The Playground and "What Jeff Learned in Spain"

Tuesday, March 14, 2018

Another sold out dinner at the Playground 2.0 Room in Santa Ana. www.playgrounddtsa.com. Of course the 2.0 room only holds 18.  The Chef de Cuisine, Jeffery, from the Playground walk in restaurant was our chef tonight instead of the owner Jason Quinn. Jeffery had been in Spain recently and this dinner was what "he learned"..  There was not one dish that I did not like and a few I was overly surprised at.  We started out with a "Backwards Spanish Manhattan".  Delicious , I could drink a lot of these and then not be able to walk.

We had a bowl of Spiced Marcona Almonds and a bowl of Carmona Mixed Olives. Went well with the Manhattan. 

Then a plate of Pan De Cristal con Tomate.  Bread with a juicy tomato topping, grilled. Odd flavor, it would take getting used to but 1 ate a couple of pieces Then a bowl of  "Quesco picon stuffed Gordo olives. Cheese stuffed gigantic olives. Followed by a plate of cured Rib Eye that was so good. That could have been my entire meal. Extremely thin sliced rib eye. Wonderful flavor. Followed by some cured Spanish meats. Found out that they did source the cured meats (not the rib eye) from La Espanola in Harbor City. 5 minutes from where I work. I pop in occasionally and get a sandwich from the deli. La Espanola cures their meats and make there own sausages. They do a huge mail order business of true Spanish products.

There was a dish served that was not listed on the chefs list (which he gave me so I did not have to write everything down.  The list has "Tortilla Espnaol" but we were served small squares of something with an aioli and type of pole bean. So I have no idea what it was but I remember it was really good. We were served 17 courses in total. Looking up "tortilla espanol" does not show what we were ate.

One of the best dishes of the night was a sauteed chicken liver, sangria soaked  fruits and romesco sauce.  This dish was outstanding.  We also had battered and  fried artichoke hearts with a saffron aioli which I went overboard on and a Gamba al ajillo. Traditional Spanish dish, heads on shrimp with garlic. Extreme garlic.

A small cast iron skillet held "Peas in Carta Fata Paper and Ham Broth. Very small "mini"peas in a  paper bag with red peppers and  ham broth and cooked in the skillet. Loads of flavor.  Along with  grilled octopus (perfectly cooked) with Poncha beans and choricero.

A salad of arugula,  mojama, baby tomatoes and cava vinegar helped clean the palate.

Next was house made Butifarra (sausage) with Catalan spinach and pine nuts. Then a dish of Creamy Bomba Rice with mushrooms, mushroom puree and manchego. To die for.

Pulling up the end of the meal we had a cheese plate with Membrillo, Quesco Payayo, and Quesco Urgeli.

Dessert was a simple Orange curd with a red wine syrup and small slices of fresh orange on top.

Besides the cocktail at the beginning we were served a 2016 Talai Berri, Txakolina, A NV Raul Perez,  Atalier, Ria Baixas, 2016 Quim Batlle, Foranell, Picapoul, Alella,  2011 Raul Perez, Rara Avis, Albarin, Castilla Y Leon, 2015 Planetes de Nin, Pirot and a Bodegas Tradicion, Pedro Ximemez VOS 20 years, Jerez.  

Another great dinner at The Playgound.  Must go online and see what is coming up that I just have to do.