Wine Dine and Play: Vizcaya Restaurante & Tapas Bar

Molecular Spanish Tapas

Tampa, Florida, USA

Dined in January 2016

By Sean Overpeck (CFE)

My fiancé at the time of our visit here, and now my wife had just picked me up from the airport and had a Spanish Tapas restaurant that she wanted to introduce me too. A short distance north of Tampa was the Vizcaya Restaurant where we enjoyed several small bite favorites and drinks. This is our story.

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Executive Chef:

Chef Felix Piedra

Main review:

The father of Spain’s “molecular gastronomy” movement was Chef Ferran Adria of El Bulli restaurant once said that he is turning his restaurant into an institute of sorts, where chefs can experiment with cooking. “Everything will be put up on the Internet so that chefs around the world can learn about his processes and creations.” This is the vision of Chef Piedra at Vizcaya - a 2005-2011 Golden Spoon Award wining restaurant serving food that people have come to expect from Spain, like paella, ceviches and sangria. Lots of fresh fish and seafood, an experiment in modern cuisine.

We sat down at a cocktail table near the bar at the start of the happy hour with my wife enjoying a citrus martini, while I had a Crianza Tempranillo from Clos de Torribas from Pinord Penedes Wines, which the winemakers notes identify as an oaky intense spiced aroma wine with a gentle palate. The oak is well balanced to maintain the wine’s freshness. Touches of cedar and oak, with smooth tannins come out in the retro nasal stage. As we enjoyed our drinks, we were served some bread with some oil and colored vinegars.

They had three options for dinner consisted of two menus, the first two being the regular menu and the tapas menu. The third was a happy hour menu with a combination of dinner and tapas, which we dined from. From the dinner menu they have selections such as Chilean sea bass, sole with crabmeat, Norwegian salmon, black cod, Spanish paella with seafood, a chicken Campesina Paella, duck, lamb shank, veal scaloppini, and much more. From the Tapas they had 26 hot tapas, and 12 cold tapas. The items we enjoyed were all hot tapas items starting with albondigas, homemade Spanish meatballs sauced in a combination of mushrooms and pimentos.

Next we saw a very interesting item that had wonderful flavor and a very creative makeup of flavors and tastes, and that was the datiles, a date dish consisting of four stuffed dates filled with manchego cheese, seranno ham, wrapped in bacon, and deep fat fried to a golden brown. The dish was topped with a nice honey infused aïoli, bringing out the dates wonderful flavor.

The third tapas on our must have list was a nice Spanish blend with a Southern Indian street food type starter called the croquetas jamon. A croquette is a mash potato covered in a light breadcrumb mixture like panko that are deep fried and yummy in the tummy. These croquettes were stuffed with seranno ham, and served with a side of béchamel.

Our forth selection was from the main dinner menu, a cream of wild mushroom soup, prepared with white truffle oil, manchego cheese and crème fraîche.

Other Noteworthy Spanish and Tapas Restaurant Favorites:

Pachanga Restaurant at the Dubai Marina, UAE

Tapas 218 in Canton, Ohio

Table 9 at the Hilton Dubai Waterfront, Dubai, UAE

Final notes and observations:

I have had some questions from food critics and restaurants, some expressing concern about the ratings I give, so I wanted to take a moment to explain that rating system. Unlike other critics out their, like The World's 50 Best Restaurants, or Elite Traveler, my rating system is a bit different. I give a rating of a 0 to 5 with five being the very best. The overall rating is based on 6 dining factors. Each person who dines may rate their factors differently, and my review and ratings are based on these factors.

If you get a 1 star rating, it doesn't mean your restaurant is bad, it just means the experience I had was average like most other chains or small mom and pops. Rarely do restaurants get a 4 or higher star rating which is an absolutely outstanding or extraordinary experience. In my 300+ restaurant reviews less than 30 have achieved those ratings.

Over all from this experience taking the six factors I use on Wine, Dine, and Play to produce my rating, I give Vizcaya a 3 out of 5 stars, meaning that they exceeded my expectations and were far above the average dining experience of most restaurants. The six factors used to get this rating (scored below) include their wine selections; Overall customer service from host, bar, service, and management; The restaurant ambiance, noise level, lighting, and bathroom quality; Plate presentation, which includes garnish, color, and art; Quality of the food, where it is produced, and how it is prepared; aAnd finally the “wow” factor. Did the restaurant wow me in any way not listed in the five factors above? Some restaurants do, but most do not.

