Comments on: Anada tapas restaurant on Gertrude St

By: b

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 10:58:07 +0000

Do the walk from Anada to BL to Movida (and a few watering hole pit-stops in between) with a few courses at each… definitely the way to go… we do it often when inter-staters are in town… no beating it… each offer something a wee different…

(not Spanish but we mostly always finish off at Maha for the dessert course as they are open late)

Charcoal grilled chicken liver skewers were our introduction to Movida Cantina (or Mov nxt door) this last Friday… another great addition… if not too cramped…

By: Ed

Ed — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 06:07:54 +0000

I recently met Matt from Abstract Gourmet there and it was great – in fact I went back a week or so later I so enjoyed it. A little crowded perhaps but the food is good with the Portuguese/Spanish vibe and small plates for sharing. Different to the food served at Movida and Anada. And it has interesting wines. You can’t book but I’ve always found the turnover quite high so you never have to wait to long for a table – you just may have to move around a bit. I’d mark it higher than Anada if I scored. Yourself?

By: Oink

Oink — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 05:31:20 +0000

And what are your thoughts on Bar Lourhina in the scheme of things Ed?

By: Ed

Ed — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 22:49:42 +0000

If you can’t find it i’ll burn one for you as a goodwill gesture. Also I meant to say we shouldn’t forget Bar Lourhina in all this.

By: Oink

Oink — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 03:01:42 +0000

Funny how tapas style dining has come back in a big way after being seen as a bit uncool for such a long time- I guess I’ll be dusting off my Gypsy Kings cd next.

By: Ed

Ed — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 22:06:26 +0000

Morticia, it’s just Spanish peasant food and not sure Anada pretends to offer any more than that.

Oink, Comorra has done precisely that and he has to be the most influential Spanish chef in Australia. I think Anada is trying to do something different to the quite elaborate and innovative offerings of Movida. Both places are packed and both seem to have found a niche. True therearea couple of dishes that are similar but my point is that the beef cheek isn’t blatent copying, the only common ingredient being the cheek. I’ll admit Lethlean’s praise is over the top for a drop in midwek place for a few nibbles and a tinto. But my original point in the blog post was that this is better than the other tapas offerings out there which, with the exception of Movida and Movida Next Door, it is.

By: Oink

Oink — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 17:34:08 +0000

I’ve never heard any suggestion that Frank invented Spanish food. However- wherever he learnt it, cooked it, ate it, read about it or developed it, he has raised Spanish food to a new level in Melbourne. Movida will go down in history as one of Melbourne’s greatest restaurants. If you Ed, as a food journo cannot see for yourself why so many people are bagging Anada for its likeness to Movida there’s nothing else that can be said to you. I can’t recall off the top of my head another example of a chef who has modeled their own venture so closely on the last place they’d worked. Blatant copying shows a lack of creativity and respect for the people you have worked for and also the people who come to your restaurant expecting at the least, your take on a similar style of food. With minimal effort I’m sure a lot less people would be pissed off- format your menu differently from Movida’s- take slight detours from Movida staples- like serve your ox-cheek with something other than a pale coloured mash- stuff your piquillo peppers with something other than shellfish etc.
Anada has a lot going for it- good space, good service, good value and as a tapas loving Fitzroy local I would like to be able to stumble home after a couple too many Temepranillos on a fairly regular basis but I won’t go back on principal unless they make some effort to be a bit more original. But then again, if John Lethlean thinks the sun shines out of your culo and you’ve got your pic in glossy mags- who gives a f##k what I think, I’m just a customer and you’ll have no shortage of them while the wonderful publicity keeps up.

By: Morticia

Morticia — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:09:13 +0000

surely if you are influenced by spanish food and culture you’d find something more unique than pulpo a la gallega and patatas a la pobre to put on the menu? why would they do that when movida’s already doing it? why the same plates? why the same almost everything? and why is it that every single article anada was featured in always mentions that the chef trained under frank camourra?

By: Ed

Ed — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 06:00:05 +0000

My point is that all the dishes you mention are really really common in Spanish cooking as is cooking in Sherry. I don’t know this because I’m an arrogant journalist but because my mum comes from Spain.

So the beef cheek is the same, both dishes were cooked in sherry – one PX another Olorosso – and ones uses cauliflower and the other chickpeas. Almost exactly the same. I think not.

I was just wondering what your agenda was and why so many people are knocking Anada in this way and not other restaurants. Frank Comorra is a good chef but he didn’t invent Spanish food.

You’ll also find some influences – not identical copies – from Moro in London on the menu too.

By: Oink

Oink — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 05:21:59 +0000

Sorry, forgot to mention- Tapas in Madrid? Awesome! Mind blowing!