PAMPLONA wins Best Paella!

PAMPLONA wins Best Paella!
Spain wins the World Cup!
And the bulls can finally stop running the San Fermin.

Last Friday, July 9, PAMPLONA Tapas Bar took First Place against four other Spanish restaurants in the paella competition at the San Fermin in Nueva Orleans Festival’s El Txupinazo Kick-Off Party, held at 6:00 PM at The Chicory (610 South Peters) in New Orleans.

Paella (pronounced pie-A-uh) is a traditional Spanish rice dish similar to jambalaya, and PAMPLONA’s version, called “Paella Valenciana” after the Valencia region of Spain where the dish originated, includes chicken, chorizo sausage, calamari, muscles, and clams, with sliced piquillo peppers, peas, carrots, saffron, and other seasonings.

In addition to free samples and full plates of award winning paella, PAMPLONA also served albondigas (Spanish pork meatballs), chorizo potatoes (spicy chorizo sausage atop duck fat fried potato medallions, topped with a smoked paprika aoli) and free samples of flan (sweet custard) for dessert. Because of the distance from Lafayette to New Orleans, PAMPLONA’s Executive Chef Craig Crosby opted to transport all the raw ingredients to New Orleans, and then rented a stove once there. All of the night’s offerings were cooked on-site to ensure the food served at the party in New Orleans was of the same fresh quality that regulars in Lafayette have come to expect from PAMPLONA.

Executive Chef Crosby and Operations Manager Brendan Akers accepted the award on behalf of the restaurant.

This was the 4th year of the San Fermin in Nueva Orleans Festival, which coincides with the original San Fermin (running of the bulls) in Pamplona, Spain. More information on the three-day New Orleans festival is available at their Web site: www.NOLABULLS.com.