Primitivo

My favorite tapas restaurant west of the eastern seaboard is Primitivo in Venice, CA. The decor is a bit wacky--walls covered in Spanish oil paintings hung haphazardly, too high or too low, of contemporary looking women in front of antiquated Mediterranean backdrops (contextual misfits)--but an overall set design snafu I'm willing to look past considering how well they do on their food. Primitivo's seasonally changing menu breaks down to about 10 cold tapas and 20 hot tapas including shellfish, fish, red meat and white meat. Lots of choices bodes well for large groups and picky eaters. And not only that, their menu changes periodically which indicates creative, forward thinking chefs. They know what ingredients are best when, and make menu changes accordingly. I'd go as far as saying Primitivo outranks all of my favorite tapas haunts in New York City in terms of quality of food. Also important to mention is their stellar atmosphere: always busy, inviting and alive.

With Alex in town I decided this was as good a place as any to dine. We ordered bacon wrapped dates stuffed with chorizo, steamed mussels and chorizo in a white wine garlic sauce with herb seasoned frites, and Moroccan spiced lamb chops atop chickpeas and tzatziki sauce. The lamb chops were my favorite. They were charred on the outside, blushing pink medium rare on the inside, juicy, flavorful and best of all, hot when served. It was like eating ribs in that the last drip and sliver of meat was worth salvaging. The dates were very sweet, a little too sweet for me, and the stuffed chorizo was a substitution I can't say I favor to the almond. The mussels were an outstanding counterpart to the lamb. Medium in size, each shell containing savory broth, a slice of chorizo sausage, and garlic. I had to make a conscious effort to stop dipping so much bread into the leftover broth.

For wine, we tried a glass of Chianti Classico, a glass of Rioja Reserva and a glass of a Merlot/Cabernet blend from Oregon. The Oregon blend was the fruitiest/youngest and the Chianti the driest. I like the Rioja the best. Met somewhere in the middle. The wine list at Primitivo spans Italy, Spain, France and California. I'd like to know who, if many at all, order any French wine. Doesn't seem like an obvious pair for a Spanish tapas place.