Tuesday, Sept. 21st, 2010—Bar 254

Day 254—Monday, September 20th, 2010
Café Andalucia
I want to thank Frank Carmichael for interviewing me yesterday on his Happenings Q and A radio show on WLIP radio. Frank’s a great interviewer and this is the fourth time I’ve been on his show. Check it out Monday through Friday from 1pm to 3pm CST, you can listen live on the WLIP Homepage.

If you recall last Saturday...you’re doing better than me. I can’t remember last night! (Rimshot.) Thanks folks, I’ll be here all week. But seriously, if you remember last Saturday’s visit to Sardi's you’ll recall me meeting writer Carliss Pond,  the author of Taste of Broadway. Well she’s also penned a book called, Sizzle in Hell’s Kitchen which is a collection of recipes, photos and quotes from restaurants and bars all in the Hell’s Kitchen area of New York. She suggested I check out, Café Andalucia, which is located right across the street from the Holland Bar. So that’s tonight’s destination, when the author of Sizzle in Hell’s Kitchen recommends a Hell’s Kitchen bar, you go. That’s just the rules!

And here we are at Café Andalucia.

Live jazz on Thursday's and Sunday's there's flamenco music. But this is Monday, so none of this matters.

And you can tell it's Monday in here, as I have the entire bar to myself.

But friendly and lovely bartender Melba makes me feel at home and mixes me up a mini pitcher of homemade Sangria.

Here she is in action mixing up the fruity drink.

A few finishing touches and...

Instant Sangria!

It's delicious! Wonderful job, Melba!

There's a large selection of booze here at the bar, as you can see.

Original artwork hangs all over the bar, here's some on the wall facing the bar.

And a good chunk of the artwork is created by the owner and chef, Guillermo Vidal.

Here's Guillermo with his favorite painting at the bar.

In addition to Guillermo's paintings, there's other artist's featured and all the artwork is for sale.

Since it was a slow night, Guillermo hung out with me and we had a great conversation ranging from art to music to politics to movies. He's a great host who makes you feel like you've been a regular at the bar for eternity.

El Diablo!

David is in town from Spain and was enjoying dinner and wine in the front window area.

A long shot of the bar.

The selection of bottled beer available and assorted knick-knacks above the bar.

Melba came to the other side of the bar to pose for a photo with owner, Guillermo.

Tables line the wall opposite the bar for dining and drinking.

The colorful back wall at Café Andalucia.

There's live music several nights a week here, as this Roland amp on the table confirms.

 Guillermo said he wasn't planning on drinking this evening, but decided to have a beer in spite of that. I'm a bad influence! Cheers and goodnight, everybody!

Review
Café Andalucia has a bit of an identity crisis, but in this case, that’s a good thing. It’s one part bar, one part restaurant, one part art gallery and one part neighborhood social club. It’s a small, intimate space with a long narrow bar and candle-lit tables opposite for seating. The atmosphere is friendly and if you’re lucky enough to be able to score some time with the host, owner and chef, Guillermo Vidal, you’ll have a colorful conversation and a whopping good time. There’s live music here, on Thursday’s they feature live jazz and on Sunday’s it’s flamenco night starting at 8pm.

Café Andalucia has a full bar and while you’d expect wine to be the featured player at a small tapas bar, the bar and it’s patrons tend to lean more to the liquor bottles than the vino. The sangria is homemade and the mojitos is a favorite at the bar. There’s also bottled beer including: Estrella, Corona, Beck’s and Amstel Light. The bar features a whopping 36 tapas plates to choose from including: Prosciutto Fresh Mozzarella W/ Tomatoes, Olives, Sopresatta for two; Manchego Cheese with Apples; Spanish Style Beef Patties and Spanish Sausage sautéed in onions, peppers and a wine sauce. if you’re a little hungier there’s a Skirt Steak cooked Argentine Style available, a Spanish Sausage sandwich and a Cubano sandwich to choose from. Some of the main entrees include: The House Combo-Skirt Steak and Loin Of Pork; Jumbo Shrimps W/ Scallops; Paella Valenciana which is a mixture of chicken sausage, clams and mussels and Almejas Verde which is clams with green sauce and a side of rice.

Happy hour  runs seven days a week here (Monday through Friday, noon to 6pm, Sunday, 2:30pm to 6pm) with four dollar well drinks, 4 buck Jagermeisters and six dollar mojitos.

Café Andalucia
533 Ninth Ave. (Near 40th St.)
212-736-9411

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Bonus Illustration

Jaws just sent in this illustration in regards to what I drank last night. Nice work, Jaws!