Gracia seems to be a well-kept secret. Tucked away at the northeast corner of the W Hotel, you…read morecould almost walk right past and not know it's there. In fact, I'm sure I walked past it half a dozen times before realizing there was a restaurant at the bottom of the stairs.
With a fun, modern decor, Gracia serves up traditional tapas with a gourmet flair. On a quiet Sunday night, the hubs and I decided to check it out. I ordered a glass of Carmenere and hubby had a pisco mule. Both were perfect.
Before any tapas arrived, we were each given a small triangle toast, smeared with what looked like mayonnaise, topped off with a tiny sausage. This came served on a small disc that was actually a cross-section of a tree trunk or branch. Very cute and a nice surprise.
We started with goat-cheese-stuffed piquillo peppers. The two piquillos were soft and bathing in a sauce reminiscent of a tomato bisque. We also had the fried calamari. We prefer our fried calamari to consist of both rings and tentacles, but this version has only rings. We were both disappointed by this but even more surprised that they had almost no flavor--no salt or paprika--and the "aioli dipping sauce" was just firm mayonnaise. Bummer.
Perhaps our favorite dish was one we selected off the Tapas of the Day menu, a tuna tartar. Excellent presentation and delicious taste, despite the overpowering taste of wasabi (not my fave). The tartar came out in a perfect disc with a light soy sauce and seaweed on the bottom, delicious avocado on top.
We also tried another dish of the day, a tiny taste of a beef filet topped with pate. This was good but left us wanting more. We also had the main dish of bacalao, one of our favorites to make at home. This version was very unique and much fresher than the dried-fried Puerto Rican version we are used to. This one arrived in a huge bowl on a bed of crunchy fried onions mixed with cooked tomato wedges and sliced olives. Even my husband, who hates olives, enjoyed this dish.
For dessert, we shared the Gracia version of flan with two decaf coffees that did not disappoint.
Overall, this is a great spot for late-night dining. Four stars for price and lack of seasoning in the calamari.