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The Age
Friday March 26, 2010
Next time you crave tapas at MoVida, head west. You might even get a seat.It looked out of place, at the start, the cloned red Bar de Tapas Y Vino sign pointing up an unlovely set of concrete steps in the legal precinct instead of in its familiar haunt down graffiti-daubed Hosier Lane. The idea of transplanting MoVida itself from its cloistered real estate to a place far, far away - OK, five city blocks in the CBD's west - in a brand-new office building seemed nigh on heretical. But it's a grower, MoVida Aqui. The name says it all - aqui means "here", but behind it is the story of newfound social and cultural freedom in post-Franco Spain in the 1970s. Sticking for a moment with the era's hippy-dippy sentiment, MoVida Aqui certainly lets the sunshine in. All that space; all that light; all that colour, including an unusual shade of green around the ceiling that looks like it was exactly colour-matched with a guindilla pepper.The original MoVida is a great tapas bar, no doubt about it, but I've always suspected that part of its three-month-waiting-list appeal stems from the way its recherche, cobblestoned location and its hip Euro genuflections help make us feel rather clever about ourselves. The gamble that chef Frank Camorra and his partners took was whether, stripped of those attributes and the alluring patina of age, the new MoVida would resonate with the dining public. Strike another blow for the Spanish revolution. The Supreme Court dome that dominates the skyline through the floor-to-ceiling windows certainly helps anchor its own claim to local affections, but Aqui is bigger and bolder than the original not only in design. The latest outing manages to nail an ambitious multifaceted venue with aplomb: bar, tapas bar, restaurant and al fresco cafe out on the terrace with MoVida Terraza, the all-day breakfast-to-dusk cantina where the suit crowd can grab a pre-office tortilla and cafe con leche.There's more elbow room in the restaurant than back at the mothership, but the most entertaining seats in the house are around the large wooden bar that flows seamlessly into the open kitchen. Your chances are better than getting a table in the restaurant, although fear not: the menu remains the same wherever you choose to park. It features plenty of welcome encores from Hosier Lane, including the anchoa, the signature anchovy with smoked tomato sorbet that launched a thousand tapas obsessions, but for every artistic impulse there are more backward looks. Aqui is more firmly rooted in the rustic traditions: Camorra isn't too up himself to deny the after-work drinks crowd plates of rib-sticking patatas bravas, and the fried calamari sandwich is the stuff of fast-food dreams. Then there are the plates of disturbingly good jamon that disappear in a whisper, leaving only a memory of rich nuttiness and an ache in your wallet. Tapas and paella get their look in here, but the main focus of the menu is raciones and items cooked on the stovetop (a la plancha) and chargrill (a la parilla) - entree-sized dishes eminently deserving of being shared among a table. There are just-seared scallops, each with a little draped hat of jamon, on a finely diced pisto (Spain's answer to ratatouille). There's pulpo, the traditional octopus terrine tarted up by Camorra for the smart set. From the chargrill there's quail, doing time with chickpeas and the house-made morcilla, or smoky asparagus with more of the addictive romesco. It doesn't fall down at desserts, either. From the helados (ice-cream) selection, the rockmelon sorbet demands superlatives. Or fig tart - more like a cake, really - with a light, faintly cinnamon-spiced milky sorbet.You still have to time your run at Aqui, don't get me wrong. But the Bourke Street land grab means that sitting down to a stonking meal at MoVida (as opposed to grabbing some tapas Next Door) can now be more of a spur-of-the-moment decision. Next time the need arises, go west.MoVida AquiLevel 1, 500 Bourke Street (entrance off Little Bourke Street), city, phone 9663 3038LicensedCards AE DC MC V EftposOpen Monday-Friday noon-late, Saturday 5pm-lateSmaller dishes $4-$6.50Larger dishes $13.50-$48Desserts $10-$13
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