Bellota, a SOMA restaurant steeped in the cuisines of Spain, opened about five months ago. It’s from the Absinthe Group, which also operates Absinthe, Arlequin, Boxing Room and Comstock Saloon. Bellota’s executive chef is Ryan McIlwraith, recently of Coqueta, the celebrated Spanish restaurant from Michael Chiarelo.

I and a friend visited Bellota for the first time this week. It was a very good experience with a wealth of food and drink options left to explore on future visits.

Bellota is located at 888 Brannan on the ground floor of GiftCenter & JewelryMart. Walking in the front door and up a few wide steps brings you face-to-face with a large open kitchen. The host stand is to your right. There’s a seating area, including kitchen counter section, to the left and another group of seats, plus the bar and lounge seating to the right.

The decor is industrial chic with Spanish overtones. A pattern which recalls Moorish screens decorates the tall, concrete pillars and upper reaches of focus walls. Large prints, reminiscent of Joan Miro (I didn’t check the signatures) liven up the bar. Between those prints and the kitchen, a huge window displays dramatically illuminated legs of Iberico ham like works of art.

The open kitchen at Bellota San Francisco

All stools at the bar, a long peninsula which juts out from an impressive wall of spirits, were occupied when I arrived at 8:30 on a Wednesday night. Most people were not just drinking but eating. Above the bar, four sherry-filled oak barrels are magnets for attention, their contents available on tap. In the corner, near the front window is a black baby grand piano and a microphone, clearly in regular use but unmanned during my visit.

Bellota has sherry on tap from cask.

The host seated me on the other side, at the kitchen bar. From there, I had a good view of goings-on throughout the space. That portion of the kitchen isn’t hot and the stools are comfortable, so it was a fine place to dine. Noise levels are high when you walk in—130+ people talking, concrete floors and an open floor plan. Once seated, it was easy to carry on a conversation though, thanks to sound-absorbing ceiling tiles and an attractive, deeply padded wall.

There are plenty of options for drinks with one’s meal, all Spanish. There are 15 wines and 20 Sherries by the glass. A Sangria, nine beers, eight ciders, nine house cocktails and nine options for Spanish-style Gin & Tonics (served in a large goblet) round out the choices. We kicked things off with a glass of the Fernando de Castilla Fino Sherry ($7 on tap)—fresh, clean and appropriately savory but not at all complex—and a lively, appetizing glass of Uriondo Bizkaiko Txakolina 2015 ($11).

Soon, a Pincho cart wheeled up. Selections include spiced Marcona almonds ($7), marinated Spanish olives ($9), skewers of anchovy, boquerone, pippere (peppers) and olive (4/$9) and cheese of the day for $10. The olives were good, if steeply priced, and the skewers enjoyable bites of salty-sour heat.

In a restaurant called Bellota—Spanish for “acorn,” the preferred food of those pigs which give their lives for the highest-quality Jamon Iberico—one must order the ham. We did. The tender, unctuous meat is hand-sliced to order in the traditional style, moderately thin and in small pieces. rather than the long, paper-thin strips you might get from rotary slicers at a deli counter. For $30, you get about 1.5 ounces, along with four slices of lightly grilled bread and small ramekins of fresh tomato purée and salt.

Also tempting on the “Charcuteria y Quesos” portion of the menu were Embutdo, a selection of jamon serrano, chorizo sausage, sobrasada plus the pan con tomate ($20) and Charcuteria, a grand assortment of sliced meats, cheeses, pan con tomate and more ($40). But, given the depth of the overall menu, we moved on to the Tapas.

First up was Pulpo, small bites of steamed octopus with rabe, heirloom beans, marinated shallot and gazpacho verde ($11). The portion size was generous for a small plate. The octopus was very tender, the beans nicely al dente. The green sauce provided just enough of an herb and vinegar accent.

Next was “Tomate” a salad of chopped, red heirloom tomato, capers, croutons and white anchovy ($16). The tomatoes were flavorful but each item on the plate asserted itself in turn. The marinated capers were tangy and salty, the anchovies properly fishy and vinegary (but not too much). Creamy dressing with plenty of mint and other herbs added freshness. Croutons, fried crispy and golden-brown in olive oil, played referee with all those flavors, resetting my palate for the next bite.

Then we enjoyed Croqueta ($15). These were three crisp, golden fritter balls—about 1.5 inches in diameter—filled with a creamy purée of clam and sea urchin, served on pickled ramp and seaweed powder. The filling emphasized fresh urchin flavor. I’m going to order these (pictured at the top of this article) every time I go to Bellota and be crushed if they take it off the menu.

