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| - Now, the only thing more beautiful than the room is the King West crowd within it. Yes, like most popular dining establishment on the block, Patria caters to the 25-40 year-old-hot-professional demographic who have high expectations for svelte service. Well, Kudos to Khabouth for knowing his neighbourhood's demands, and how to deliver them well. The service at Patria is a true pleasure. Our server was energetic, professional, genuine and well versed in every little ingredient in every little dish. Other service staff members were equally as helpful throughout our night. For example, any time a manager, server or food runner would pass our table, they would refill our water glasses, inquire about our meals, engage in conversation and replenish plates and cutlery. There wasn't a single food runner in our line up of tapa-deliveries who didn't come to our table prepared with a thorough dish description and a huge excited smile on their face. Everyone was also aware of our Passover restriction, and whenever substitutions or omissions were made in a dish, they reinforced how the dish was made suitable.
The alcohol menu is fairly substantial and holistically appealing. With 10 cocktails on offer, the options are unique, yet still very approachable. I like that in addition to the ingredients, the Cocktail Director, Elan Marks, also lists the tasting notes of the drink. I mean doesn't reading something like: "playful Spanish coffee with subtle hints of cherry- wonderfully rich in flavour" get you too excited to dwell on the $14 price tag? Smart. While there are a number of local and international wine offerings, the focus here is on Spanish wines- many of which can be purchased as 3 oz, 5 oz, 375 ml portions so one need not commit to an entire bottle. In addition to a nice Spanish Sauvignon Blanc, and later, a dessert wine (the variety of which I now can't recall), we sampled the Red Sangria (Red Wine, Port, Sweet Vermouth, Spiced Poached Pear Reduction, Cloves, Orange Juice, Pear Nectar, $13), Amor Joven (Tanquerey Gin, Fresh Lemon, Simple syrup, Black Currant Cassis Jam, $13) and The Elyxer (Absolute Elyx Vodka, Lime, Sugar, $14). The Sangria was just okay, but a bit flat in overall flavour, particularly when tasted next to the other two drinks. The Amor was absolutely my style, deeply sweet with a perfect balance of bright citrus to balance it out. In contrast, the Elyxer was incredibly tart, almost shockingly so coming right after the Gin based drink, but after a few sips I was able to comfortably settle in. If you like your cocktails sour like I do, then this is the drink for you.
Developed by Executive Chef, Stuart Cameron (Weslodge, Stories, Kultura), and Pastry Chef, Anatasia Mucho, Patria's menu is divided into Small Plates, Cheese, Share Plates, Meat, Rice, Desserts, and Daily Specials. Although our Passover restrictions meant the paella and crusty sour dough bread were not in our cards, there were more than enough suitable selections to choose from the approximately 40 savoury items. Our server walked me through the best picks and substitutions, and recommended we start with approximately 3 savoury items per person. So with that in mind, between the two of us, we ended up trying:
Selecciones De EmButidos (Iberico Lomo, House Chorizo, Jamon Serrano, $14)
Okay so I know what you're thinking. How is THIS K4P? But, I eat pork every other day, and so Passover for me was no different. Not to mention, if we didn't eat pork OR shellfish OR chametz at Patria, well, I think we would leave pretty hungry. Spanish food is not Kosher food by any stretch of my bacon-loving imagination. Anyways, bread or no bread, this was a tasty first plate of the night. While I found myself searching for a bit more spice in the chorizo, any mild faults were made up for by the delicate texture and lusciously marbeled mouthfeel of the Iberico, and the firm and flavourful bite of the Serrano.
Datiles Con Tocino Iberico (Dates, Iberico Bacon, Manchego, Guindillas, $9)
These were essentially a Spanish version of Devils on Horseback- crispy bacon-wrapped sweet date stuffed with salty cheese, a bright tangy pickled pepper and bathed in a sweet reduction sauce. The flavours were so balanced, and so remarkably addictive, I could have just ordered a couple more platters for the night and left happy- by far, my favourite dish.
Pimientos Rellenos de Buey (Piquillo Peppers, Oxtail, Manchego, $12)
While certainly unable to top what came before, the oxtail meat was sweet and rich and was countered nicely by the delicate smokiness of the pepper and the salty hit of the manchego.
Viera Con Migas Y Espuma Manchego (Scallop, Chorizo Migas, Manchego, $15)
As requested, the kitchen was able to do this without the migas for us (breadcrumbs),.....
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