Philly Dinner c/o Apamate

On Thursday I had a job interview. It was the second round for a position that I think I would actually be good at and that, maybe, wouldn't make me want to die all the time from boredom or lack of purpose. I went in thinking, honestly, that they were going to hire me...I had had a pretty good telephone interview and then I, regardless of my insecurities, seemed to do a great job on the editing try-out. There was, however, a moment in the interview where I suddenly had this sinking feeling that I was wrong-that this wasn't a formality of seeing my face and making sure I wasn't crazy-and that I had a long way to go before being hired. A full five or ten minutes later I was very relieved to find out that as long as my references weren't lies that they were going to hire me. Luckily, my references aren't lies...so...like...I finally got a job! This is a slow process: understanding that I actually have a job. I'm not starting for a couple of weeks but, you know, I will. And suddenly I'll have money that isn't from a tax refund or my parents. Yeah. It's kind of nice. Anyways. On Thursday I met up with A. A. and I went to high school together though we didn't actually socialize. He is one of a few people from high school that I wasn't actually friends with during that four year period but whom (who?) I do now consider friends. Weird, that. So I met up with A. and two of his friends (one who formally worked at my new employer's and the other another person I went to high school with...who I really don't think I ever spoke to...I could be wrong...but I don't think so). We went to Apamate and had ourselves a lot of little itsy plates.

It started with bread and oil with a bit of saffron.
I ordered a bowl of the cream of wild mushrooms soup. It was wonderful. It's a shame how mushroom soup can't escape a sort of weird browny purply color...not that much of a shame, though, because it is so tasty.
There were croquettes filled with ham and bechamel...they weren't one of my favorites.
Then there was the calamari stuffed with a scallop, piquillo pepper, gordal olives mousse served with a black sauce...or that's what the online menu says...I'm not entirely sure it was that exact concoction for us. It was pleasing to look at and the filling had a nice mix of salty flavors going on.
Their special 'pinxto' was an oxtail concoction on a plantain chip.
We shared the Plato de Charcuteria: Serrano Ham, lomo embuchado, chorizo, nevat goat cheese, Manchego and Membrillo and Cabrales blue cheese. My favorite of the meats was the chorizo, man do I love that stuff. And the of the cheeses? The Membrillo.
We also had the seared sea scallop with garlic, chives, thyme & topped with a lemon-green apple emulsion (I'm just copying and pasting this stuff from their menu...and again I remember the exact order of ingredients differently...but I think I'm just crazy). This was a well seared scallop and the flavors didn't do anything other than complement it...in a great way...I mean that as a comp-li-ment! I think I would have liked to taste a little more apple though...just to see.
And then there were the crispy morcilla sausage candies with apple and sage served with a sweet and sour sauce. I didn't particularly care for this, though the others seemed to have positive things to say about it. I don't think it was bad...I just don't think it was for me.
We also tried the lamb meatball surrounding a green grape and sofrito served with a red wine and herb reduction.
These mini-tapas all ranged in price from about $3 to $6. And each one could easily be a single serving for one person. We were splitting them four ways which made for just a bite of each...with the exception of the Charcuteria and my soup, of course. This made it possible that we weren't getting the full glory of each dish...for example the lamb's grape was in one bite but not in the other three...etc. I think that this also kept the meal relatively affordable...though A. had a gift certificate which covered everything but the tip...so, what's my point? I don't know. It's also B.Y.O.B. Lovely.