Hello everyone!
A friend of mine is in the process of opening a Spanish restaurant here in San Diego, but we are having a hard time coming up with a really great name....I thought, maybe, I could pick your brains for some ideas, (afterall, 1237 brains is better than 1!)....
The food will be traditional Spanish with beer and wine and it has a great patio. The owner is from the North (Spain) so a location name may be great!
Please post any and all suggestions...Thanks!

How about RioNansa - for the river that borders Asturias and Cantabria (if it's a seafood restaurant) or Covadonga, the place in Asturias where the Reconquista began in year 711 AD when Don Pelayo (and a landslide) ended the Moorish thrust toward the Mar Cantabrico.

Eddie-- I think those toponyms will be hard for non-spanish speakers (rye-oh instead of ree-oh, etc).

Maybe so, but we are talking about San Diego California, on the US - Mexican border. Most people in that area are somewhat conversant with the Spanish language. And if they want a place name for a Spanish restaurant, one would suppose they want an authentic Spanish name (unless, of course the owner is Euskadi, in which case I would suggest Artxnta, or Gallego, in which case I would suggest something in Galego). Perla Asturiana is also one that I have seen.

This naming business for a Spanish restaurant is a tough one - here are some examples of names used here in San Francisco:

Pintxos
Alegrias
Zarzuela
B44 (it is located at 44 Belden Lane - it is a catalan restaurant)
Cafe Picaro
Esperpento
Fina Estampa
Alejandro's
Barcelona (this was my beloved Catalan restaurant that closed last fall - had Gaudi influenced interiors)
Sol y Luna
Bolero

Hope this info helps.

Tomas




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"Salud, amor y pesetas - y tiempo para gozarlos" http://home.att.net/~t.macentee

Tomas, I've been to a few of the places you mentioned, too bad I never experienced Barcelona, sounds like it was a cool place...

Thanks for the ideas everyone, keep them coming!!!

p.s. by the way, is a name of a business only licensed for a particular town, or does it go by state...i.e. using the name Sol y Luna in S.D. when there is one in San Fransisco? Because of the influx of Mexican restaurants in S.D., we want the name to truly reflect the Iberian peninsula.

Wow! San Francisco has that many Spanish restaurants?! We only have two (that I know of) here in Minneapolis...with the exciting names "La Bodega" (for tapas) and "El Mesón."

I would have also said that something Americans can pronounce would be good--perhaps in San Diego things are different, but I really dislike hearing twangy American accents pronouncing things like "girasol" as "jeer-a-sawl."

Something that makes people think of Spain, rather than Latin America, would definitely be nice--all I can come up with at the moment would be references to Don Quixote/Cervantes. Something like "Patio de Dulcinea/Jardín de Dulcinea"? Something to do with windmills? Maybe not...gosh, this is hard!



[This message has been edited by taravb (edited 04-03-2001).]

How about "La Gran Tapa"? Oh...oops...

Seriously, though, how about these:

>Altamira (the famous northern cave)
>Almirante (for seafood?)
>Kaixo (for Basque...means "hello")
>El Cid
>Rocinante...etc. Any >El Molino or any Quixotic reference
>El Hombre Verde (which actually means "dirty old man"...would be a good conversation starter over a nice plato...
>El Picaresco (a novel style perfected in Spain)
>Casa de las Conchas (seafood...Salamanca reference)
>La Torre
>El Gusano...
>La Viña (for your wine cellar)

...and the most blah of all names:
>El Local

Have fun...we'll come up with some more over dinner at Allegria!

About the restaurant name - not sure in California if it follows the same rules for ficticious business names, known as dbo or "doing business as".

Anyway, just so you know, Sol Y Luna has been out of business for two years - they were located downtown in the financial district and for some reason, did not make it. So I guess there would not be confusion between the SF and the SD restaurant.

We've seen many Spanish/Catalan restaurants open here in the last 2 - 3 years. A new one is called Basque in the SOMA district and Cesar is over in Berkeley next to the famous Alice Waters restaurant Chez Panisse.

Tomas

Well, it's official, our friend and my husband are opening the restaurant, and the name is...(drum roll, please)...Costa Brava!!!
They are shooting for a mid-June opening and everyone is invited to the grand opening party!!!!

