Fate is a fickle temptress. The very day my Ph.D. diploma was placed in my hands, I received an invitation to audition to host a show for The Food Network, which will feature cheap, hidden, gourmet food around the country. The casting agents had found my bar menu deal map as well as my Chronicle piece, and requested an audition video talking about myself, inexpensive deals around Boston, and the ways they were found.

I chose to focus my audition piece on Estragon, in Boston’s South End, which serves dollar tapas at the bar from Monday through Thursday from 5:30-7pm.

Items on the dollar tapas menu may include:

  • Pan Tumaca con Jamón – Serrano Ham on Tomato-Garlic Toast
  • Queso de Cabra con Tomate – Warm Spanish Goats’ Cheese & Tomato on Toast
  • Boquerones con Manchego y Tomate – White Anchovies, Manchego Cheese & Tomato on Toast
  • Patatas Bravas – Feisty Fried Potatoes
  • Lengua con Mojo Verde – Beef Tongue, Canary Island Salsa on Toast
  • Torreznos - Crispy Fried Pork Belly, Salsa Picante
  • Tortilla Española – Traditional Spanish Omelette
  • Chorizo - Grilled Spanish Sausage on Toast
  • Pringá - Braised Beef Shank, Pork Belly & Bone Marrow on Toast – Garbanzos Fritos
  • Crispy Paprika Chickpeas – Aceitunas Marinadas
  • House-marinated Olives – Alcachofas Fritas
  • Crispy Fried Artichoke Hearts, Alioli

Estragon is among my favorite places for tapas in the city, mixing exceptional food with reasonable pricing (especially with the dollar menu). Despite its chic decor, with walls adorned with pictures of Salvador Dali and half-naked women, Estragon serves traditional tapas from Chef Julio de Haro’s childhood in Madrid. Incidentally, Chef de Haro claims that Estragon is the only tapas place in the greater Boston area in which the chef is actually a Spaniard. This is a leg up on the McDonald’s dollar menu, as I’ve yet have a true Irishman make my McDouble.

If you do stop by for dollar tapas, make sure to order the artichoke hearts and pringá (a buttery marvel). You will not regret it.

We’ll see how the audition goes. Wish me luck….


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