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Is Boston tapas'ed out?
By adamg on Wed, 09/10/2014 - 5:57pm
There were roughly a gazillion hearings before the Boston Licensing Board today and roughly a gazillion minus two of those were from people who plan to serve tapas, a.k.a. small plates, a.k.a. community plates. Wha?
Are tapas the new cupcakes or the new froyo, only even more expensive? What is going on here?
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Comments
Some answers via Twitter
Tapas is to dinner what
Tapas is to dinner what Twitter is to journalism.
The canary in the coal mine
The canary in the coal mine that the quality of something has reached an alarmingly low point?
Tapas are overpriced microwave snacks.
Let their fad be shorter lived than the cupcake's.
cupcake hater
cupcake hater
I just want a full plate of
I just want a full plate of food for myself, especially with the kind of prices tapas restaurants often charge.
"Tapas"
That's Spanish for "Go home hungry and broke."
I love a good paella, but seriously, fuck tapas with a six-dollar olive.
That's for the government to decide
There ought to be some sort of board or agency, whose job it is to determine how many tapas restaurants any given neighborhood needs, and with the authority to order people to open or close tapas restaurants accordingly.
Yes, that's perfect
That way, if another tapas restaurant wants to open up, but we already have enough tapas, they will have to pay an existing restaurant several hundred thousand dollars to buy their tapas license.
tapas suck...i want more food
tapas suck...i want more food
I like small plates.
I dine out a lot, and I often get bored about four or five bites into my entree's giant slab o' meat plus piles of starch and veg. Some people equate giant portions sizes with value; I don't. I want to clean my plates and not take a doggie bag home, for a lot of reasons.
I'd argue in small plates' favor that there's more variety and flexibility in how you put your meal together, the sociability of sharing, the ability to get a broader sample of the chef's talent and skill, and the sense of being left wanting more instead of having too much of one thing. It's easy to order another small plate if it's awesome; you can't send half your steak back for credit if the first half was enough.
The good news for the small-plates haters is that most restaurants still hew to the 20th-century model. If you don't like small plates, vote with your feet: you have plenty of conventional three-course alternatives. But there's a growing segment of the dining populace that mostly doesn't want to eat that way anymore.
and that comment was brought
and that comment was brought to you by a completely disinterested third party
uh-huh
Who do you think I am: Dave Andelman?
I am a completely disinterested third party, in the sense that I do not sell my opinions about the restaurant and bar scene in Boston to industry advertisers, unlike those Phantom Gourmet prostitutes. I've been reviewing restaurants and writing food/drinks features for local publications for nine years. (I'm currently at The Improper Bostonian.) The small plates "trend", which is more like a tectonic shift that has been going on for at least a dozen years, is something about which I've written extensively.
Agreed
If you want to try something new or don't want to get trapped ordering a lot of something that want to "give another shot" at a particular restaurant, the small plates are also a solution.
Also, US portion sizes are out of control. If eating only 2-3 small plates keeps your meal in check via your budget, maybe that's a good thing too. I've found it is for myself.
Social Aspect to Small Plates
If you are in a sizeable group, small plates are an excellent way to get a broad variety of food going without excluding anyone, such as people with allergies, vegetarians, etc. You can also order more of the things that are popular at your table if you run out, without breaking the bank.
I went out with over a dozen people at a conference a couple years back, and we ate and drank quite a bit, and sampled a goodly number of local dishes, but the total per person was about 12 euro including cava, wine and beer.
Those are all, to varying
Those are all, to varying degrees, valid observations on the concept of so-called "small plates". Down here on the ground, where we deal with the execution, it is unfortunately all too often just another pretentious and expensive fad that we're supposed to follow in order to be admitted to the cool kid club. That's just how things tend to go -- something has some intrinsic value, so people like it, so it becomes A Thing, so the leeches attack and find ways to inflate the price and cheapen the experience. I speak as someone who has had some great tapas experiences, but this was years back, when pretty much anybody claiming "tapas" was doing a really good job with it. Now, because "tapas" and "small plates" are perceived as sellers, those who want to take advantage of the name's cachet far outnumber those who can really deliver the goods. The validity of a concept is of no interest to someone who's trying to get something decent to eat, as opposed to someone who has the leisure and interest to look at it on a meta-level.
Economics and logistics
As I understand it, serving "small plates" is good for restaurants in terms of logisitcs (food for even a large party can go out a few plates at a time, instead of all at once) and good for food costs, and there is less food coming back to the kitchen to be thrown out.
It can also make it simpler to cater to the wise range of allergies and food restrictions, by letting people mix and match what they want, rather than making special orders.
The new cupcake
A fad, which will probably fade out, like most fads do.
Personally, they are much ado about nothing. I understand the idea of huge portions of food not being appealing for many folks who dine out, but the idea of paying say $50 and up for 4-5 small plates of small food which, if shared, are really not a meal for most humans (more like a snack) sort of silly.