We are in the process of putting together the final menu and as well as having the traditional fare, we also want to include some items not normally found on Spanish restaurant menus (in the U.S. that is)..The chef is coming here from Santander and I expect great things from him@!!!! But, any suggestions from you all would be great!

I will post more for you L.A. people as to when the exact date of the opening is!!!!

Interesting choice of names. But, if the Chef is from Santander, wouldn't he be more inclined to cook the regional dishes of that area instead of the Costa Brava?

His cooking may very well be more along the lines of Basque traditional, and is more than likely those offered along the Costa Verde & Costa Vasca.

Having spent a great deal of time in different regions of Spain, we found the differences in preparation, and offerings, to be as diverse as those we find here in the US. As an example; crab cakes in Maryland, rarely found in the Midwest, jambalaya in Louisiana, difficult to find in Midwest. Southern cooking regional... same with the rest.

Oh well! I do refer to McDonald's as "Mac's Steak house."

Wolf

Wolf, I know what you are saying, and I believe the chef will be bringing some of his regional specialties with him...As for the name, the owners chose Costa Brava, because it is a recognizable name and has a conotation of Spain...
Here in Southern California, there are a few Spanish restaurants, but people still associate it with Mexican cuisine...The little they do know of Spain must be represented in the menu so they can recognize what they order...Believe me, we want to educate as well as serve great food, so that said, the menu will be somewhat typical...
I'm thinking of organizing chef dinners where the regional flavors can be paired with great wines, and the chef can "go crazy" introducing "new" food to the local palate...

So, what offerings are a MUST HAVE on a Spanish menu!?

[ 05-13-2001: Message edited by: laduque ]

That's a good point on Costa Brava. But to the average person, does it really tell them it's Spanish vs Mexican? The only people who would recognize the difference would be those who actually knew that Costa Brava is in Spain.

So, even if you get past the coastal cuisine differences, you still haven't resolved the problem about getting lumped into the category of having a Mexican restaurant.

I think you're going to have to show people in the name, that you serve Spanish food, and even then, there are many who still won't recognize the difference, and obviously you want them to recognize the difference.

Just my thoughts.

Wolf

Wolf, they'd have to call it Espana then, or La Casa de Espana.

It's probably too late for suggestions, but how about, simply, "La Cocina Española"? (The Spanish Kitchen)

Most people recoginize "Cocina" as "kitchen" because of the high number of ITALIAN restaurant having "Cucina" in their name. And everyone knows what "Española" means.

Good luck to your friend with his restaurant! Saludos, MadridMan

Both Nic & MadridMan have offered valuable options. In both cases, the names tell everyone out front exactly what the origin of the food is.

According to advertising gurus, the single most important advertisement that you will ever have is the name you give your business. Being able to identify what you offer as part of your name is key to success.

Wolf

I was at dinner with laduque when she broke the news to me...it seems the financial partner had final say in the name...so he went with Costa Brava...personally I would have chosen Altamira, but I wasn't funding the venture, even though laduque liked that name much better. I'm sure that with a little word-of-mouth the restaurant will do just fine. Location is also important, and I surely hope that they won't need to sell out to chips and salsa like Allegria in Long Beach. Come to think of it, Allegria isn't even Spanish...it's like Gitano and Italian or something...

If you get a niche and serve great food, you'll survive. This point was driven home last night as I dined at El Centro Basco in Chino, CA. They've been at the same location for 61 years...and the place was buzzing last night...on Mother's Day!

I for one plan to be at the opening...and every time I'm in San Diego I'll expect my table to be waiting!!! ¡Suerte, laduque!, and keep us al día with the plans!

Thank you Calibasco for the kind words...you surely will be on the guest list for the opening night gala!!!!
Anyhow, Calibasco is right, the financial partner does have the last word...
Just to let you all know, San Diego is pretty savvy at differentiating between Spanish and Mexican, and the proper title for the restaurant is: Costa Brava, cocina española. so that may be a clue to the clueless.

My husband will be running the establishment with our friend, both Spaniards, both worked at Cafe Sevilla in the early years, and because of them, helped make a name for Spanish food in San Diego, my husband has managed La Gran Tapa( the other Spanish restaurant in town) and both are well connected with the Spanish community here in town. I have no doubt that when one walks into their restaurant, they will know they are in a Spanish place and not something else....(Sorry, Wolf, I'm starting to sound defensive), There will be no compromise here...no chips and salsa or nachos!!!!Puro español!!!

