Bravas; salmon

Eastside Road, December 13, 2014—

MIDDAY SUPPER today, in town, with a couple of old friends who'd drive up for the occasion. We're lucky at our end of the county to a local chain of restaurants, each with its own well-focused personality — a steak house, a couple of small-plate places, a vaguely Italian American standard, and the tapas place we'd decided on.

Bravas serves really wonderful Spanish ham, jamón de Serrano, but I wasn't in the mood today. Instead, my companion and I split a plate of delicious boquerones, white anchovies in vinaigrette, and a tuna-belly salad with lettuces, sliced onion, green olives. She went on to the Spanish tortilla; I had the skirt steak, served on a bed of soft blue cheese and heavily sauced with whole mustard seeds — too heavily for my taste, in fact.

Albariña, Licia; Tempranillo, La Tremenda (nice)

• Bravas Bar de Tapas, 420 Center Street, Healdsburg; 707-433-7700

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Supper at home — that's it in the photo — was a bit of leftover risotto — a dish that doesn't suffer from a couple of days in the icebox — and some smoked salmon paté on toast — followed, of course, by a green salad, then fruit.

Cheap Pinot grigio