6 Factors That Determine The Star Rating
Ambiance:	7 of 10
Quality of the Food:	8 of 10
Plate Presentation:	7 of 10
Customer Service:	6 of 10
Wow Factor:	1 of 5
Wine Selection:	5 of 10

Review basics:

5 stars	An Extraordinary Experience
4 Stars	An Outstanding Experience
3 Stars	Exceeded Expectations
2 Stars	Above the Average Experience
1 Star	An Average Dining Experience
No Star Rating	The Restaurant is Basic, Poor, or Appalling

Overall Star Rating:	3 of 5 Stars: Exceeded Expectations
Wine List:	Click here to view the restaurants wine list
Corkage fee’s:	The Restaurant does not list any corkage fee’s however, most American restaurants charge $25.00 per bottle
Restaurant style:	Casual
Reservations:	Not Required, But Recommended Walk-Ins: Accepted, but not guaranteed
Child policy:	The Restaurants reviewed on this site may have a child’s menu or cater to them; however for full enjoyment of food and wine, it is recommended for children not to be in attendance, unless they have been trained in proper etiquette. Hire a Babysitter!
Dress code:	Casual, or Conservative attire
Cuisine style:	Contemporary, Modern, Lounge, Spanish, Tapas, Mediterranean, European, & Vegetarian
Experiences:	Place for foodies, Trendy, Lounge, Business parties, Romantic, Hot spot, Great bar, and a Neighborhood gem.
Payments:	Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express
Parking:	Public lot
Wifi	The restaurants reviewed on this site may have Wi-Fi, but do not require you to go online, because the excitement of the food and wine alone will keep you too entertained instead of checking your social media and emails.
Noise level:	Low to Medium
Smoking:	Nonsmoking restaurant
Patio:	Yes

Other Tampa, Florida reviews on Wine, Dine, and Play:

Council Oak Steakhouse Upscale Surf ’n’ Turf w/Butchery At the Hard Rock Casino	Ulele Native American Cuisine w/Barbacoa Grilling	First Flight Wine Bar Wine Bar + Cocktails, Charcuterie & Cheese
Edison Food + Drink Lab Industrial Gastropub @ Molecular Gastronomy Restaurant	Yacht Starship Events & Formal Multi-Course American Dinner Cruise	First Watch Healthy & Organic minded Cafe
Kona Grill Hawaiian Cuisine w/Sushi	The Cheesecake Factory American Chain, Massive Menu	Gino’s Genial Old School Italian Eatery
725 South Casual Fair At The Westin Tampa Harbour Island	Yeoman’s Cask and Lion Hip British Themed Pub	Simply Phở Contemporary Vietnamese Cuisine
Copperfish Upscale Rustic Seafood & Oyster Bar

Food Prices

(excluding, alcohol, taxes & gratuity)

$£€¥ - Under 50.00

$£€¥ x 2 - 51.00- 99.00

$£€¥ x 3 - Over 100.00

$£€¥ x 4 - Over 200.00

$£€¥ x 5 - Over 400.00

**Currencies chosen reflect the world’s major travelers and restaurant connoisseur’s**

My food bill:	Currency:	Price chart:
$58.00	United States Dollar (USD)	$$
$77.00	Australian Dollar (AUS)	$$
£48.00	Great Britain Pound Sterling (GBP)	£
$78.00	Canadian Dollar (CAN)	$$
¥401.00	Chinese Yuan (CNY)	¥¥¥¥¥
€55.00	European Union (EUR)	€€

Currency rates as of March 2017

Alcohol Prices:

$21.00

Vizcaya Restaurante & Tapas Bar:

10905 North. Dale Mabry Highway

Tampa, Florida 33618

GPS Coordinates:

28.048056

-82.503885

Contact Information:

Maître d or host:	+ 1(813) 968-7400
Restaurant website:	Vizcaya
Serving hours: Eastern Standard Time (GMT - 5:00)	Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30 am - 2:00 pm Dinner: Mon-Sun 5:30 pm - 10:00 pm
Email or webpage contact:	Contact Restaurant
Social Media & Accolades:	Facebook Link
	Twitter @VizcayaTapas
	YouTube

****

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Silver Oak Sustainable Old World Style in The New Alexander Valley, California, USA	Eagles Nest Winery Not Kehlsteinhaus, Exceptional Shiraz Constantia, South Africa
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Reviewed by:

Sean Overpeck (CFE)

Picture below was taken in 2012

At a horse ranch in Ohio

About Sean:

I am based out of St. Petersburg, Florida working in the food service industry for the past twenty years, and am currently with the American Embassy as the Executive Chef in Basra, Iraq. Formally I have worked with groups contracting in Afghanistan, and Antarctica, also working in restaurants in and around Atlanta, Georgia prior to the wars. I have also owned a catering company and served proudly in the United States Army Food Service Program. The idea for Wine, Dine, and Play started in late 2012 after a trip to Jordan, when I was asked by friends to write down the experiences from a few Jordanian restaurants, wine from the region that I tasted, and locations of interest such as Petra. Since that time, over 250 articles have been written on restaurants, including fifteen from the worlds top 100 lists of San Pellegrino and the Elite Travelers Guide. There are articles on exotic world locations such as Victoria Falls, and South African Safari’s; food recipes & Grand Food Dictionaries; ethnic country cuisines such as Afghan, and Peruvian; tasting tours of world cities like Charleston, Cape Town, and Dubai; and of course wine from vineyards in California, Oregon, the Carolina’s, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia, with much more to see and write about.

Who is John Galt?

“Culinary perfection consists not in doing extraordinary things,

But in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.”

-Angelique Arnauld (1591-1661)