Olé for the "Little Bull" - Torito Tapas Bar

Veronica Laudes, owner of Torito Tapas Bar with partner Luis Iglesias, zips around the cantina with her hair in two cute buns coiled under her earlobes. She's got the laughter, the exhuberance, the energy associated with Spain* and tapas - the midnight eating, the flamenco clackety-clack, the romantically seedy back-alleys of cities like Madrid and Barcelona. And although the place gives off that European edge (narrow interior restaurant, warm brick walls, bullfighting posters, festive vibe, hot hot hot Spanish-speaking bartender), it's a perfect fit for the grime of Kensington Market's Augusta strip. Torito can be easy to miss, especially in winter when the front patio is absent, so I've taken a photo of the sign - follow the bull's nose ring.

I was out for dinner with my brother View this photo to enjoy some one-on-one sibling time before he departs for a 2 year teaching commitment in the caribbean. While listening to him talk about his ocean view and the scuba diving lessons he'll be giving in his role as Phys-ed Teacher, I drowned myself in the best tasting ceviche I think I may have ever had (I've been across Spain and up the entire coast of Portugal and tried many a rubber ceviche in T.O.). It's made with tender white bass, lime, and coriander and served with a combination of fresh corn niblets and cooked corn kernals that taste alternately sweet and smokey. We drank Spanish white wines and moved onto crab croquettes - delicately pan fried sweet breadcrumb engulfed bites of heaven served with parsley aioli; grilled sardines served over fava beans and chopped fresh herbs - the sardines were just a bit too small resulting in a make up of 75% bone to 25% flesh, look out!; and a salad of arugula, fresh parmesan, sugared roasted almonds and the subtlest of dressings tasting. I have been to Torito before and can also attest to the delicious qual glazed with a light pomegranate reduction and excellent lamb sausages. Last night was too hot, too sticky, too appetite stifling to order much more than a few fish dishes and a fresh salad but hey, that's why we went out for tapas. Popular dishes around us on the patio were braised beef tongue and cheek, garlic shrimp, and what I can only think was roasted piquillo peppers stuffed with something white like salted cod being thoroughly enjoyed until the only thing to do was sop up the flavours with bread.

Everything is so fresh, so tasty, so perfectly done at Torito that it's hard to think back to a few weeks ago when looking for a place to eat down by Harbourfront in advance of catching a concert I ate at Lusso and had just about the worst most excessively overpriced meal I've eaten out in a long time and sadly all I had was a salad with grilled chicken and bruschetta. I prefer to stay away from the throngs of tourists and stick to grotty old Kensington Market and the good stuff.

Torito Tapas Bar. 276 Augusta Ave. Toronto. No reservations. #647-436-5874.

* Most people associate tapas with Spain and Spanish cuisine, as do I. I realize the owners of Torito are not Spanish; I believe they are Chilean and the chef, if it's still Carlos Hernandes, is Ecuadorian. Apparently there's been an in-city restaurant brouhaha about this. I do not care. Their food is delicious. Their menu is a sincere and genuine celebration of tapas. Now if only a couple of Swedes would open a Mexican restaurant in Toronto.