Cova: Not your usual Spanish tapas bar

MILLIE: My best friend, Verne Santos Cuyugan Reyes and I spend a lot of time wining and dining out when she’s in town. When we get tired of the local dining scene, we venture further like nearby Hong Kong, Singapore, or I visit her in LA. Most of the time, we really don’t want to eat. We just want to enjoy each other’s company over a bottle of good wine and some tapas. Our current favorites are the Mary Edwards Pinot Noir 2009, the Rutherford Merlot 2005 and the Spy Valley from New Zealand. We even bring the bottle of wine and pay corkage because we just want to enjoy our wine.

One evening, we decided to try Cova, a new tapas bar along Jupiter Street, Makati, which is owned by my dear friend Benjie Guevara’s daughter Tatyana and her partner Patrick Hesse. Taty and Patrick both graduated from Enderun College and spent a few months training at the Hotel Arts in Barcelona.

Tatyana Guevara and Patrick Hesse, the tandem behind Cova Tapas y Sangrias

The evening reminded me of one night in late January this year when Verne and I, together with my cousin Pol Chavez, dined at The Bazaar, a tapas bar with a very extensive menu featuring modern and traditional tapas selections by the famed chef Jose Andres on La Cienaga Blvd. in LA. But that’s another story.

Cova was quite a surprise! Verne and I started with the pintxo de queso frito, which were Gruyere cubes deep-fried with honey and served with caramelized onions. The gambas al ajillo, an all-time favorite, was served with Parmesan chips. I extremely enjoyed the ravioli de rabo de toro featuring a blend of oxtail shreds, foie gras, shiitake mushrooms and oxtail jus.  The plato de carne surtidos looked very appealing as it features the famed jamon Iberico de bellota, which is expensive because it is acorn-fed, free-range Iberico ham.

Huevos cabreados is made with shoe string potatoes, crispy chorizo, garlic and sunny side up eggs.

KARLA: One rainy night, Mom and I decided to go for some sangria and tapas and since I had not been, we went to Cova. We ordered the croquetas variadas consisting of jamon Iberico, truffle mushroom and crab salad; cappuccino de jamon Iberico, which is a light and creamy almond soup with Iberico ham and veal sweetbread cookies; taquitos de pollo, which are tiny tacos stuffed with tequila-citrus marinated chicken, smoky guacamole and pico de gallo; and finally, one of the more interesting creations would be the huevos cabreados. These are originally served with French fries, which they changed to shoestring potatoes. It is served with sunny-side-up eggs on top and crispy chorizo aioli, which was a perfect finish to the dish. We’d definitely come back to try their other specialties like the risotto de gambas con bacalao, Mar y Tierra, lengua con setas and many more.

The interiors of Cova Tapas y Sangrias Bar on Jupiter street, Bel-Air, Makati

Taty talks about how she and Patrick came up with the concept. They had started making their business plan back when they were in Barcelona for their apprenticeship. They both made a list of their favorite dishes and decided to recreate them. Since there already is a pulutan culture here, they wanted to bring the Spanish culture of tapas, socializing and small servings to the Philippines. Their whole idea was to be able to popularize non-traditional tapas, originally targeting young professionals. Because their tapas are quite unique and presented beautifully, they are getting a mix of crowds, which is a very good sign. Even when mom and I visited on a weekday, they had table reservations and were practically booked for the evening. We were just lucky that we came in early and that there was a table for two available.

The interiors of Cova made us feel like we were in a very modern cave. Taty mentions that their friend Luigi Tabuena, who is originally a film director, helped them with the design. Taty and Pat have great partnership. They have divided their tasks. Pat is in charge of the wine selections and the kitchen, as Taty is in charge of front-of-the-house duties, including greeting the guests. This partnership reminded me much of my grandparents, Joe and Meldy Reyes. This, as well, was their arrangement in handling the operations for The Plaza. My lolo would always be busy in the kitchen to ensure that service ran smoothly, while my lola was in charge of greeting the guests, and what was most natural to her: socializing.

Taquitos de Pollo are bite-sized tacos stuffed with tequila-marinated chicken shreds, smoky guacamole and pico de gallo.

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Cova Tapas y Sangrias is located at 22 Jupiter Street, Barangay Bel-Air, Makati. Call 478-9700 for inquiries and reservations.