New tapas bar opens in Blaine
Tara Nelson

Blaine residents now have the chance to taste the world in the form of little appetizers.

Marienes Johnson, executive chef and owner of Truffles by the Sea restaurant on Peace Portal Drive, has created a new tapas bar that showcases her culinary training from around the world. What are tapas?Think of them as gourmet appetizers.

"After work, people enjoy not to have a huge meal but to have a snack and drink and socialize," Johnson said.

Like most great food, tapas were created out of necessity. Often, they consisted of a strip of meat or piece of bread to take the edge off hunger and keep flies out of one's beverages. They have, however, evolved considerably since then.

The Gambas al Ajillo or garlic roasted shrimp ($7.50), are saut?ed in a light olive oil and then topped with lots of roasted garlic and flamb?ed with a Spanish sherry wine before Johnson deglazes the dish with a dash of cream and pairs them with warm pita.

The warm almond-crusted Manchego cheese ($6.75) is perhaps the restaurant's most popular tapa. To create the dish, Johnson tops a warm slab of Manchego cheese with a pan-seared garlic and Spanish sherry vinegar reduction sauce, sprinkles it with roasted almonds and ground black pepper.

The Enrollades de Salmon, or lox salmon poppers ($7.50), however, were this reporter's favorite. The dish was an instant hit with its combination of smoked salmon, cream cheese, capers, tomatoes and jalapenos rolled up in a wonton wrapper and deep fried. The crispy, hot rolls are then drizzled with a vinegary garlic chili sauce.

Johnson said although most of her tapas are inspired by Madrid's famed Puerta del Sol, a huge corridor of restaurants in Spain, her tapas are not limited to Spanish cuisine.

Her taco sushi plate she has planned for January, for example, uses typical sushi ingredients - vinegared rice, tempura vegetables or cooked meats such as shrimp - but is placed in a wonton shell instead of rolled in a traditional sheet of seaweed before it is topped with pickled ginger slices, dabs of wasabi or Japanese horseradish, and nori flakes or dried seaweed.

"It's unconventional," she said. "A lot of my cooking, though, is north meets south meets east. It's so fascinating when you realize the culinary world when you come to see there are so many spices and so many people use them in so many different combinations."

Tapas can also be a light dish such as a soup or hearty stew and Johnson said she wants to make a baked chili with cheddar cheese and onions; a chicken poblano tortilla soup with avocado and chipotles on top and her Sopa de Pesce; and a South American-style chioppino with fresh tomatoes, red chile flakes, shellfish, shrimp, halibut and a fennel and celery-based broth, which she makes from scratch.

Truffles by the Sea is open from 4 to 11 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and can be reached by calling 332-2528.

(1-26-2006)

Tara Nelson, 27, of Bellingham, Wash., is a reporter for The Northern Light newspaper in Blaine, Wash., and a freelance writer. She is a graduate of Western Washington University's journalism program and enjoys cooking in her spare time. Tara can be reached by emailing tara@tasteofwhatcom.com.

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