RSS FeedThey mentioned that this shop, called Beals Cash and Carry (I’ll try to find out where the name originates), was set out differently, as it competed directly with supermarkets.
I happened to be going to an exhibition of paintings of Russian monasteries by Reyes García Burdeus at the Asociación Cultural Volga-Casa de Rusia on c/ Alzira 7-1ª the next night, so I dropped in.
I took an embarrassingly long time to work out how to get through the transparent plastic curtains at the entrance, but once I’d got in I felt immediately at home. The shop is laid out just like many English wine warehouses, with aisles heaving with all sorts of wines arranged by region (plus a smallish section of “vinos extranjeros”, which I look forward to exploring).
Much as I like the conventional Spanish enoteca/bodega, such as Bodegas Santander itself, where you go in and are attended to at a counter and talk about what you’re looking for, there’s a lot to be said for browsing to your heart’s content at your own speed, with no one paying much attention to you. I don’t know what defines this as a “Cash & Carry” exactly, something that I associate as being primarily for the trade, but this is very much open to all, and you can just meander about, checking out the shelves. I found myself leaving with a bottle of Hidalgo Gobernador Oloroso Seco, which was not what I intended, but should sustain me in thisewearing pre-Christmas period.
Actually, I’m very glad to have found Beals in time for Christmas, as there are a few swanky wines I’m looking to take to dinner parties here and there, and this is just the place to do both preliminary research or, more likely, to dash in en route and grab something interesting-looking.
As an additional bonus, I passed by a long-standing Peruvian restaurant (1986) on nearby c/ de Salas Quiroga
that I knew nothing about, Restaurante Inka. I wonder if they might countenance a bring-your-own-bottle policy to make the trip to the neighbourhood doubly attractive. I think I’ll pluck up my courage and ask.
