Tascas, for those who have not familiar with the dining and social habits of the Spanish, are those small bars found everywhere in Spain that serve as gathering places for people who come for meetings with friends and strangers, perhaps to get just a little bit drunk, but above all to feast on the treats known as tapas. A tapa may be as simple as a paper thin slice of warmed chorizo sausage or a few titbits of cheese, olives and almonds. On the other hand, a tapa may be an elegant composition of meat, fish, seafood or vegetarian delicacies which are inspired culinary treats. Whatever they are, however, every tapa one tastes will have a uniquely Spanish flavor. Tascas, or as they are referred to by most non-Spaniards, "tapas bars" have become one of the latest culinary fads in the United States.

In addition to whatever wines and other alcoholic beverages they offer, most tascas in Spain serve nothing but tapas. Some may add a hot soup of snails or shrimps to the menu during the winter or a cold gazpacho during the summer months, but no true tasca would dream of offering anything even resembling a main course, the pleasure of diners being to take a place at the crowded bar or at one of the invariably miniscule tables, there to sample many of the different flavors of the numerous mini-offerings that are listed on the menu. Some of these bars have as many as ninety different offerings at any given moment. In Israel, with the exception of Ali Grossman's "Tapeo", all of the other restaurants offering tapas also offer a wide variety of main courses and so it is as well at Carmen.

Ali Oli ***
Rehov Brenner 2, Tel Aviv. Tel: (03) 528-1378

Maintaining loyalty to the principle of the best Spanish tascas, Chef Antonio Mensa's restaurant is a place so casual and easy-going that people come here to meet friends or strangers, to carry on flirtations, to get just a bit drunk and, above all to dine on the marvelous tapas (appetizers) and other Spanish dishes that are offered. His is also the restaurant at which other Tel Aviv chefs gather late at night after they have closed their own establishments. One can have a traditional meal of first course, main course and dessert, but consider building a meal entirely out of the tapas, which are the specialties of the house. You will not fall no matter whatever you try here, but among my own favorites are the grilled shrimps and crabs (both of which demonstrate the chef's passion for freshness), the platter of mixed vegetable appetizers, the garlicky salamis and sausages, the red mullet fillets pickled lightly in balsamic vinegar, orange juice and garlic, and the fried young baccala (cod). On my most recent visit I sampled (and was delighted by) several new dishes - gravlax with creamed cheese, pickled mussels with arugula, sardines with paprika and onions, shrimp salad with vegetables and herbs. There is an excellent selection of Spanish, Italian and local wines, many at reasonable prices. Prices are moderate to high. Open Monday - Saturday 12:00 - 02:00 or later. Reservations recommended. One of the ten best casual restaurants in the country.

Tahal**
30 Nachalat Binyamin, Tel Aviv. Tel (03) 516-8410

As much a hangout as it is a restaurant but a fun place to come for either a light or a full meal based largely on Spanish tapas. Among the very best openers (or accompaniments to the drink of your choice) are the calamari on a concentrated tomato sauce with steamed onions, herbed shrimps on risotto with celery, and deep fried red mullets on lightly grilled peeled peppers on a green herb sauce.
A very good bet as a main course are the coquilles St. Jacques served in the style of Galicia - with a ratatouille-like mixture of root vegetables, sprinkled over with breadcrumbs and finished under the grill

The restaurant is very aesthetically appealing in a laid-back Spanish way, the service is friendly and responsive and the country style food is well worth trying. Definitely a good place to return to from time to time. Open daily 11:00 - 02:00. Moderate prices.

Tapeo ***
16 Ha'Arba'a Street, Tel Aviv. Tel (03) 624-0484

This is restaurateur Ali Grossman's first venture into an establishment where Japanese cuisine is not at the forefront. No problem though, for once again Grossman proves himself a master at knowing how to combine flavors, service and atmosphere in ways that come together in ways that are bound to please.
With polished wood floors, a long horse-shoe shaped bar, tables spread around the walls of the restaurant, and dominant colors of orange and brown, the intentionally bare largely walls that add nicely to an air of spaciousness. Two round columns decorated in quasi-abstract patterns with small bits of broken tile are an obvious bow to Gaudi, but the overall ambiance is clearly one of a modern Madrid tapas bar, the kind into which you can wander for to snack on one or two tapas with either a beer, a glass of wine or a cocktail or to settle in for long hours of eating one small portion after another and doing some serious socializing and drinking.

The chef here is Avivit Priel, who first delighted us at Herzliya Pituach's "Taverna on the Beach" and later at Tel Aviv's Winona. Hers are offerings of many tapas, small courses from which one can either munch at leisure or build a full meal. Consider opening with an Oyster Shooter, that cocktail in which a
whole oyster is put in a shot glass containing a Bloody Mary cocktail. After that go on to a feast of tapas, ceviches, pane and pinchos, among the best of which are the ceviches of croaker with slices of grilled eggplant in a lemony yoghurt sauce or that of paper thin slices of coquilles St. Jacques. Go on to fatty chorizo sausages, yet another of beef empenadas. Don't forget the coca, a well made foccaccia like bread crouton served with olive oil, coarse salt and fresh herbs, and for dessert the rich crème Catalan or the churros, those just crisp enough fried sugar coated pastries that Spaniards so adore. Depending on your choices the bill will be either moderate or dear, but you will have no complaints for the value for money here is exceptional. Open daily 19:00 - 02:00. Reservations strongly suggested.

Carmen *
4 Arieh Shenkar St., Herziliya Pituach. (09) 956-7799

Although this is a self-declared tapas bar, the atmosphere of this large restaurant with its high ceilings, huge glass windows, brick walls and a several wine barrels on one wall does little to call to mind the ambiance of Madrid or Barcelona, and the Cachaca based cocktail that is offered as one peruses the menu calls to mind Portugal more than it did Spain. Although more Mexican-Caribbean in style, many of the tapas offered are quite good. Among the best are those of freshly pickled sardines, fresh anchovies wrapped about Camembert cheese, shrimps that are brushed with a sauce containing balsamic vinegar and of squid with tomatoes both of which are been grilled and are rewarding as are slivers of red pepper that had been filled with lightly piquant crabmeat. Not quite a tapas, but worth trying is the sizzling hot platter of large mushrooms served on intentionally wilted lettuce with a good, just peppery enough cream sauce. As of my last visit the paella was not all that it should be and the desserts a bit too commercial. Best for a meal of tapas with cocktails or beer. Open daily 12:00 - 03:00.

© Daniel Rogov