The meat and seafood options are quite tasty, especially a couple of perfectly seared scallops ($10) on black sticky rice with a caper berry — which looks like an undersize, unripe cherry on the stem, but tastes like a caper. Spicy grilled prawns ($11) are lightly grilled, but they pick up smoke and heat from chipotle seasoning. The small-plate version of grilled lamb chops ($11/$22) is two baby chops with some buckshot-size Israeli couscous.
Picca previously worked in New Orleans, and he’s not afraid of hot pepper. But lobster étouffée ($11) is too spicy for the lobster meat. The rich sauce and impeccable puff-pastry shell are probably better suited for the more strongly flavored crawfish typically served with this dish. Three tiny asparagus and some micro greens round out another pretty little plate. The only item I really doubted was the chicken satay ($8). The dip was the right peanut sauce, but the two skewers of chicken weren’t marinated in the familiar galangal-turmeric mixture.
Paella ($24) also has a bit of New Orleans heat. The sausage is as hot as andouille and the dish is still somewhat soupy, like some jambalaya. It’s the right short-grain rice, but the saffron is sprinkled on top. The mussels and chicken are not overcooked, and snails are an interesting addition. “Two killer B’s” ($8) are those mini hamburgers we’ve been seeing a lot of lately. They are lovely little bits, with a lot of onion mixed in. We ordered medium-rare and got rare.
The wine list is important with this kind of grazing menu, and it’s off to a good, if modest, start. A glass of 2005 Luigi Bosca malbec ($7/glass; $28/bottle) was light, with an aroma of raspberries. It wasn’t the usual style of this Argentine red, but was quaffable with food. On a cold night, we enjoyed hot mulled cider ($2.25) — no alcohol but a yummy hit of cinnamon. The sangria ($5) here is not up to Iruña’s standard, but we’ll never be that young again, either. Rebujitos ($4) are mixtures of wine and soda. I preferred the white version, with a dash of orange flavor and a kumquat garnish. Tea ($1.50), alas, is a bag in a cup of hot water. Decaf espresso ($2.95) was decent.
Desserts are all $7, not huge, but generally well done. Ginger-peach bread pudding is always pretty solid, but this one has more peach than ginger. “π a la mood” is a 3.1415-inch circle of strawberry and blueberry shortcake with a lid, the way it was in the 1920s. Jasmine-rice pudding I found to be a little chewy — you have to cook the rice before you add the sugar, chef. It’s served with a shot of hot chocolate. The menu says Aztec, so be warned that means chocolate with hot pepper in it, as the Aztecs drank it. The only weak spot was a pear frangipane tart that was flat, elegant, and not very flavorful.
Service, like the food, is light and lively. There’s no reason this fun restaurant can’t recapture the long bohemian moment of Iruña.
Robert Nadeau can be reached at RobtNadeau@aol.com.
