The Restaurants We Can't Live Without By Tom Fitzmorris #105 Rambla Spanish. Tapas Bar. Hotel Restaurant. CBD: 221 Camp. 504-587-7720. Map. Breakfast and dinner seven days. Lunch Monday-Friday. Saturday and Sunday brunch. Nice Casual. AE DC DS MC V ihhotel.com/restaurant.html   WHY IT'S ESSENTIAL   The CBD is evolving rapidly as the social center for young professionals, including many who are without downtown jobs. Rambla has been adopted by many of these as a hangout. One can come here for a drink and a minimal nibble, taken at one of the large communal tables, and either stop right there or let the next round follow, all the way up to a substantial meal. Others of the same tribe can thus be met to the extent desired.   WHY IT'S GOOD   The tapas-bar concept from Spain is adopted here more fully than in any of the many Spanish restaurants that have opened in the past few years. The menu groups dishes not by course or ingredients but by price, ranging from $6 to $16. Even dishes on the high end could as well be called large appetizers as entrees. (Exception: paella, which isn't recommended anyway.) The contrasts among the selections--hot and cold, spicy and mild, meaty, seafoody, and vegetal--stimulate the appetite. Most of the charcuterie-style meats are cured in house. While most of the food is unambiguously Spanish, more than a few Creole flavors work their way in. Which itself is authentic.   BACKSTORY   This is the all-day restaurant of the International House Hotel. It's managed by Ken Lacour, Kim Kringlie (the owners of Dakota and Cuvee) and Bob Iacovone (Cuvee's chef.) Rambla opened in the fall of 2008, taking over the space formerly occupied by the Lemongrass Cafe. The name comes from Las Ramblas, the busy, colorful boulevard of shops, food vendors, and cafes in the old waterfront area of Barcelona, Spain.   DINING ROOM   To my eyes, it looks like a parking garage into which highly miscellaneous restaurant furnishings have been dragged. Most of the furnishings were in fact hand-built by a craftsman in Covington. Three large, high tables in the center can accommodate twelve to twenty people each, and function as a bar would, with a complete stranger potentially at your elbow.   ESSENTIAL DISHES   Patatas bravas (like brabant potatoes, but spicy with aioli). Charcuterie platter. Five-onion tortilla. Empanadas stuffed with brisket and greens. Torchon of foie gras. Alsatian onion flatbread with bacon. Fried oysters with chorizo and corn. Banderillas (skewers of ham, white anchovies, peppers, and olives). Steak tartare. Mariscada (mussels, calamari, and crawfish in an herbal broth). Seared tuna with smoked romesco. Grilled octopus with chickpeas and chili oil. Cochon de lait with choucroute. Strip sirloin steak with grilled chicory leaves.   FOR BEST RESULTS   Be under forty. Go with a large group of friends and the entire evening free. Grab a tapas snack in the middle of the afternoon when you don't have time for lunch or supper.   OPPORTUNITIES FOR IMPROVEMENT   There's a wide swing between the best and the worst food here. The music is irritating, but that's probably just my taste. Some of the seating is uncomfortable for dining at length.   FACTORS OTHER THAN FOOD   Up to three points, positive or negative, for these characteristics. Absence of points denotes average performance in the matter. Dining Environment +1 Consistency +1 Service +1 Value +1 Attitude +1 Wine and Bar +2 Hipness +3 Local Color +1   SPECIAL ATTRIBUTES    Romantic Good for business meetings Private dining room (fewer than 25) Private dining room (more than 25) Open Sunday Open Monday Open most holidays Open late Open all afternoon Vegetarian dishes Quick, good meal Reservations accepted Reservations honored promptly Click here for an index to all 200 Essential Restaurant reviews. Click here for the index to all the reviews so far. © 2008 Tom Fitzmorris. All rights reserved. news@nomenu.com