Soccarat Serendipity Aug 22 2013

I was killing the hours between dropping off wine to chill and working a party on 14th street so I visited my urbanite mom and we strolled around 19th street at about lunch time and passed a small paella bar called Soccarat. I’d heard good things about it from my wine reps so we dove in for a little midday snack. We called my brother who has a real job to join us so we ordered him paella for one and mom and I amused ourselves with wine and great tapas while we waited for my brother and his paella. Mom had a nice Cava, I went with a Garnacha rose that would go with everything, the garlic shrimp, croquettes, jamon Serrano, grilled calamari… The paellas vary whether you want seafood or land based critter but they all have that crusty rice which is where the name Soccarat comes from. Soccarat is the crust that the rice forms on the pan which some say is the best part. I hit the sherry list and had to try the Palo Cortado which you can consider a confused sherry or a cellarmaster’s select sherry. It is a bit of a hybridized fino-amontillado-oloroso.  I had the Marques de Rodil which is from a house in Jerez which was recommended over a palo cortado from San Lucar de Barrameda. I was told the difference is that San Lucar is right on the ocean and the sherries have more brininess and tang, while the Palo Cortado from Jerez has less of that and a slightly softer rounder feel that I prefered. The Sherry was great with the Jamon and the paella. I just noticed that there are several branches of Soccarat paella bars throughout Manhattan so check it out some time. I have to say we don’t actually carry the Marques de Rodil but have an excellent Palo Cortado from Valdespino. For more info on the restaurant  go to http://socarratrestaurants.com/