[On a personal level, Chef Garces is fond of beginning a meal with Spanish charcuterie and cheese – jamon Iberico and queso Lenora in particular – and then moving onto richer items like Tinto’s pork belly montadito, a succulent, thoroughly addictive canapé of honey-lacquered Berkshire pork belly with shaved apples.]

Brian: Before tinto opened, most
Philadelphians had likely never even heard
of the Basque region. Were you ever con-
cerned about selling the city on its food?

Jose: The cuisine at Amada, my first restaurant, is representative of all of Spain, but it's primarily Andalusian, or southern, in nature. Tinto's is Basque, and the cuisines are similar, but the French influence is more pronounced. Both restaurants are tapas-style, meaning that they serve small plates that are meant to be shared, and both are still really Spanish restaurants, even though they draw their inspirations from different regions of that country. The menu at Amada was so well received, and I was hopeful that Tinto’s Basque menu would be as well.

Brian: I know that you strive for authenticity
at your restaurants, but what unique Jose
Garces touches have you brought to the tra-
ditional “pintxos y vino” experience?

Jose: My focus is on showcasing the Basque region by creating great dishes that represent the area. Then we add a thoughtfully selected wine list. For example, we have a selection of sparkling Cava and ciders on Tinto’s list.

 

Brian: Does the wine-friendliness of a dish play any role in your creation of new recipes, or do you focus exclusively on the food and let Paul worry about finding the right pairing partner?

Jose: I would like to think that just about any dish can be ‘wine-friendly’ if you can find the right pairing, and that’s where Paul and I work as a team. He brings a sensitive palate and a tremendous depth of knowledge to our wine list, and painstakingly selects offerings that complement the food – even the dishes that feature unusual flavor pairings, such as our green beans with almonds, dates, orange segments and paprika-sherry vinaigrette. That’s a lot of sweet and savory playing off each other, but when you try the dish alongside one of Paul’s crisp whites, the tart acidity of the wine only highlights subtle flavors that you would never otherwise have noticed in the dish.

Brian: Paul, do you have any specific pair-
ing philosophy that you apply to pintxos in
general and, more specifically, to the dishes
that are served at tinto?

Paul: First and foremost, the dishes that are very indicative of the Basque region, the ones that are less interpretations and more classics from the region, I always tell the staff to go with regional pairings. Regarding the green bean preparation that Jose mentioned, that would go with Txakoli, that would be our classic. Because you have the fat of the bean, the fat of the almond – the acidity in Txakoli is perfect for riding alongside that. They both work together.

 

As you progress through the menu, the food gets heavier. We tend to make tapas that can be a little richer than one might find in the Basque region. That’s when we progress through the different styles and bodies of wine, so to speak, Rioja being on the lighter, more perfumed and acidic side, and then moving our way to the northeast with the full-bodied reds of Priorat and Montsant.

Brian: As the beverage manager, do small
plates make your job easier or more dif-
ficult in terms of all the pairing possibilities
throughout the meal?

Paul: It kind of depends on how the guest wants to experience things. It can be more difficult because you’re jumping around from flavor profiles, and that always is a challenge with wine because you can have a miss. But I think that both Amada and Tinto lean more toward the rich and savory, so you’re in a good spot if somebody takes a bottle of wine that has a lot of body and tannin. The food is going to continually meet that wine. Honestly, though, my philosophy on pairing is that it’s so far from an exact science—there are things you don’t do—but there are so many ways you can go around the classic ideas on pairing.

Brian: then what are the regions or grape
varieties that you see becoming more
popular, or at least becoming more widely
accepted by your guests?

Paul: Galician wines, and particularly Galician reds. And when I say that, I mean Mencía from Bierzo, Mencía from Ribeira Sacra – those are wines that our customers, once introduced to them, are gravitating towards and finding things that they like about them. They’re very character-rich, they’re darker, deeper, deeper-flavored, deeper-colored. They’re bigger-bodied wines. With wine trends, everyone goes for the big wines, and those wines from those two regions definitely offer that.

Brian: so do you think that you have a
little more leeway with pairings because
so many consumers may not be all that
familiar with Basque or spanish wines?

Paul: Exactly. That’s probably the best thing we’ve got going for us: They’re unfamiliar, so they’re willing to kind of take a chance.