Capote y Toros

Olives with almonds and cold Manzanilla,
Octopus slices with hot smoked paprika,
Whole pata negra hams dangling from strings……
These are a few of my favourite things…

Oh hell, I find myself daydreaming about a meal I had a couple of weeks ago and all of a sudden I'm channeling Julie Andrews.  It is true though, Spanish, and especially tapas, is a very strong candidate for my favourite way to eat.  Capote y Toros in Chelsea is one of the best examples of why:

Firstly, I LOVE SHERRY.  There, I said it, and I'm not ashamed!  Yet, more often than not, when I admit this to people, they exchange furtive glances and make cliché comments about old ladies and altar wine.  When I try to explain that, if you know where to look and what to avoid, Sherry offers some of the most startling,  delicious and unexpected flavours you will ever come across in a glass, people smile and nod… but I get the distinct impression that they are humouring me.

The fact is that, if you ignore the sweet, blended Cream Sherries (the ubiquitous Croft Original and Harveys Bristol Cream etc.) that are found on your grandmother's mantlepiece, you are left with an array of other, much more interesting styles which are woefully under-appreciated in this country. There really is a variety for every occasion

Fino is the palest but is powerfully dry and crisp with enough nutty, savoury depth to partner salty olives and roasted almonds.  Manzanilla is similar, but lighter and has a pleasing littoral, saline edge to it - perfect with oily fish like sardines.  Amontillado has been allowed to oxidise a little to take on a golden brown colour and a richer, nuttier, dried fruit flavour while usually remaining bone dry - great with meat like pork, chicken and rabbit.  Oloroso is aged in contact with oxygen for longer, producing a dark, rich complex wine with a higher alcohol content.  It is usually still dry but this is offset by intense aromatic woody, raisiny flavours - drink with richer meat dishes and cheeses.  Darkly sweet and almost syrupy wines made from Pedro Ximénez or Moscatel grapes are full of opulent spice and fruit and are amazing poured over a good vanilla ice-cream.  Needless to say all these Sherries are great to drink on their own as well.  I'm in danger of getting carried away now (as I said, I like Sherry a lot!) So, on with the review!

When I heard that Capote y Toros, the latest, smallest offering from the people behind Cambio de Tercio and Tenido Cero had the biggest Sherry list in the country and an interesting tapas menu to match, I collared a fellow enthusiast and dragged him to Old Brompton Road in Chelsea.  We arrived a little early and as such were the only punters there.  We took a moment to gawp at the long, narrow room - painted in lurid pink and yellow. One wall was made up mainly of sherry shelves and the opposite was a mosaic of photos: Matadores, picadores and enraged bulls in the throws of contest.  At the far end was the bar, beneath several thousand pounds worth of top quality Ibérico hams hanging from the ceiling - a very good sign, we thought!

The wine list was, indeed, packed with a bewildering array of sherries of all varieties and prices.  Some familiar, most not.  Our friendly, strutting waiter (coping valiantly with my somewhat pidgin Spanish) was quick to guide us through the list and make suggestions within our price range but managed not to patronise us at all.

We began with a taut, refreshing glass of Manzanilla (Gutierrez Colosia) with some olives, toasted almonds, bread and olive oil while we tried to work out what not to order from the concise menu.  Fresh anchovies in a Palo Cortado vinaigrette were deliciously sharp and oily.

A generous portion of salmon tartare was soft and silky, with tiny brunoise chunks of raw courgette (I think) running though it and offset with a rather interesting aïoli flavoured with padron peppers.  Having drained our 1st glass, we moved on to richer dishes and richer wines.

A 'reassuringly expensive' plate of expertly sliced Ibérico ham was a perfect partner for a stunning Amontillado (Fernando de Castilla 'Antique').  The Sherry and the ham were both excellent on their own but together they brought each other alive - layer after layer of musky, woody, savouriness that seemed to go on forever.

Roasted cod with a sobrasada crust was moist,  flaky and translucent with a thump of hot paprika from the porky topping. 

Juicy piquillo peppers stuffed with ox tail were soft but meaty and covered in a shockingly vibrant sauce.  The amontillado disappeared very quickly and we felt compelled to order more.  We moved on to a bottle of Oloroso from the same producer to complement our final few dishes.  This wine, had a similar profile of flavours to the previous, but was richer with added flavours of toffee, cloves and raisins.  Another beauty, although, we slurred to one another, we preferred the swaggering Amontillado with its stiffer, drier backbone.

Cecina - cured beef ham - was a highlight of the meal.  A libidinous ruby red, the slices packed punch of concentrated beefy flavour - we savoured every morsel.

Indecently porky pig's cheeks were melt-in-the-mouth, but I found the potato purée they were squatting in to be a little too soft and gluey for my taste.

By this point, Neil and I were somewhat worse for wear and conscious of the fact that the place was now heaving with people - all, apart from us, conversing frenetically in Spanish.  We were politely told at the start of the meal that we might be asked to move to the bar after an hour and a half if the restaurant were busy, but despite the queue of people building up, we were left to take our time (possibly as we were getting through a lot of sherry).  It was not until we had scoffed our way through an excellent cheeseboard (I was far too pissed to remember the names of the cheeses) that we were asked if we wouldn't mind finishing our bottle of desert wine (a fruity, syrupy, christmas-cakey Moscatel whose name also eludes me) at the bar.

Having sat for nearly three hours and filled ourselves to the brim with meat and booze we didn't mind at all - it was good to stand for a bit and soak up some of the garrulous atmosphere at the bar - we could have been transported to a lively tapas joint in Madrid and not known the difference.

Our meal was not cheap - it set us back just over £200. However, about two thirds of that was on wine - we got carried away and could easily have ordered cheaper ( and fewer) bottles which would doubtless also have been excellent nonetheless.  Cost aside, the food was nothing short of outstanding; uncomplicated but imaginative examples of proper spanish cooking executed almost without fault.  The atmosphere was every bit as hearty and rich as the food and the service was good-humoured and efficient even once the place was heaving.  Go to Capote y Toros; arrive early with an empty stomach and a mind open to exploring Sherry… you'll not be disappointed.

Capote y Toros

157 Old Brompton Road,

London

SW5 0LJ

9/10

£££ - ££££