Barlata

I watched Julie and Julia last night with my mom...per my suggestion, of course. To say the least it was boring and to be completely honest it was an utter waste of time--I give it a 5 yawns. I was disappointed. Despite what my friends were saying about the screen writing and despite ignoring critics' reviews, I was hopeful. So in the end, I guess it was my fault for subjecting both my mom (who fell asleep half way through) and I to the pain that is Julie & Julia.

The only three things I love about that movie:

1) Meryl Streep as Julia Child--amazing!

2) Julia Child's boeuf bourguignon--looking that up now, and try that soon

3) The white eyelet dress that "Julie" wears at her rooftop party when she serves her final dish from the cookbook--finding that dress pronto

On a brighter note, it did give me the kick in the butt I needed to blog this morning about the best tapas bar I've ever been to.

This is a tapas bar that I've been dying to tell you all about. It is in Oakland but you should know by now how I've come to adore the city...well, parts of it.

This is Barlata. For those of you who love yelping and view it as the Bible of restaurants...I'm telling you right now: don't trust the rating! Barlata is fantastic, and it's fantastic because they serve latas (carefully prepared canned seafood) just like we saw on, where else, No Reservations. Ok, that's not the ONLY reason this place is great. Every dish we've had there thus far has been an exciting burst of flavors and great pairings of textures. From the bread to the dessert to the glasses of wine (which turn out to be carafes of wine), Barlata rocks.

Olive spread with warm, soft bread

Pulpo

Octopus cooked for two hours with fingerling potatoes and adobo oil

This is my favorite Barlata dish to date. The octopus was incredibly tender, the potatoes absorbed all the wonderful seasonings, and hello! adobo oil. I don't think you can go wrong.

Morcilla

Blood sausage with baby white beans and aioli

I love the aioli, probably because it's tasted like garlic and kewpie! I don't know what they cook those beans in but I want that recipe!

Chorizo with garbanzo beans

The chorizo (as with the blood sausage) was amazing, but what really grabbed my attention were, again, the beans--so full of flavor!

Roasted pig's feet terrine with, green beans, mustard, and juice sauce (Yes! and juice sauce. That is verbatim from the Barlatta menu. I'll have a glass of that, thanks!)

This was a great way to end the meal! Spread this on their warm soft bread, o, so good! It's incredibly flavorful, especially with the sauce--I think I have a growing infatuation with terrines.