Richmond's (VA) ADARRA is awesome for terrific tapas (11-14-20)

 Our second night in Richmond had us going just about 3 minutes up the street to Adarra, which is a husband and wife team run place that opened not quite 2 years ago and has managed to maintain themselves through the pandemic despite the small indoor and outdoor spaces they have. Again exposed brick reigns with some wonderful oil paintings all over the room which has a beautifully constructed bar with 7 chairs (that are now not used) and only 4 tables in the room. Jas, the Bar manager explained the menu and we settled on some of the yummy cocktails he created: Will had the GLHF(Good Luck Have Fun) made with reposado tequila, blanco vermouth and fino, while had the Singh's Cheeky Sing Sling here made with nigori sake instead of gin which is more to my taste anyway(photos on FB).

I think the biggest and only problem here is that the menu lists 4 wines by the glass, so we assumed there were no bottles or wine list. We asked Jas and he said there were tons (Lyne the owner later said over 50), but no wine list. I wish they had a downloadable PDF for them like the menu. We let Jas & Lyne choose and had two wonderful reds that we would probably never find anywhere else as the list is beyond eclectic! First was a Julien Pineau "Les Saucettes a L'Aunis" from the Loire and made of the Pineau d'Aunis grape varietal which I have never heard of. It had an odd quasi-effervescence on the tongue that was not bubbly, but oddly sizzly and totally undescribable!

We ordered 4 dishes to share for starers with the Jamon Iberico Mangalica starring as it was cut in view of us, but on the other side of the room and had just enough fat, but not too much with a super salty taste on the roof of the mouth. Smoked Beets(no photo on FB sorry) was a divine preparation served hot with butter, honey & lemon. The Anchovies were nice and had a salad on top of shaved fennel & chiles. The Roasted Octopus was another big winner with the crispiest of tentacles and a yummy harissa over the fish with potatoes and scallions.

We moved on to a Jose Pastor "Albahra" 2019 from Envinate made of Grenache & Moravia which was a yummy red that worked brilliantly with our "main" dishes. I say "Main" as the menu is set up in a way that these dishes are all varying sizes and mean to be shared in no particular order. We started with the yummiest of Navajas al Natural or Razor Clams in brine with smoked butter, scallions and served with sliced baguette. Razor clams are so rare these days in the states, but here they are listed under the "Conserva" meaning they are purchased tinned and hence can be kept in the restaurant for some time without fear of spoiling; almost a necessity these days to allow variety.

Our largest dish was a "paella" style Guiso Gallego(a Galician stew)made with Shenandoah Lamb shoulder, Spanish short grain rice, mushrooms, peppers, onions, celery root and herbs. It was so satisfying on a chilly night and the flavors were spectacular. A bit more of the excellent lamb shoulder would have been welcome.

We saw cheese on the menu when we arrived and planned ahead for that as our dessert with the last of the wine. Three Spanish cheeses are on the plate and all were excellent: San Simon is a Galicia soft cow that is very smoky and pliable if-you-please. The soft Cana de Cabra goat is from Murcia and was as good as goat gets, but the winner is always the brilliant blue Valdeon from Leon.

We chatted with the team for a while (we were distanced at our table and they were behind the bar) and Chef/Owner Randall Doetzer saying what a fine selection and variety of food and drink they offer before we headed back to our hotel to continue onto the Virginia countryside today for our last night away before returning home.