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Two-and-a-half hours. That’s how long I waited in line to try Bar Nestor’s famous tortilla. Located in San Sebastian's Old Town, the tiny bar and restaurant specialises in the sunshine-golden simple dish, and if you don’t get there early enough to put your name down for a slice, you miss out. Soft eggs, tender potatoes and sweet onions come together to make something truly greater than the sum of its parts. Would line up again.
The great news is that I don’t have to, and neither do you, because there's a tortilla nearly as delicious on the menu at Letra House, the new underground wine bar from the Love Tilly Group. It’s cooked beautifully: caramelised on the outside, jammy in the centre, with plump little prawns scattered throughout. The accompanying fermented chilli, garlic and tomato sauce adds a bold and fiery dimension.
Bloody hell, it’s good
What’s also seriously good is a glass of 2023 Sommernat from Poppelvej in McLaren Vale, poured tableside. Butterscotch in colour, it tastes like a tutti frutti fizz and summertime house parties. Our waitress tells us Poppelvej is the name of the street in Denmark where the winemaker Uffe Deichmann grew up. Cracking stuff. Yes, I would love another, please.
Letra House opened at the end of last year in peak silly season. It’s located on Kent Street in Sydney’s CBD – underneath Roman-style trattoria and sibling venue Palazzo Salato – but you won’t see it from the street. Instead, follow the cobblestone footpath underneath the archway and turn left. There, you'll see a 1860's heritage building that once housed the Sydney HQ of the London-based Letraset company.
A small, neon-pink angel marks the spot. You’ve arrived
Designed by Studio Vista’s Sarah Watt, the low-lit space is moody and enchanting, with exposed brick walls, walnut-stained timber, statement arches and wine bottles along the walls. The wine list, curated by co-founder Matt Swieboda and head sommelier Julie Barbero-Lesage, is exciting and dynamic, with more than 50 bottles all available by the glass. Regions span from Lebanon to Greece, Portugal, France, Austria, Italy, Australia and Spain.
I go for a glass of 2023 Getariako Txakolina by the family-owned Zudugarai. Crisp and clean with notes of green apple, it takes me straight back to late-night bar hopping in Basque Country.
Head chef Brandon Jones is behind the Spanish-inspired menu, which is mostly made up of tapas-style snacks designed to share. You could begin with salty jamón serrano or buttery Ibérico, but it’s hard to go past a savoury donut. We’re chuffed when two golf ball-sized spheres, wearing a fat anchovy hat and a dusting of tomato powder, come to the table. We take a bite, and Manchego custard oozes out, and I’m again reminded how fun it is to be an adult.
Next, three raw prawns arrive resting on a tostada made from cassava, atop a swipe of aioli. Lime zest adds freshness to the soft, delicate prawns, and a vibrant prawn and paprika oil amps it up.
The ripper snacks continue, with a skewer of grilled octopus coated in fiery sobrasada with a squiggle of labne on top. The meat is tender, not tough, and the spreadable cured meat brings a whack of garlicky, spice-rich flavour.
A thin brandy snap cradles duck liver parfait adorned with segments of cherries, and it's also a winner. The toffee-like, chewy case combined with the rich, smooth and minerally parfait, along with a burst of tart cherry, is divine.
It’s about now when my date tells me he’s never tried Sangria before. After I pick my jaw up from off the ground, I ask the bartender if they could please make us one. Vibrant and sweet with a citrus aroma thanks to an orange segment, it gets the tick of approval from my date, who says he could drink this all day, every day. Me? I’m gonna make it this weekend.
As well as being the pasta lords of Ragazzi and Fabbrica, The Love Tilly Group is well-versed in the language of wine bars. After all, they’re the ones behind one of Sydney’s first vino haunts: Love, Tilly Devine, and Potts Point’s Parisian-like dream, Dear Sainte Éloise. (Redfern’s La Salut was also under their reign until it closed last year.) And with ace sips, snacks and service, their latest venue, Letra House, is another knockout, just like Spain’s much-loved sangria and tortilla. Leaving your house (and coming to this one) has never looked so good.
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