Dear Esteemed BK: Do I really have to bitch-slap you?
You've fallen into the trap of thinking that trends start in NYC or LA. They do not. They start elsewhere, gain a foothold somewhere in the U. S. of A., and then get
imported to NYC or LA, where the hip and trendy people go "oooh!" and "aaah!" and declare whatever it is that they have "discovered" is now as hip and trendy as they are.
(And, it should be noted, just as disposable as they are, which is why they are always so desperate to find something new to declare as hip and trendy, to make sure that they remain as hip and trendy as what they have declared hip and trendy.)
When Der Brucer and I were in Cincinatti, of all places, attending a political
confrontation convention well over a decade ago, there were tapas bars in that small city. I kid you not. In fact, I wish we had visited one or two while we were there - as a rule, food in Cincinatti is wretched, and that is putting it mildly. Having a number of small wretched plates might have been better on the ol' tumtum than the large wretched plates we encountered instead. Or, at least, we could have had some nice drinkies along with the tapas, to help us ignore all the wretch.
And the first time Der B and I met our very own DR Jose (for a performance of Stephen Schwartz's
Children of Eden at the Ford Theater in Washington D. C. - Jose was performing, and we brought him pale green roses), he led us after the show to a restaurant called
Jaleo, where chef Jose Andres sealed his reputation as far back as 1993 by serving tapas. (Typical of our own DR Jose, the kind of tapas he was interested in at that point of the evening was the desserts - our own DR Jose is highly consistant in that manner.)
So, there you've got der Brucer and myself encountering tapas
twice before it was even mentioned in NYC or LA.
If there is a problem with tapas here in the U. S. of A. it comes from how tapas is served in Spain, as opposed to how it is served here. Dinner in Espania is served late - nine o'clock in the evening is considered early. So, naturally, with all those hours between when people get off from work and when dinner is served, there's a good chance of people getting a bit peckish, and wanting something to snack on.
The solution is to go bar-hopping. But, instead of simply stopping at a bar for a drink, and then hopping to the next bar for a drink, the pleasant people of Spain will have a tapas at one bar, then move on and have a different tapas at the next bar. Why move from bar to bar? Because each bar specializes in the different kinds of tapas. One bar may have some amazing olives, for instance. The next will be known for it's
coca de recapte (flatbread with roasted eggplant and peppers). A third, perhaps, will have it's
croquetes de pollastre i pernil high on the list (that's chicken and ham croquettes, by the way). Or
gambes a la planxa (griddled shrimp with garlic and parsley).
(Anthony Bourdain's first television series,
A Cook's Tour, 2001, included an episode where he accompanied some lovely women searching out tapas in San Sebastian, and the women tapased him under the table.)
But, here in the U. S. of A., the owners of the restaurants and bars do not
want you to hop from place to place. They want you to stay, and give them all of your money. The result is that our bars and restaurants have to diversify in their tapas, serving a large variety and specializing in none. A pity. Also a pity is how we Americans do not have a break between tapas (and drinkies) like the Spaniards do, that respite that comes from walking from tapas bar to tapas bar, breathing in some fresh air and getting the blood pumping through our veins.
Now, here's something interesting: in Tokyo and other Japanese cities, a similar sort of thing takes place. They have restaurants that specialize in specific kinds of dishes, such as sushi or gyoza or skewered meats or whatever. Similar idea as to what goes on in Spain, only with soy sauce instead of olive oil. You want trendy? Just wait! We've already got the sushi part - the rest is just waiting in the wings!