Going to a restaurant with friends is a social act in itself, whether you eat tapas not. I am not sure how tapas are supposed to engage your group more in socialness by the sharing of the small plates.
Silliness in spades, methinks.
If you yokels knew the first
If you yokels knew the first thing about eating out youd know meatballs are thr new cupcakes (at least in true 'world class cities').
Small plates have been here long begore the cupcake fad. And tapas is a specific kind of small plate. So please have a basic knowledge of the concept before commenting.
Calm your dander, everyone.
Calm your dander, everyone. If you don't want small plates, there are still plenty of Olive Gardens and Golden Corrals for you to induce diabetic shock at.
Oh, anon
there is no dander flying 'round here, so cool your jets. Folks just have a difference of opinion, that is all.
Aw, it so cute that you assume those that don't eat trends eat at the Olive Garden. And what a charmer you are, also.
It's pretty freakin adorable
It's pretty freakin adorable that you think "eating trends" is a thing.
When you get a sense of humor...
let me know.
People who despise trying new
People who despise trying new things should move out of the city and into the condos at the Natick Collection. Plenty of sameness and chains there!
Where's my Claim Jumper?
I'm holding out for a Claim Jumper!
Oh...
...IF ONLY.
How can anyone say this is a
How can anyone say this is a fad? Tapas in the city has been a thing since the late 90s.
I think it's great. We have too many fat slobs and small options are a lot better. I barely can stand a full meal to begin with and more small options is great.
Do people that hate on this also hate on dim sum? Same damn thing.
Totally agree
No problem with smaller servings if reasonably priced (only if over-priced). I thought of dim sun as well.
When I've gone to Al Wadi in West Roxbury, I've treated it mainly as as a "tapas" place (only they call their interesting small plates "mezza").
Um, late 80s
When Dali opened.
Ok, how about "a trend" then?
And, hey, if it is ok for you, good for you! Some folks are not into trends and some are.
(Actually, I like dim sum 'cause it is less pretentious and you tend to get more food, in my opinion, on your small plate. And it is less money, in general.)
Not sure why you think tapas will be the savior of the "fat slobs" of the world, though.
What a charmer you are!
1) Portion control does help
1) Portion control does help fats become not fats
2) how is a meal "pretentious?"
3) a type of cuisine is a "trend?" whaaaaaaat?
In answer to your questions
#1: Thank you very much, Ms. or Mr. Judgemental
#2: See tapas
#3: http://www.fsrmagazine.com/food-beverage/small-plates-are-big-business
and see if you can find the word, wait for it, "t r e n d"
dim sum is okay yet tapas isn't, acc. to anonymous critic
Oh no, I can't like tapas because someone online thinks it's trendy and pretentious. Wahh...!!! I want my Dunkin Donuts so no one will think I'm a a snob!! Maybe you should explain to the Spaniards that ALMIGHTY YOU consider THEIR cuisine pretentious. Andelman Brothers are calling, quick lemming, run on over to Fuddruckers for your all-you-can-eat heart attack deep fried pizza burger with deep fried twinkies!
Oh, relax.
It is not the tapas in general but the trend that I say "meh" too.
And please stop shouting, really, this is not a big deal. Not everyone has to agree with each other.
nattering nabobs...
I don't understand why all the angst with tapas either. Who cares? There are plenty of restaurant options in the greater Boston area. So what if it's a trend or not a trend? Trends make life interesting. I don't particularly care for tapas either, but if a group of friends love it then I go with it and enjoy myself. There are bigger things in life to worry about, so please calm down.
Again, who is upset?
I think you are over reacting. If you want to eat what are basically appetizers on various small plates, by all means, go for it. If you want a nice time out with friend snacking on some little pieces of food, be my guest!
Anything can be made into a fad
Just because a style of cooking has an authentic history, doesn't mean it can't be made into a fad. Cupcakes weren't something that someone invented to be chi-chi, after all.
Old tapas versus new tapas
The few times I have visited Dali in Somerville I left pleasantly full as though I had enjoyed a rare feast of beautifully prepared and delicious food. The cost was reasonable for the quality and satisfaction (small can still satisfy). If all tapas was as Dali serves than I'd say the more the better.
But I recently went to a restaurant in JP that uses the word tapas. Boring and overpriced for what they served.
This opinion piece, from 2011, says it the best...
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/27/opinion/sunday/small-plates-downsized....
"How did we do? Have we made some choices? Excellent. The octopus is a great choice, a great choice. The Fennel Pollen: also great. Just so you know, though, that one is especially small: a member of our waitstaff will come and spray .00005 milligrams of fennel pollen into the air, and then encourage you to walk into its cloud while a light breeze from an overhead fan blows the cloud toward the back of the restaurant in the direction of the parking lot. It’s my second favorite thing on the menu."