced in some way – with the finest ingredients available and a deep attention to the details of preparation. When I think of how I’d like to go about creating a restaurant or a menu, I draw from many places: my family heritage, my culinary training, my experiences as a working chef and my imagination. I am honored to have been given the opportunity to introduce my guests to the cuisine of these regions.

Brian: What is it about tapas and pintxos that’s so appealing right now—the size of the portions, the number of flavors that people can experience during a meal, or something else entirely?

Jose: I’ve always thought most fondly of meals I’ve shared with friends in the literal sense, sampling and nibbling from each others’ plates and discovering the flavors and textures before us as a group, together. Small plates are advantageous because they afford people that amazing opportunity to share an entire meal, rather than just the time while they’re eating it. Each dish arrives at the table at the peak of its freshness, straight from the kitchen as soon as it’s prepared, rather than waiting for other, slower plates to be assembled and all coming out at once in a stodgy procession of impossibly large portions.