Taberna reigns in Spanish essentials

The only element of Taberna del Alabardero to remind you it isn’t in Spain is the lack of a dark-haired woman in a red-tiered dress swirling between the tables. There are lace antimacassars on chairs in the front room and richly patterned carpeting on the floor. Walls are painted the color of Rioja wine. The sound system hums softly yet passionately with an acoustic guitar.

Nor is executive chef Santi Zabaleta a different kettle of pescado, despite being of a generation in which chefs lean toward “contemporary” and “fusion” in their kitchens. “We respect the roots of Spanish cooking,” says the young chef.

The government in Madrid has dubbed Taberna, which opened in 1989, “the best Spanish restaurant outside Spain.” Newer Washington diners seduced by foams and towers of ingredients would do well to cultivate an interest in Zabaleta’s food. It’s real. And it’s as close as you can get — without leaving Washington — to eating in Spain, partly because so many of his ingredients come straight from there.

Zabaleta respects the food he sources from the States, like seasonal vegetables, which he gets locally, and lobsters from Maine. But there is not a great deal more in local supply to impress him. “We source as much as we can from Spain. Some things just don’t have flavor any more. Chicken here doesn’t even taste like chicken.” What’s more, he flies in fish from overseas — “a lot of fish: Dover sole, sardines, anchovies,
octopus. Fish from Mediterranean waters have a different flavor.”

When it comes to tomatoes available in the United States, he disparages all but the heirloom varieties he gets from local farmers. “Tomatoes cut in half look beautiful. But they’re not sweet. Sometimes to make a dish you don’t need too many components. You don’t need to do anything with a perfectly ripe tomato. Seasoned accurately, it doesn’t need to be mixed with other flavors. A tomato is a tomato. Seasoned, it has a
very rich iodine taste.”

A whole haunch of Spanish jamón Serrano, which many gourmands believe superior to Italy’s Parma ham, sits on the side near the bar. And loyal to his roots, Zabaleta serves only Spanish cheeses.

Spanish cooking is not for those who believe that to eat is to push leaves of Caesar salad around their plates. It fills the mouth with flavor. Think paprika, saffron, garlic, peppers and concentrated stocks made from fish heads and bones, or from whole chicken carcasses.

No surprise, then, that so much of his regular client base is international. “We have a lot of people from the
World Bank, from embassies.” And once upon a timeQueen Sofia. The restaurant also has served Mick Jagger, Placido Domingo, Vice President Al Gore, Robert DeNiro and Robert Duvall.      

The Taberna may serve people in the limelight, but Zabaleta prefers greater obscurity. He lives in the Virginia countryside. Where? He waves an arm vaguely in a southerly direction. “At least I can get away from the city. I’m not a city person.”      

He goes hunting in season for turkey and venison, when he can spare the time. He makes his own blood sausage and his own chorizo at the restaurant, though not from his own kills. In summer he plays golf; in winter he skis. But wherever his house is, it’s not the perfect location. “Ideally, I’d like to live on a farm in the middle of nowhere
two hours away.”      

He was born in the Philippines, where his Spanish family had business interests, and he grew up there and in America. Summers were spent visiting his grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins in Spain.      

“I have a family very richly involved in food,” says Zabaleta, who is single. “My father is an agriculturist and I think the earth also has a lot to do with your diet. My parents are from a small town in northern Spain, a quintessential fishing village. People there are more in touch with food. They know about pesticides. We ate the full Mediterranean
diet. We grew up around food as a way of life on a daily basis, always attentive to what you are eating.”

His grandfather had a bakery. “There was a beautiful aroma when you walked into it.  There were brick ovens!” During high school holidays he trained with a Swiss-German chef who had a sausage factory that made charcuterie. “He taught me the basics. ... Aged about 18, I had to formalize my education. That’s when I went to New York and the Culinary Institute of America.” 

After that came a stint in London at the venerable Connaught hotel before he returned to New York and then moved to Washington. He spent two years at the Taberna del Alabardero before deciding to go back to Spain “for good. That lasted a year.” Zabaleta lets loose a quick chuckle. A former Taberna chef left, opening up the job for him. So
back to Washington he came. He’s been running the show at Taberna del Alabardero for four years now, producing classical dishes, sometimes with a contemporary twist, from all the corners of Spain. But if you insist on a dark-haired dancer in a red-tiered dress with your pick of the menu, you’ll just have to wait for one of the restaurant’s flamenco
festivals.

Taberna del Alabardero (202-429-2200; http://www.alabardero.com) is located at
1776 I St. NW. Main courses cost $28 to $37.

This article by Julia Watson first appeared in the NorthWest Current newspaper. Photo Bill Petros/The Current.

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