Ibiza Kitchen In Chappaqua, New York, Is A Beacon For Modern Spanish Cuisine

 

Chef/owner Ignacio Blanco goes gar beyond tapas on his menu at Ibiza Kitchen.

             Over the past twenty years I’ve had several occasions to pronounce Ignacio Blanco one of the finest Spanish chef/restaurateurs in America, first in TriBeCa at Meigas (put out of business after 9/11), again in a restaurantenamed Ibiza in New Haven (now closed), then in Ibiza in Danbury, Connecticut. Now that he has added a branch of Ibiza in Chappaqua, New York (about an hour from midtown Manhattan, in Westchester County), he and Chef Ivan Ortiz and Chef de Cuisine Vanesa Oreiro seem emboldened by a more affluent, well-traveled clientele not seeking the usual dozen tapas selections you find elsewhere. The menu even offers vegan, gluten- and dairy-free items.

Croquetas de Almejas are a form of Spanish clam chowder and Chinese soup dumplings.

The range is extraordinary, with some crossover from the Danbury Ibiza, but there’s much that’s new. My table of four people just told Ignacio to feed us and the results were stunning.
We began with a mix of greens, strawberries, pears, almonds,caña goat’s cheese, aged Sherry and a raw honey vinaigrette ($13) that set up the palate for some piping hot “clam chowder” croquetas($12), which were like Chinese soup dumplings—you bite through a crunchy skin to have the chowder ooze out to mix with a bacon aïoli. Wild Gulf shrimp ($17), fat and juicy, came with shaved garlic, olive oil, lemon, parsley, guindilla pepper and sea salt, with every element playing a role in the taste and texture of the dish. Marinated boquerones(anchovies) glistened atop avocado, black olives, tapenade and toast (left).
The first bay scallops of the season (below), vierias, I’ve had were grilled with broccolini florets, almonds and a rich cauliflower emulsion ($32), and fresh creamy foie gras came with hazelnut nougat, salt-cured tuna, mango and toast on skewers ($15). Salmon was a special that night, napped with a maple bourbon glaze from the local Taconic Distillery($32), while lubina   ($32) was a salt-baked sea bass with root  vegetables confit, pinenuts,   raisins and paprika oil (shown in photo at top).

Bay scallops at Ibiza Kitchen are served with quail’s eggs on top.

Pato Asado  ($29) was juicy breast of duck breast with crusty grilled polenta,  smoked bacon, dates and a tart citrus sauce.   Slowly  cooked baby back ribs called costelitos($26) had a pungent  mustard-laced potato puree with sweet notes from Asian pears and soothing aioli.
Pulpo à la gallegawas a Galician-style octopus dusted with Spanish paprika and served on the crispy, caramelized rice called soccaratfound at the bottom of the paella pan ($18).

Rollito de Chocolate is a crisp pastry shell wrapped around chocolate mousse.

torrija moderna was a caramelized bread pudding ($11)  crema pastelera croquetas right

 Ibiza is open for dinner Tues.-Sun

IBIZA KITCHEN 
78 King Street
Chappaqua, NY
914-458-5044

First-rate desserts followed: a traditional a Basque “drunken cake” called goxua with English cream, caramelized and blood orange foam ($11), and plump chocolate ( ) with crushed almonds, coconut foam and lime gelatin ($12).    The wines selected, from the Spanish Artisan Wine & Spirits Group, went impeccably with the food:  Albariño Lagar de Candes;Valdeorras Godello from Adegas D. Berna; and Ribeira Sacra Mencía red from Val da Lenda. Ibiza’s décor, which is now fairly stark, is a work in progress, but the lighting is good and shows off the food very well. The sound level is also civilized. Anyone who goes to San Sebastian in Spain will find scores of tapas bars serving varying versions of the same dozen dishes, but at Ibiza in Chappaqua the genre has been greatly expanded by Ignacio Blanco with respect, imagination and vision.