Tapas

San Jose, California, March 20—

AN OKAY CAESAR SALAD for lunch downtown someplace, and a light supper, we thought, at a tapas joint we found next to Peet's when we went out for coffee afterward. Not so light, though, as we ordered a little heavy, and these "small plates" turned out to be pretty big. I watched Lindsey eat her shrimp; then we tucked into four bacalao croquettes, a good-sized platter of patatas bravas, another of green beans cooked with garlic and pine nuts, and finally four butifarra: rounds of soft, spicy Catalan sausage laid on tomato slices set on grilled bread. The flavors here were really good, the service pert and friendly, and the setting pretty and lively, to put it positively. (Noisy as hell, to put it plain.)

Albariña, Raimat, 2008

Picasso's Tapas and Restaurant [22-22-22], 62 W. Santa Clara St., San Jose; tel. 408.298.4400