Flamenco Fare

Three nights a week at Alegria, a new tapas bar in downtown Long Beach, a thick piece of wood the size of a door is laid down on the bright mosaic floor. John Simpson, who studied flamenco guitar with Gypsies in southern Spain, plays his fierce music for a while, with guitarist John Bryant joining in. Then a tall, dark-haired dancer steps onto the makeshift dance floor and begins to beat out a staccato rhythm with her fuchsia heels. The fringes of the silk shawl tied across her breasts whip and snap as the music carries her along faster and faster.

With this latest venture, Enzo de Muro, who also owns the Italian restaurant L’Opera next door, brings the flavor of Spain to Pine Avenue. Alegria’s decor resembles more an avant-garde bar in Barcelona than the traditional tapas bars of southern Spain. Instead of hams hanging overhead and bullfighting posters on the wall, sleek little lights are suspended from an armature of interlaced steel pipes, and Miro reproductions are framed in joyous curves of purple and yellow and red. Patrons perch on high stools at either the copper-topped bar or a lacquered counter that dips in and out along the walls; there are only a few tables inside, more on the adjoining patio.

Alegria’s “little dishes of Spain” are much more substantial than the bite or two they would be in Andalusia or Madrid. The idea is to order four or five to share with friends, then continue with several more and so on. The menu here includes some two dozen cold (room temperature) tapas and just about as many hot ones. The zarzuela de pescado (a fish soup) has a lovely intense broth perfumed with saffron. Marinated olives, roasted peppers and trout with fresh mint are all quite good. But a purist might find the sauce served with the meaty lamb croquettes closer to a red pepper-flavored mayonnaise than a true romesco. Alegria gets an A for effort, but at this point, ordering can be a hit-and-miss affair.

* Alegria Cafe and Tapas Bar, 115 Pine Ave., Long Beach, (310) 436-3388. Open from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. (food served until 1 a.m. most nights) seven days a week. Full bar. All major credit cards. No reservations. Hot and cold tapas, $1.75 to $5.95. Flamenco music and dancing Thursday, Friday and Saturday starting at 7:30 p.m.