If there’s a better way to snack than Spanish-style, I’ll need to be convinced, preferably over croquettes and dry wine.
asserted
I → ’ → croquettes
And could it be at Anada, serving up Spanish joy in Fitzroy since 2008?
uncertain
it → serve → 2008
This smart 35-seat restaurant has never had a slump but, under newish ownership and with a talented chef recently bedded in, it’s having a golden period.
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it → have → period
This is a great time to pop by for tapas at the bar or to plan a meal ahead, particularly as warmer days make paella in the parklet a particularly pleasant prospect.
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paella → pop → parklet
Anada changed hands quietly four years ago when founders Jesse and Vanessa Gerner handed it over to Grant Turvey, who already owned Arcadia, the cafe next door.
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who → change → Arcadia
After a decade in the air force, Turvey was a business consultant for 30 years and he hankered for something a bit more dynamic.
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he → hanker → something
Hospitality is now his industry but you won’t find him chopping onions or ferrying plates.
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him → find → plates
Rather, Turvey loves puzzling over menus, engaging and training staff, and tapping into the upbeat energy of eaters.
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Turvey → love → eaters
I think you can feel Anada is run by a highly competent arm’s-length enthusiast and not by an owner-operator expressing a cuisine that’s core to their being.
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that → think → being
It’s smooth, efficient and cheerful, if not quite soulful.
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It → ’ → ?
But even if you won’t be swept up by stories whispering from the walls, or sit among regulars who’ve been here every day since 1978 as though at some ancient bar in Barcelona, you can definitely have a lovely time at Anada.
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you → sweep → Anada
There’s spirit – if you’ll excuse me – in the all-Spanish drinks list, which has helpful annotations.
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which → ’ → annotations
Start with a glass of cava (“bone dry, apple-skin sharp”) or a Fifty-Fifty, a jaunty aperitivo which mixes manzanilla and Pedro Ximenez sherries, and take it from there.
Chef Angel “Didier” Chavez was born in Mexico to a Spanish mother and had experience cooking in both Mexico and Spain before he was sponsored by the Lucas group of restaurants to come to Melbourne to work at busy Grill Americano.
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he → start → Americano
Didier is relishing the opportunity to cook in a smaller restaurant, with dishes closer to his heritage.
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Didier → relish → heritage
Anada calls itself Andalusian, referring to southern Spain, but it isn’t, really: the current menu roams, with dishes anchored in tradition albeit with some clever twists.
Montadito tapas are generally mounted on bread.
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tapas → call → bread
Here, a house-made polenta wedge subs in, making the bite gluten free.
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bite → make → ?
It’s smeared with lemon-zesty goat’s cheese, draped with an anchovy and dotted with pickled mustard seeds: salt, cream, tang, bang.
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It → smear → seeds
Slow-cooked lamb ribs would normally be dolloped with red chilli mojo but this version leans green.
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version → cook → mojo
Pickled onions help slash a piquant path through the rich meat.
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onions → help → meat
A pintxo of grilled chorizo and padron peppers is simple sorcery: two dimensions of spice – one rich, one clean – all good.
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all → grill → spice
Ajo blanco is a cold almond soup very much associated with Andalusia.
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blanco → associate → Andalusia
The version here is a thicker-than-usual base for roasted cauliflower, manchego cheese and crisped jamon.
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version → roast → cauliflower
Perhaps the prettiest dish is octopus carpaccio — thin rounds dressed with lemon, parsley and chilli.
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dish → dress → lemon
A fine facility with seafood shines through in the paella de marisco, too, a cornerstone dish properly done, the rice base grafted to the pan.
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facility → shin → pan
If a sweet finish is in order, go for bruleed rice pudding.
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finish → go → pudding
Its lovely contrast of creamy and brittle exemplifies the Anada project: honouring the classics and adding freewheeling flourish when it feels right.
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it → exemplify → flourish
Three more Spanish eateries to try
Nobody’s Baby
Everyone is welcome at Nobody’s Baby, whether it’s inside or in the large backyard.
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it → try → backyard
The food until December is Basque, courtesy of chef Aitor Jeronimo Orive: think spectacular gildas, beautiful croquettes and a wobbly cheesecake.
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food → think → gildas
Get in before the next resident chef starts cooking.
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chef → get → ?
My favourite place among the MoVida stable is a surprisingly niche spot even though it’s among the throngs on Hosier Lane.
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it → ’ → Lane
Step through the little door on the corner and you’re in a wonderful tapas bar with terrific cocktails.
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you → step → cocktails
Part of the San Telmo Group stable (Palermo, Pastuso), this huge restaurant leans into the Spanish influences threaded through Argentinian cuisine.
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restaurant → lean → cuisine
Scallops are baked with Galician butter, there’s black sausage cooked over the parilla grill, and salad comes with sherry vinaigrette.
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salad → bake → vinaigrette
6 Riverside Quay, Southbank, asado.melbourne
Good Food reviews are booked anonymously and paid independently.
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reviews → book → ?
A restaurant can’t pay for a review or inclusion in the Good Food Guide.
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restaurant → pay → Guide
The Aporia
