Tapas and broken tiles

Having holidayed in Spain several times, I fell in love with tapas. They reminded me of Greek and Lebanese Meze where a multitude of small dishes is served throughout the meal. 

Diners help themselves to spoonfuls of bean stew and morsels of meatballs, prawns in garlic and chicken skewers. It is such a communal way of eating that suits warm evenings, where the sangria flows by the gallon and conversations last well into the night.  

When a building firm downsized to smaller offices in the Marina, I looked at taking on a unit to open another restaurant to get over the disappointment of missing out on buying the freehold at Krimo’s. I even thought of a theme and a name. A Tex-Mex steakhouse I would call Chillibillies. When I look back, I am glad I didn’t go ahead with the project. With a name like that, I do not doubt that the enterprise would’ve flopped within months.

In the meantime, the empty units were soon occupied in 2005 as the marina became very busy. A Japanese Teppanyaki restaurant called Fujiyama opened first, then, next door to it, a fish restaurant, Big Mussel, both of which were already trading successfully in Newcastle. 

While Fujiyama was popular, especially with parties, Big Mussel struggled from the start. Within a few months, the owner was ready to throw in the towel. I had a word with him, and we agreed that I would take on the lease to open a tapas bar. I picked brains to come up with a name, and Brett, a waiter of ours who had worked at Seaton Carew before embarking on a holiday rep career, mentioned the name of a bustling place in Ibiza, Café del Mar. Not wanting to be a copycat, I came up with Casa del Mar, the House by the Sea. From then, it was all hands on deck. 

While I loved tapas, I had no idea how to operate a Spanish restaurant. My knowledge of Spanish was limited to “Dos Cervezas, por favor!” although it has greatly improved since then. I have now graduated to the ordering of food as well as drink. Once the opening date of 23rd January 2006 was pencilled in, our Portofino’s second-chef, Kevin who later went on to become a catering lecturer at the College of Further Education, agreed to move to Casa del Mar as head-chef. Together, we began researching Spanish cuisine. We visited various tapas bars in the region and devised a menu. Karen and I started discussing colour schemes and décor. Having designed and made several mosaics over the years, I decided to use my cowboy skills to decorate all the mirrors around the restaurant and the front of the bar.