Sí Tapas is a new addition to some of the finest restaurants in Richmond. I decided to kidnap my friend Brandon to try a new place in the city (he’s always up for new things). Located in the fan on Lombardy Street is a new, tiny, almost hidden fantastic restaurant that every young, chic Richmonder must try. The Spanish wooden doors stand out to the passerbyer on the street and screams to be opened to find out what tasty treats lie inside. You can smell the steamed seafood and freshly cooked vegetables all the way down the block. The small foyer is filled with low lights and mirrors and as you open the second door you are instantly surrounded by candles all over the walls with mirrors reflecting the light flicker they emit. The light colored wooden benches have detailed stitched pillows on every seat and the décor on the walls resembles a Spanish villa in Barcelona. There is a long over-sized wooden table in the middle that is perfect fora huge party and many bottles of wine. Located next to them is their floor to ceiling wine rack. There are tiny coves for romantic getaways and personal touches of Spanish detail coming from the curtains, the colors, even the patterned table tops. If you retreat upstairs you will be captivated by their lounge area complete with over-sized stuffed black leather couches, sometimes reserved for special parties. A large full bar takes over the other side of the room with another party size table sitting along the bright wall.
The cool atmosphere is complemented by the immaculate exotic flavored food and wine we were served. Tapas are small portions so you must order a lot of one thing or a lot of different things if you come extremely hungry, which I did. The prices were moderate, but if you come ready to eat, prepare your bank account. We started off by tasting some of the Spanish and Italian wines and decided on a bottle of Tempranillo to begin the night.
I will list what we ordered from "loved it” to "oh-my-God this is what heaven tastes like”. Brandon ordered Gazpacho which is served cold and bright yellow. It was lovely; served in a large bowl with extra-large spoons (which I always love). I ordered a salad because of the dressing it came with. Avocado lime-vinaigrette. Scrumptious.
The next thing on our long list of edibles were the sea scallops. They were unreal.
Huge thick, sautéed to perfection dipped in a semi-spicy sauce; these scallops were an instant favorite. We devoured each of themin one quick motion before we could even take another sip of red wine.
The next dish I will have to stay calm for. It was the rockfish. The rockfish was cooked so delicately, so freshly and with so much care that it was hard to take a bite without closing my eyes. It lay on top of a bed of corn that was tossed in a sauce that literally brought tears to my eyes. I ran to the kitchen and literally begged for the recipe. When the dish was done, Brandon and I looked at each other almost wondering if we should order another. We opted to try something else and went for the cheese fonduta. All I will say about this dish is that I was scrapping the bottom of the bowl with my face when we were done with it.
We were disappointed when we didn’t see any dessert until our waitress brought over the menu. I decided the reason why they put the dessert on a separate menu is because it is too good and they don’t want to make the other foods jealous. Brandon ordered custard which had a crisp caramelized cover that was so sweet it made my lips purse. I ordered the chocolate cake and ice-cream which was so pretty when it came out, I didn’t even want to eat it. When I took my first bite I thought that God was serving me my first meal in my room in heaven. It had a light as clouds ice-cream scoop on top of chocolate crumbles next to a piece of Venezuelan molten cake. Together, it was the definition of flawless.
The wait staff was quick and efficient. Sometimes the cooks would even come out and serve our food to tell us what was in it and how it was cooked which I thought was a nice personal touch. The manager was always around and everyone did everything they could to make us happy. They take reservations which are fantastic and if it's payday I would suggest taking all of your friends out for a night here, because it’s a fun, trendy, very classic restaurant that is a great asset to the Richmond scene.
Oh, one other thing. The bathroom was so beautiful that I contemplated on eating my dessert in it. Seriously.
Jellyfish. I’m not sure when or where the paranoia began, but since I can remember jellyfish have been on my “biggest fear” list, always sitting in the number 1 spot. I am so terrified of jells (as they are commonly called by my entourage of childhood friends) that even while lounging on the deck of a boat and peering over to see a mound of red blooded jelly floating next to the huge protective boat will send me into panic mode that will only cease once safe on dry land. In the ocean you will not see me frantically making sure sharks are not biting my ankles, but instead I will be scanning the ocean and waves on top of someone’s back to make sure that the jellies are no where to be scene. Even walking along the beach, I have my keen eye locating all of the washed up (still stingable) jells waiting to penetrate their next victim.
Here’s the real kicker about my biggest fear: I have never been stung. Now, I have come so close to being tingled by their tentacles and brushed upon while I was casually sunbathing in the water, but not once have I felt the mark that the fish can leave. On numerous occasions and on one trip in particular to the river I have come close to drowning a friend, literally killing someone, in order to protect my precious skin from being wrapped around by the two foot long tentacles. My dear friend had his entire face and stomach slaughtered by the sting of the fish, but I sat on the jet ski gasping for breath as I almost had to be rushed to the hospital due to a panic attack while he was in the river being swallowing by a man-of-war. Now THAT is what you call a true friendship, (thanks Connor).
So for no good reason I am petrified of gelatin substances that float mindlessly through water secretly knowing who to sting and for how long (even though experts will disagree). Since jellyfish are apparently taking over the water (and soon the world) I can only warn beach and river goers to WATCH OUT for the jells that seem to be growing in size and number, flourishing in warm, polluted waters, and are coming after you. Jaws, eat your heart out.
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