The Gossiping Gourmet: Vaca is a meaty taste of Spain

Amar Santana has opened his latest restaurant, Vaca, on the main floor of an office building in Costa Mesa just down the street from the Segerstrom Center and South Coast Repertory. For his latest venture, he is featuring the cuisine of Spain.

The first thing my eyes went to when I entered was the array of cheeses and charcuterie in the front case. It is a lovely selection, but that is just the beginning of the many offerings and categories on the menu.

Tapas form the longest list, with 23 varieties of the appetizers. Then come eight kinds of charcuterie, 11 cheeses, four paellas, seven side dishes and 14 entrees.

Guests might want to order one or two of Vaca’s special cocktails and nosh on good crusty corn nuts while deciding.

After a certain amount of debate, my dining companion and I chose the albondigas — very tasty roasted lamb meatballs resting on a bed of lemon yogurt sauce and sliced cucumbers with sprigs of dill on top.

I really loved the dates, which were stuffed with blue cheese and Serrano ham and soaked in local honey. They were addicting with notes of salty, cheesy and sweet.

Sadly our other tapa was not up to par. Calamari lover that I am, I was surprised to find that the grilled calamari with stewed eggplant and salsa verde was a bust. The calamari was very, very rubbery.

I was eager to try the paella de mariscos and was delighted with the dish. This seafood paella contained clams, mussels, shrimp and octopus, strewn atop saffron bomba rice — the preferred rice for paella in Spain and the star of the dish for me. It was really flavorful — well seasoned with a perfect texture. Vaca also has a meat paella, a vegetable paella and a toasted noodle paella.

The entrees are mostly Angus beef sourced from Aspen Ridge Farms in Colorado, and the meat is excellent. The farm uses no animal byproducts in its feed, nor does it use hormones or antibiotics.

My dining companion selected the prime skirt steak, which was tender, juicy and flavorful as well as perfectly cooked. It came with four little cups of sauces: chimichurri, romesco, A1 and red wine. It was one of the best steaks I’ve tasted in a long time. It is no wonder that the restaurant is named Vaca, which means beef in Spanish.

I chose the whole roasted Cornish game hen, which was also perfectly cooked. The meat was moist, and the skin was brown and crispy.

The entrees do not come with sides, but sides can be ordered. We had to try the patatas bravas, which is on almost every menu in Spain. These little potatoes were served whole with the skin on. A tomato sauce and a garlic aioli added a nice touch of heat.

We also enjoyed zanaorias con yogur, which was made with roasted heirloom carrots, red peppers, pickled chillies and paprika yogurt. In addition, we wanted to try the zetas al ajillo, cremini mushrooms with garlic and parsley. The dish was just OK.

For dessert we were eager to taste Mama Santana’s flan, but it was so-so — dense but lacking in rich flavor.

Our second choice was the cheese plate. It was based on wonderful Spanish Idiazabal cheese, which is made from unpasteurized sheep milk, and accompanied by current jam, apricot jam, spicy pickled cucumber slices, blanched almonds and crackers. This made a delicious ending to a very good meal.

The restaurant has an open kitchen, lots of repurposed wood and high ceilings. It does get quite noisy in the evening when it’s full, but that seems to be the trend these days.

TERRY MARKOWITZ was in the gourmet food and catering business for 20 years. She can be reached for comments or questions at m_markowitz@cox.net.

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VACA

Location: 695 Town Center Drive, Suite 170, Costa Mesa

Hours: 5 to 10:30 p.m. daily

Prices:

Tapas: $6 to $15

Entrees: $24 to $64

Desserts: $7 to $12

Wine:

Bottles: $27 to $256

By the glass: $8 to $16

Corkage: $25

Information: vacarestaurant.com; (714) 463-6060