Cooking at Taberna de Haro

The Spanish wine and tapas restaurant, Taberna de Haro, has changed quite a bit since I first wrote about it three years ago.

Last year, we expanded the restaurant to include a full bar, offering bar tapas and mixed drinks.

The bar
(Photo courtesy of Taberna de Haro)

We also increased our patio seating and revamped our menu. And of course, we have our ever expanding wine list, currently with over 320 Spanish wines.

The patio
(Photo courtesy of Taberna de Haro)

In addition to being a server these past few years, I took on the position as a cook last year. It was a great experience to work in the restaurant in the front and the back of the house. I also enjoyed learning more about cooking and about how many of the dishes that we offer are made.

Making salad for the staff meal
(Photo courtesy of Celeste Radosevich)

My duties included preparing various menu items and weekly specials. I became an expert at cooking the classic Spanish omelette, the Tortilla Española (find a recipe here). Fun items that I also helped to make included pâté and our house-made Spanish blood sausage, morcilla.

House-Made Morcilla: Spanish blood sausage with sliced apple

On Tuesday nights, I was in charge of the cold and brick oven station. This included serving up our suckling pig special, cochinillo asado, cooked in the brick oven and served on Tuesday nights from October - May.

Whole roasted suckling pig

(Photo courtesy of Taberna de Haro)

Heating up the roasted suckling pig for the family meal
(Photo courtesy of Celeste Radosevich)

Other special dishes that I helped to prepare include:

Roasted duck breast over blood orange and frisée greens

Quail egg and house-made lamb bacon on tomato toast

Rabbit escabeche salad with pomegranate seeds and onion

Taberna de Haro is located at 999 Beacon St., Brookline, MA 02446. We offer authentic Spanish cuisine, including tapas, entrees, wines, and cocktails. Enjoy the rest of the patio season while it is still warm out, and look out for our roasted suckling pig, winter, and brick oven dishes returning in October! Visit the website and sign up for the newsletter for more information and to stay up to date about events.

Although I will not be returning as a cook in the fall, I will still be serving at Taberna de Haro. Come by and say hello! I will also be continuing my position as a CSA Distribution Coordinator at Waltham Fields Community Farm until the season ends in the end of October. Finally, I am looking forward to beginning a Master of Science in Food and Nutrition Program at Framingham State University this fall!