A Taste of Spain opens a tapas shop in Center City

For four years, Philadelphia shoppers have had A Taste of Spain at Reading Terminal Market as an outlet for Spanish groceries, sandwiches, and sliced-to-order ham.

Now, they have prepared Spanish foods to try from Vanesa Peredo and Alejandro Fernandez’s tiny new offshoot, now in soft-opening mode a mile away, at 104 S. 21st St.

A Taste of Spain joins a food-forward slice of Center City that’s home to El Merkury, the new Banh Philly, Black Turtle Coffee, Mochi Ring Donut, the Hart of Catering, and a forthcoming second location for DaMò Pasta Lab.

Fernandez and Peredo, natives of Spain, met in England about 20 years ago. She is from Santander, on Spain’s north coast, while he is from Seville, on the Mediterranean. He was studying physics, and she was studying to become a flight attendant and to work on her English. They moved to Scotland and then back to England, where they had their older son, who is now 14. In 2009, he took a job in Boston and two years later moved the family to Philadelphia, where their 9-year-old son was born.

The couple, wanting to show off Spanish culture, opened a Reading Terminal Market day stall called TortiYeah, selling tapas, and in spring 2019 won a contest to become a permanent merchant. A Taste of Spain opened that December.

This new location is a response to economics. The couple has no kitchen at the Terminal, so the product line has been limited. “As you can imagine, bringing [packaged] stuff from Spain has become very expensive,” Fernandez said.

Fernandez estimated that 70% of sales were dry goods, compared with 30% prepared foods. At the shop on 21st Street, they intend to flip the model, capitalizing on the more profitable prepared foods.

The prepared foods are served from refrigerator cases, as it’s done in Spain, and the menu includes dishes from all over the country. “Everything we have is something that we grew up with,” Peredo said.

There’s breakfast, coffee, and espresso in the morning (churros, tostadas, huevos rotos), followed by lunch and dinner food (flautas, salads, empanadas, rabas fritas, bacalao, marmita, a paella of the day), plus Basque cheesecake, flan, arroz con leche, and manchego with quince for dessert.

There are a few small tables, but the bulk of the business is takeaway. They’re experimenting with hours; figure on about 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Best to arrive from noon till early afternoon for the best selection.

The goal, said Fernandez: “If any Spaniard walked into this place, they would recognize every single element of the menu. Any Spaniard that prefers food at home, this is exactly what we sell. It’s the original recipe from our moms and grandmas.”