When Flan y Ajo, the tiny hole-in-the-wall tapas restaurant, closed suddenly in fall 2014, I was devastated. Perhaps you think I was overreacting? I felt deeply connected to the establishment for many reasons. I traveled to Spain in college and had the opportunity to indulge in two of Spain’s greatest traditions: siesta and tapas. Flan y Ajo brought a genuine, delicious version of the latter to Providence. I was thrilled! Whenever someone visited from out of state, it was the first place that jumped to mind to bring them. It was even where my fiancé and I went on our first date. So you see, I wasn’t really overreacting, right?
Jump to fall 2015, and thank goodness another Catalan-inspired tapas place opened in Flan y Ajo’s place: Vinya Tapas. And it’s fantastic! My aforementioned fiancé and I just checked this place out and were overall very pleased.
First of all, Vinya did some great renovations to the spot, specifically opening up the floor plan in just the right way to accommodate more guests. If you’ve been to its predecessor, you’ll remember that seating was scant and dicey. Fear no more! The (comfier) stools abound. However, there’s still no bathroom. You have to go through Eno Fine Wines and Spirits next door to get to the bathrooms, which is odd, but not a deal breaker by any means. It has a sort of speakeasy feel to it, especially when you have to walk through a silent art gallery to get there. Perhaps on your way back you’ll stop and get another bottle of wine for your BYOB dinner or some other much-needed staples for home! That’s right: Vinya Tapas is a BYOB establishment, and it does not charge a corking fee.
That comida though! The food at Vinya Tapas is wonderful. We started off with complimentary delicious crusty toasts, with (what I’m assuming based on its light, fresh taste) authentic Spanish olive oil and sea salt for dipping. Our second course was a charcuterie board with spicy goat and manchego cheeses accompanied by a spicy sopressata and serrano ham (another mouth-watering Spanish staple as most Spaniards have their own dried, cured leg of pig in their kitchens). The patatas bravas were cooked to perfection and topped with a spicy aioli, giving them just the right amount of kick. And finally, we had the camerones al ajillo y habanero, which is basically spicy shrimp scampi sans pasta. T
he succulent shrimp was served in a spicy garlic sauce and was probably the best thing we had there. Pro tip: Ask your server for more of that crusty bread to dip in the leftover sauce. You can’t let that go to waste!
The only very slight drawback that I encountered was the service. It wasn’t that we waited too long for our food, but our server had a vaguely hipster-could-care-less vibe. She did warm up a bit toward the end of our meal, but having worked in the industry for 10 years, I get a bit turned off by this sort of vibe. I know as well as anyone that the public can be draining, but wait staff should at least try to smile and should definitely greet customers as they enter the establishment.
What’s also interesting to note is that Vinya Tapas doesn’t accept tips, but instead adds a mandatory 22% administrative fee applied to all bills.
Overall, I cannot recommend Vinya Tapas more highly. Grab a bottle of your favorite wine (or pick one up at Eno next door if you forgot) and go check out Vinya Tapas as soon as possible! It’s authentic Spanish tapas at its best. You will not be disappointed.