Casa Vostra & Esquina’s Chefs Team Up To Open ‘Casual Neighbourhood Tapas Bar’

Chef Carlos had worked at three-Michelin-starred restaurant El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain, and the two-Michelin-starred Zuberoa, in Oyartzun. He also rose up the ranks to become sous chef at the two-Michelin-starred Cinc Sentits in Barcelona just four months after joining it, before moving to Singapore to helm Esquina.

Chef Antonio, an Italian-born Singapore PR who started popular pizzeria La Bottega and year-long waitlisted private diner Casa Nostra here, recently also launched restaurant Casa Vostra at Raffles City, which has been seeing frequent queues for its casual Italian fare.

What’s on the menu

Carlitos touts itself as a tapas bar with “no pretenses and disguises, just solid high-quality ingredients turned into delicious grub”.

There’s Paella del Dia ($26), cooked a la minute with what’s fresh on the day and served in individual tapas-sized portion.

The small plate tapas options span a range from meat, seafood to veggies, like Gilda Pintxo ($12), with smoked sardine, pickled onions and green olives, and the Macarrones del Cardenal ($14), with house-made penne pasta tossed with secreto ibérico pork and sofrito (Spanish-style tomato sauce). There are also vegetarian-friendly options like Alcachofa Brasa ($18), Spanish artichoke served with saffron polenta, garlic and parsley.

For those who love food from Southern Spain, Carlitos also serves hotplate molletes, Andalusian flatbread sandwiches like the Bikini ($12), layered with Ibérico ham, truffle brie and mushroom duxelles.

For dessert, you can expect traditional Spanish sweet treats like the house-made Churros con Chocolate ($14) with a Valrhona chocolate dip, and Tarta de Queso ($12), a Basque burnt cheesecake served with sangria sorbet.

Over 30 Spanish wine labels sourced from small-batch winemakers across Spain are offered at Carlitos, with prices starting from $58 for a bottle, or from $16 for a glass of red or white wine. Red or white sangria is at $18 a glass.

Carlitos is at 350 Joo Chiat Rd, S427598. Open Wed-Sun. Wed & Thu, 5.30pm-11pm, Fri & Sat 11.30am-3.30pm; 5.30pm-11pm, Sun 11.30pm-3.30pm; 5.30pm-10pm. www.carlitos.sg.

Photos: Carlitos

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