As for my previous post, I want to hear what would interest you most, you spanophiles, as to what you feel is a must have on our menu?!!!

[ 05-15-2001: Message edited by: laduque ]

I'll put my vote in for Fabadas. I know San Diego's weather really doesn't scream Fabadas, but I couldn't resist. I'll order them! How about some Berenjenas Rellenas y pimientos rellenos. Yummy! I love migas as well. Wow, now I'm hungry! Please, oh please try and get real Casera- nothing like a propper tinto de verano in S.D.!
I'd also love to see arroz con leche and natillas (are those too "menu del día")? Ok, I realize most of my suggestions are "winter" foods, I'm sure you're looking for lighter things? How about crema de melón, bacalao fresco con salsa de marisco...I'll come up with more later- I must go make dinner now!

Here are some suggestions:

- Morcilla de Burgos sobre base de repollo
- Pintada (similar to poulet) en salsa
- Menestra de verduras a la riojana(mixed assorted vegetables with small lamb pieces)
- Niscalos con picadillo (minced assorted pork with orange fungus)
- Mollejas con setas de cardo (beef entrails with mushrooms)

I don't know if these dishes can fit (their origin is northern Castilla Leon), but they are delicious

I think you may have misinterpreted what I posted. I never indicated that you should compromise in any way or form, or offer chips, salsa, and nachos as part of your menu. You must have seen that somewhere else.

I was just offering you my experience as an investor, whose specialty is restaurants because of the huge potential return.

I have no idea how Spanish educated the San Diego population is, but I do know that a restaurant we bought in Miami for a song, which was offering Spanish cuisine, had failed, because of their name. We re-opened it with a name change and a logo, and sold it for a 450% profit in less than 18 months, since it was a wild success. We never spent one nickel on furnishing changes, and kept the same chefs.

But that was Miami, I have no idea about SD. It may be completely different.

Wolf

Wolf, I do appreciate your suggestions, your wisdom on the subject and your great humor on the board...Let's hope that the name sticks, the place is packed and the advertising works!!! WE are really excited about this venture, and are well aware of the big gamble the restaurant business can be!!! so anyway, thank you for your input, and keep it coming!!!

As far as the menu selection, We are having natillas!!!!, also, bacalao, piquillos (stuffed), and some of the other suggestions here are great...
I suggested fabada, but mi esposo states the morcilla is a hard one for Americans to swallow, and it's a bit heavy for S.D.....
Thanks you guys, again, for your support and ideas!!!

Hi Laduque,
My husband's family has morcilla on their Spanish restarant's menu and I was very suprised about the number of people ordering it(many for the first time because they were simply curious). I think the kind of customers that go to a Spanish reataurant are more open to trying something cultural and different than the norm.

Wolf--I was the one who mentioned nachos...no te preocupes...

My menu suggestions are the following:
-TORTILLA (of course...and make it real!)
-Cocido: lentejas, garbanzos, alubias, fabas, etc.
-A REAL ensalada rusa...the one at Gran Tapa blows chow! (my apologies)
-With all the seafood: Gambas al ajillo, bacalao, and of course seafood-only paella.
-I'm sure SD would love a real batch of patatas bravas, some cool gazpacho in the summer and other various tapas like pincho moruño, etc.

Please e-mail me with opening day information ASAP so I can make plans...I'm really looking forward to being there!!!

Yes, definitely tortilla...and with your proximity to the sea, any seafood dish (CaliBasco's suggestions made my mouth water). I love patatas bravas (I still have an old copy of Bon Apetit magazine with an AMAZING recipe for those) and also would enjoy seeing Spanish cheeses on a menu.

Our local tapas place doesn't have ANY Spanish beer...can it be found out in California? They serve Peroni (that's the name of that Italian beer, right?) and various others.

If you really want to shake up some diners, you could serve traditional sopa castellana. I love it, but it's odd to look at, what with that egg sitting in it. But maybe soups wouldn't work in San Diego.

Yum! What fun to think about all these great foods!

We are definitely going to have traditional tortilla, made fresh throughout the day!!yummy!
The only beer that we can import is the one from Granada, "Alhambra" I think is the name, because of the high alcohol content in most Spanish beer, we are unable to import it here..I would love to have cruz campo on tap!

