Review of Mateo

Where is it?
109 West Chapel Hill Street
Durham, NC 27701
919-530-8700
www.mateotapas.com

When did this happen?
August 17, 2012

What did it cost?
$50 for two, with dessert


Since I moved to Durham, I've been saying to myself and to anyone else who will listen, "What Durham really needs is a tapas place!"  It only took four years, but I finally got my wish.  And when it rains, it pours because in one summer we've seen not one, but two tapas restaurants open in my favorite part of Durham - Five Points.  Taberna Tapas opened in the old Mexican place on Main Street (is it just me, or was that place never open?), and Mateo Bar de Tapas took up in the excellent real estate of the old Book Exchange.

Early rumors judged Mateo to be the more bona fide choice.  It's owned by Matt Kelly, chef of Vin Rouge, and he's known for creating an authentic dining experience.  To The Vegetarian Durhamite's mind, this information was both heartening and concerning - I'm sure Vin Rouge is great, but unfortunately I can't really partake since it's authentic French menu is decidedly un-vegetarian-friendly.  If Mateo was going to turn out the same way, boy would that be a disappointment.

Well, after my first visit, I can say, "Vegetarians, rejoice!"  Kelly has stepped out of the box a bit with Mateo's menu - it's advertised as having "Spanish Heart/Southern Soul" and there is a decidedly southern flavor to some of the tapas.  Perhaps this novel take on tapas freed the menu to be a bit more obliging to different dietary choices.  Whatever the reason, I found there to be enough vegetarian plates on the large menu at Mateo to make for many enjoyable meals. 

The menu is divided into pintxos (small snacks), tapas frias (cold), and tapas calientes (hot).  Unfortunately, the vegetarian options are not evenly divided among these categories - there are only two vegetarian hot tapas, and neither are vegan.  So if I can be so bold as to make a request as the menu evolves, one or two more tapas calientes for us vegans and vegetarians would be much appreciated.

We ordered probably a bit too much food for two people, but it was hard to resist:  Croqueta of piquillo and cheese from the pintxos menu; Pan a la Parrilla, the traditional Tortilla Espanola (of course!), Ensalada de Romolacha Asada, and Escalivada from the cold side; Patatas Bravas, and Queso Frito y Huevo from the hot side.

Pan a la Parrilla

We asked our waitress if we should give some directions as to how we would like this feast to come out of the kitchen, and she assured us they would pace it and it wouldn't come out all at one time.  Well, that was a complete lie.  In the space of what felt like ten minutes, all seven of our dishes appeared on the table.  It was overwhelming, and very irritating.  I want to linger over a meal of tapas and focus on only one or two things at a time.  Instead our table was overrun with dishes that we had to continue to carefully move around like puzzle pieces to make room for our elbows and water glasses.  I felt like I was managing my meal, instead of the kitchen and wait staff.  Good thing most of our dishes were cold to begin with, or there is no way we would have been eating everything at its ideal temperature.  Lastly, this meant we were done with the savory portion of our meal in about 35 minutes - too quick of a pace for a restaurant of this caliber.  So if you prefer to take your meal at a more calm pace, I would recommend keeping the menu at the table and ordering in stages.

Croqueta and Tortilla Espanola

Our dinner sprint began with the Pan a la Parilla ($6.5) - crostini with three dips of romesco, green pea and manchengo, and olive tapenade.  The five slices of crostini were definitely not going to do the job for all of this dip so we requested more bread right away.  The green pea and manchengo was my personal favorite; it had a really nice light mint flavor.  The romesco was nice, but a bit thin for spreading on bread.  Tapenade was standard fare.

The Croqueta ($4) appeared at the same time.  This was the most obviously southern twist on spanish tapas - basically three fried mounds of pimento cheese.  This was a fun and tasty dish - a bit salty, but fine considering it was a small plate.

Patatas Bravas and Ensalada de Remolacha Asada

Tortilla Espanola ($5) and Patatas Bravas ($6.5) are the most traditional (vegetarian) tapas in my mind.  Of the two, I liked the Patatas Bravas better here.  The spicy tomato sauce the potato bites were nestled in was absolutely delicious, one of the best flavors of the whole meal.  What I didn't like so much was the fact that the whole plate was covered in a thick drizzle of aioli.  Don't get my wrong, I love aioli.  But I want to have a bit more control over my aioli intake; this was rich and I ended up scraping a lot of it off.  I would personally prefer a small dish on the side to dip the potatoes in.

I thought the slice of Tortilla Espanola was unremarkable - too bland.  It came atop a slather of that rich aioli, so that added flavor to the plate, but I would like a bit more salt in the egg itself.

The Queso Frito y Huevo ($6) was a very crisp fold of manchego cheese, enveloping a fried duck egg, and topping a layer of romesco sauce.  My partner really liked this dish, I felt okay about it.

Blurry photo of the Escalivada

Our last two cold plates were the Escalivada ($6) and the Ensalada de Remolacha Asada ($8).  The Escalivada was grilled red pepper, eggplant, onion, squash, and tomato.  I don't particularly care for simply grilled vegetables, especially this cold and wet version.  I wouldn't order this again.  The Ensalada, on the other hand, was the best dish of the meal.  This was a tower of watermelon, avocado, roasted beets, and orange, topped with goat cheese and pine nuts.  It was fresh and delicious, a creative combination of seasonal flavors - don't miss it.

We finished with Churros con Chocolate for dipping.  The churros were just like what I've had in Spain, and the chocolate was fairly thick and not too sweet - a fine ending to our meal.

Mateo's space is lovely - a high, bright ceiling of white metal tiles, nice light coming through the large windows, dark woods, and exposed brick.  Lingering at our table would have been more enjoyable if the staff hadn't been slightly annoying.  We were seated adjacent to the back staff stand, even though we had a reservation and there were more appealing tables for two available.  A woman who appeared to be the manager frequently stood a close six feet away from us surveying the restaurant - it felt a bit intrusive.  The bus staff must not have wanted to look under-worked because our water glasses were refilled continuously, whenever they dipped a mere inch below the rim.  I appreciate an attentive staff, but this was just ridiculous - our conversation felt interrupted every four minutes.  All of this, on top of the much too quick arrival of all of our dishes, made for a less enjoyable dining experience than I would have liked.

I will definitely add Mateo to my regular rotation of restaurants because of the good food.  There are a handful of vegetarian plates in addition to what I have reviewed here that I'm still eager to try.  But next time I will be more assertive about where I sit and I'll take the pace of the meal into my own hands by staggering my order.

The Vegetarian Durhamite's Final Verdict:
Pleasantly surprised by the number of vegetarian tapas!  You won't need to have the same, exact meal every time you go.  Some plates were great, some were good.  The wait staff was a bit irritating.  Nice interior space.  All in all, a good addition to Five Points and to Durham.