Our final tapas was Albondiga ($16), three large meatballs of yogurt-braised chicken and spinach with toasted pine nuts and fresh pomegranate seeds. The meatballs were tender and mildly spiced with cinnamon and allspice. The combination of aromas and flavors in this dish seemed to herald in the Fall season.

For the last four items above, I went to a different wine, Bodegas Valdesil “Sobre Lias” Godello Valdeorras 2013 ($13/glass). It’s medium-bodied and light gold in color with elegant flavors of dried flowers, gentle citrus and herb, baked pineapple and mineral. It was rich enough to follow the sherry and hold up to the our last two tapas, but not so much as to overwhelm the seafood. Very nice and well-priced.

Our final dish was from the “Hearth” section of the menu which features four selections cooked on wood-fired plancha or in the oven. Among the choices were whole sea bass, cooked a al plancha with jamon and kohlrabi salsa, zucchini and escarole ($38), Fabada, a stew of chorizo, white beans, morcilla, pork belly, octopus and cabbage ($42 or $24/half-order) and Chuleton, dry-aged beef pan-roasted and served with basque chimichurri and bone-marrow Hollandaise. The steaks are $100 for a 32-ounce, bone-in porterhouse and $50 for a 16-ounce t-bone.

Our selection, though, was a half-portion of Cordero. It’s slow-roasted lamb with Moorish spices, ember-roasted eggplant and brown-butter figs splashed with PX (an extremely sweet, dark Sherry). It’s served with toasted flatbread, to soak up the juices, and topped with micro-greens. Our plate was $24, full orders are $42.

The sliced lamb was perfectly cooked: medium-rare, tender and juicy. The thickly sliced eggplant had been cooked until soft. It absorbed flavors from the fire, but also the lamb, fig and PX. Since Bellota is geared toward sharing, this half-order is still a substantial portion.

To go with this dish, I chose a red wine from the bottle list. I went for the Tempranillo-based A. Fernandez “Dehesa la Granja” 1998 from Castilla y Leon ($130). The sommelier decanted the wine and I was immediately greeted by aromas of oak, coconut and a bit of red fruit. I took this to mean the wine was still youthful, despite its age. Tasting the wine told a different story. The medium-bodied wine showed substantial structure from fine, soft, persistent tannins but flavors of oak, coconut and spice still dominated. The fruit, stewed dark berries, was definitely in retreat.

I brought the remains of the bottle home and refrigerated it over night. It was totally dead the next day. If you happen to have some of this in the cellar, drink it soon with well-marbeled steaks cooked over wood.

There a lot of wines to choose from, most fairly current vintages. Bottle prices range from $28 for Vevi Verdejo Rueda 2014 to $3,180 for L Heredia “Tondonia” Rioja Gran Reserva 1961. It’s good list. Don’t read too much into my experience with that one bottle.

There is a lot more food to try at Bellota. They pride themselves on paella, with servings large enough to feed two-to-four people. The four options right now include vegetarian,  chicken, seafood and jamon. You can also order a half-and-half pan.

Then there’s “Mar y Montana” ($50), a surf-and-turf tower of five items. There’s the octopus I tried, plus dishes featuring marinated oysters, poached clams, poached sablefish with trout roe, and beef. As with the octopus, individual orders are $11.

The tapas menu includes eight items in addition to the Tomate, Croqueta and Albondiga. There are the mandatory Bravas, crispy hunks of potato with smoky aioli ($10) and Tortilla, a thick omelette loaded with potato, onion, rainbow chard and crispy chorizo aioli ($14). Other items, ranging from $12 to $18, include three vegetarian choices, brussels sprouts with migas (a cooked mash-up of day old bread, spice and pork) and baked pasta stuffed with shrimp with crispy sweetbreads, mushroom and honey-sherry salsa. In addition, there are four grilled vegetable dishes in single-serve portions for $11 each.

We didn’t get to dessert. You’ll have to give that a try and let me know how it is.

The atmosphere at Bellota is fun, lively and casually refined. I found the service to be courteously friendly and efficient. All of the food items I tried were very good. I wouldn’t hesitate to re-order any of them. The selection of drinks will satisfy anyone who doesn’t insist on non-Spanish choices. Prices are  quite reasonable given the portion sizes. One person on their own might be satisfied by just two, perhaps three tapas. A half-portion from the Hearth will be quite filling.

I’ll definitely be back.

Copyright Fred Swan 2016. All rights reserved.