Despaña

"Despaña in Soho only serves their tapas on Fridays and Saturdays, which is sad, because we’d like to eat their sardine toast with goat cheese, pesto, and lemon zest just about every single night of the week. This place is actually a Spanish grocery, so their tapas feature meats, cheeses, olives, and boquerones that come from across the Atlantic, folding in seasonal vegetables and fruit. Don’t skip the tortilla with crispy crumbles of chorizo, and make sure to grab a bottle from their wine shop next door first. They’ve got big communal tables—you can easily come here with a group and order the whole menu." - will hartman, willa moore, molly fitzpatrick, bryan kim

"Eating tapas on a weekend night at Despaña feels like a more homegrown, less corporate, and decidedly more Spanish version of a night at Eataly. The Soho spot spends its days as an importer of fine Spanish goods, and you’ll walk past shelves full of boquerones and a butcher’s case full of chorizo and jamòn to get to your table. Despaña isn’t reinventing the wheel with their tapas, but they do play the classics really well. photo credit: Will Hartman They only do dinner service on Fridays and Saturdays, but the food encapsulates everything we love about eating tapas. It’s inexpensive, great for sharing, and filling—and the tapas highlight things available at the shop, in addition to some really fresh produce and seafood. You can also grab a bottle of Spanish wine from their shop next door,  making this a perfect jumping off point for a night out around Soho. Focus on meats, cheeses, tinned fish, and olives, plus a few must-order bites: Food Rundown photo credit: Will Hartman Goat Cheese, Sardine, and Pesto Toast After we finished this toast (which took two people roughly 73 seconds), we immediately asked our servers to throw a tin of these sardines onto our tab. Salty, yet bright with lemon zest and a punch of basil, this is our favorite dish here. photo credit: Will Hartman Pan Con Tomate For such a simple dish, it’s actually relatively hard to find a great version in New York. Despaña’s is in balance—extremely bright tomato, not too much garlic—and the olive oil is served on the side, so it’s a choose your own adventure with how much you want on each bite. photo credit: Will Hartman Tortilla with Chorizo That chorizo in the butcher’s case is calling your name. Listen to it. The crumbled pork is crisp and the tortilla is nice and creamy. photo credit: Will Hartman Pulpo Grilled and sliced thin, this pulpo almost belongs on the meat and cheese section of the menu. It’s savory and satisfying." - Will Hartman

"If you’re looking for Spanish wine or just want to drink something you would have tried on your cancelled trip to Malaga, this Despaña Vinos y Mas in Soho is delivering bottles in Lower Manhattan via their website. They also ship within New York state just in case you’re outside of their delivery zone." - nikko duren

"Changing up your lunch order usually means adding some greens to your rice bowl. Planning anything more adventurous would infringe on the time you usually devote to finding out which Parks And Rec character you are, so we did the work for you. Go to Despaña - a tapas bar in Soho with a giant menu. We like the chorizo cooked in apple cider and thin slices of octopus over mashed potatoes, but the best part of this traditional tapas spot is asking for samples of Spanish cheeses and cured meats while you wait for your meal." - hannah albertine, bryan kim, matt tervooren

"TV Pairing:Community (Netflix) “I keep coming back to Community during quarantine. It’s objectively entertaining to live vicariously through the witty banter between a college study group turned best friend circle - especially while we’re missing that in-person connection with our own close friends right now. This show actually makes me laugh out loud (rare) and has even reminded me of a few of my brightest moments from college in Berkeley. Community is sort of like a hyperbolic yearbook, but without the embarrassing photos or meaningless quotes - and with more Donald Glover. The Spanish class that brings the cast together is more like a series of bite-sized lessons in authoritarianism, led by comedian and actor Ken Jeong. So it only makes sense that you’d order some tapas to go along with it.” -ND" - hannah albertine, nikko duren, arden shore, matt tervooren