ReaderArchives: 'El Internacional, Cafe Ba-Ba-Reeba!, and bacalao at the dawn of small plates America' | MikeSula (2021)
, hot dogs, stockyard blood buttons, a racoon feast, and this fishy Chicago food history footnote by me:
It’s likely that the majority of mid-80s cool kids—bolstered by nearby DePaul University—who lined up for hours in those early days didn’t think anything of the bacalao bobbing above the bar. But it’s not a common accent in Spanish tapas bars, where the simple act of placing a piece of bread atop a glass of wine to keep the flies out evolved into a galaxy of bar snacks and an enshrined, communal eating culture.
Bacalao is a recurring motif in Miralda’s work. “I’ve always been interested by the codfish itself,” he says. “Not only for the importance it has in nutrition in the world: it was on all the transatlantic voyages. This was about survival. But also because it has an incredible shape like a triangle. A codfish has a presence, really, a holy presence.”El Internacional was part restaurant, part art installation.
There was, in fact, a Spaniard in the kitchen when Ba-Ba-Reeba! opened in 1985. Chef Gabino Sotelino was born in Vigo, Spain, and began cooking at the age of 14 in kitchens all over the world before joining forces with Melman to revitalize the legendary Pump Room. Together they opened LEYE’s first fine dining restaurant, Ambria, followed by the French bistro Mon Ami Gabi, before Sotelino convinced the boss to open a tapas bar.
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