You can find more menu ideas at http://www.columbiarestaurant.com/menu.html , the menu listings for the Columbia Restaurants in Florida. There are 8 of them, and the first was opened in 1905. There are some Cuban influences, but many more typical Spanish dishes too.

Tara

[ 05-16-2001: Message edited by: MadridMan ]

How about "Sabor?"

Just a few thoughts:

• Whatever you do, please, don't put flamenco / bullfighting things for your restaurant decoration. Spain is much more than this and you should help your customers to discover what the real Spain is like.
• I didn't know people gave such importance to the name of the place. I was really surprised when I read about Wolfgang restaurant having success only by changing the name. But, if that the way it is in the US, think twice before you take a decision.
• For me, the most important thing would be the quality of the food and making sure you really offer real Spanish food. One of the secrets of our cuisine is olive oil. I guess it must be very expensive to import and to cook with it but it is one of the most important things.
  
  Also make sure your cook is Spanish or has been working in Spain and knows how to cook Spanish food. I remember a Spanish restaurant in Bath (England) serving food that doesn't have anything to do with what we have here at our homes. (BTW, its name - "Manuel's" - is also a bad one in my opinion).
• What about having "thematic nights"?. I don't know which is the day of the week when most people go out for dinner there. I guess Fridays or Saturdays. Well, you could have a "noche celta" with some nice songs by Carlos Nuñez, Hevia, Cristina Pato, Luar Na Lubre and other well-known bands. Or a "noche flamenca" with the most recent flamenco (flamenco-pop music) bands (Ketama, José El Francés, Niña Pastori, Navajita Platea, etc). Obviously, the food on those nights should agree with the music.
• The Spanish tourist office there in the US should be able to provide you with posters from Spain for the decoration. Maps from different parts of Spain or even pictures from your trips could be also good things to put on the walls.
• Have you think of importing Spanish beer / wine?. How easy (and cheap!!) is it to get them?.
  
  Oh, and last but not least... how many people in your community have visited Spain?. If there are many people, they will love to have a restaurant offering the same good food they had in Spain. If not, how could you convince them to try it?. Advertising at the local paper?. Uhm, I'd better leave these things to the expert entrepeneurs we have here.

Hope you find useful my suggestions.

Regards,

Antonio

Gracias Antonio for your very thoughtful imput, everything you mentioned is exactly how we feel here...My husband and the owner of the restaurant are both Spaniards and the chef is coming from Spain this summer so the experience is going to be totalmente autentica!
I also love your ideas on the thematic nights regarding the music, we will definitely incorporate it...

p.s. Calibasco, still no exact date on the opening, but will keep you posted...

I just had an epiphany after reading Antonio's post. I agree to a point that you should steer clear of the Gran Tapa decoration style...I think that dividing your restaurant into "autonomous regions" might get the discussion going. If you have a couple of dining rooms, you may be able to decorate with all the regions:

-sección gallega
-sección asturiana (y de cantabria...)
-sección vasca (y navarra)
-sección aragonesa
-sección castellana (vieja/nueva)
-sección manchega
-sección extremeña
-sección andaluza
-sección catalana
-sección canaria
-sección «baleares»

I think this to be a more permanent version of Antonio's theme night idea, but it might work. You would have to include some flamenco decor with Andalucía, but at least it wouldn't be the focus of the overall decor. Solamente una idea...

[ 05-27-2001: Message edited by: CaliBasco ]

Jaime's new post reminded me of this and I justed wanted to add an update:

Restaurante Costa Brava is officially open for business!!!
Our friend has opened the establishment about 3 weeks ago, and word is spreading!!
The food is excellent, very typical Spanish, an all Spanish wine menu, the best Sangria in San Diego (so we are told) and even Alhambra beer (the only Spanish beer for export)!
I swear the Spaniards in S.D. are coming out of the woodwork and we are now starting to see repeat customers (a good sign)!
I'm sorry to be raving about it, but I am so happy to be a part of this venture!!!

p.s. MM, I'm not soliciting, really!
p.p.s. Cali, we still don't have a date for the real grand opening, but you are on the list, should be in about 2-3 weeks, i'll keep you posted!!!

[ 08-03-2001: Message edited by: laduque ]