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Grapevine Home & Travel - April 01, 2006
Irresistible Isabella's
Mike Higgins
To be honest, if you're looking for a place to have a quiet, intimate dining experience, you should skip Isabella's Taverna & Tapas Bar - at least on Friday evenings. (Try Acacia, its sister restaurant just down the street.) But if it's a lively, laughter-filled atmosphere you're seeking - along with unique first-rate food - head straight to Isabella's and join the crowd.
Isabella's has built its reputation on featuring Spanish food - in particular tapas, traditional appetizers served in Spanish bars and restaurants.
TAPAS 101
In Spanish, tapa literally means "cover". Some believe that long ago the Spaniards used pieces of flatbread to cover drinks to keep out fruit flies and other pesky invaders. These flatbreads over time began to be embellished with sauces, meats, and vegetables, evolving into a variety of appetizer forms that Spaniards now love.
Other theories claim that tapas were used to "cover" the Spaniard's appetite through the evening until dinner was served. Much like Americans grazing during happy hour, the Spanish are known to enjoy cocktails and light snacks between ending work in the afternoon and sitting down to the traditional late-evening dinner.
No matter the origins, tapas today have evolved into a delightful style of preparing food. They essentially are a flavorful appetizer, or even a mini version of an entree, and include a wide range of food types, flavors, and styles. Chicken, beef, fish, shellfish, a variety of vegetables, Mediterranean spices, sauces, and international seasonings are all found on the tapas menu.
Never been to a tapas bar? Fear not; your friendly waiter will guide you through the process. And at Isabella's, the proper (and lengthy) Spanish names on the menu are clearly translated into plain English.
One of the advantages of assembling a meal from these small dishes is that you finish one "course" before ordering the next. So every dish is hot (or cold), as intended, when you eat it. Plus, if you really loved the Crispy Cumin Panko Crusted Shrimp, as we did, order more halfway through your meal.
AN EVENING AT ISABELLA'S
Our group of four ventured out to Isabella's for dinner on a recent Friday night. Situated in the center of historic downtown Frederick, located in the beautifully restored old brick Hendrickson building on North Market Street, Isabella's was clearly the place to be that evening. The Taverna & Tapas Bar (the main room of the restaurant) was vibrant and alive with an energetic throng. The music was modern and loud, in tune with the laugher of the after-work crowd. Wood floors, old brick walls, and a high tin ceiling set the stage for a funfilled evening.
Isabella's bar features a wide array of drinks, from the locally brewed beers/ales from Brewer's Alley just down the street, to a wide range of wines from around the world. Our
foursome decided to keep to a consistent Spanish theme for the evening, so we selected a Spanish red wine. Not being Spanish wine experts, we studied the wine menu briefly, decided to try our luck with a random selection, and picked a bottle of Monastrell 2002 from the Bodegas Casa Castillo winery in 'the Jumilla area of Spain. And our luck held. It was rich and well rounded, with a strong fruity finish - able to keep pace with the diversity of foods to follow.
The meal started with the garlic bread with red pepper flakes, recommended by our waiter as the "best in town." After a taste we agreed, and ended up ordering more later in the meal.
I enjoyed the soup special of the evening, the Creamy Wild Mushroom Bisque with Jerez Sherry. Then on to the tapas, the primary mission of the evening. Isabella's menu is dominated by tapas; more than 10 cold tapas and 25 hot ones, plus others on the specials menu each day. They encompass an incredibly wide compilation of foods and flavors: meat, fish, shellfish, fowl, potatoes, tomato, garlic, pepper, onion, rice, and on and on - enhanced by many different spices, seasonings, and sauces. Each dish is in itself a small entree.
The real joy of Isabella's and the tapas experience is that tapas are priced (about $3 - $5 each) and sized so that you can sample a wide selection of foods and flavors for a very reasonable price. An individual typically orders 3 or 4 tapas to serve as dinner; a group sharing n meal can sample an assortment of different dishes in one sitting. Grazing at it finest, and you don't even have to leave the table!
We started by ordering two tapas each. Of this first serving, we agreed that the Camarones Empanizado con Capa de Cumino (translation: crispy cumin-panko crusted cold water shrimp with sun-dried tomato-horseradish alioli) was the best. The shrimp were crumb coated and expertly fried and flavored to perfection.
With my next order, I leaned toward the seafood - the Vieras a las Gallega (fresh sea scallops baked with wine and olive oil, topped with crispy breadcrumbs) and was impressed. Others enjoyed the Brochetas del Valle (skewers of marinated lamb, pork and beef) and Cocido del Mediterraneo (a flavorful Mediterranean seafood stew with shrimp, mussels, clams, calamari, and spicy chorizo in a saffron-tomato broth).
We then moved to a second Spanish wine, a Monastrell rouge 2004, from Barahonda winery in Yecla, in the northeast of the region of Murcia. This one, recommended by our waiter, was not quite as hearty as the first, but equally satisfying and a great way to complement the end of our dinner.
We decided to wrap up the dinner by deviating from the tapas theme and trying another of Isabella's specialties: paella. It was my first taste of this flavorful Mediterranean dish. Well-seasoned rice provided the foundation for a variety of vegetables and meats. Our dish, Paella de Setas Silvestres y Po11o, featured wild mushrooms and chicken. Other paellas on the menu feature shrimp, sausage, mussels, lobster, and vegetables.
Isabella's also offers full-size entrees, ranging from sirloin steak to fish, shellfish, and chicken each prepared with unique seasonings and sauces. Between the numerous tapas and paella, we didn't make it to the entrees that evening. That will have to wait until next time.
We followed dinner by sharing two desserts - the classic Spanish flan with caramel sauce, and a special of the evening: Double Chocolate Tort with Raspberry Coulis, both excellent. A perfect conclusion to the meal.
As we were finishing dinner, Chef James Johns stopped by our table to check on our experience that evening. Chef James has been with Isabella's from the start (since 1998), and obviously has mastered a complex assortment of exotic dishes. He clearly has to be at the top of his form each day to work across the breath of the restaurant's amazing menu.
From Alcachofa Rellena de Cangrejo (roasted artichoke bottoms stuffed with lump crab meat in saffron butter) to Queso Frito con Almendras y Salsa de Escalona (fried house-breaded goat cheese and almond fritters with a tangy shallot vinaigrette) Isabella's Taverna & Tapas Bar raises appetizers to an art form, and brings a flavorful slice of the diverse Mediterranean cuisine to Maryland.
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