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Estadio
This Spanish tapas bar has lived on Spring Street long enough that it no longer gets the shine of being new. That’s probably a good thing. Estadio opened in 2019, weathered a few changes in the kitchen, and settled into the neighborhood as the kind of place where you might just sit at the bar and order something salty and a drink. Chef Jeremy Gozlan, who took the helm last December, is giving Charleston another reason to pay attention.
Gozlan has worked in some serious kitchens, including the late Michelin-starred Finch in Brooklyn, but there isn’t much résumé waving on the plate. He’s focused on sourcing quality ingredients and highlighting their flavors. That means the menu continually changes, keeping the restaurant tied to the current season instead of some laminated idea of Spanish cuisine.
There isn’t much preciousness to his cooking. The tortilla is a tortilla—egg, potato, onion, paprika. Beef heart gets blistered over the fire and sauced with blackberries. Squash often comes draped in jamón. Calçots (Spanish green onions) drip with romesco and peanut—the traditional Catalan dish translated with fresh scallions. The Cigarillo is a crispy little blunt stuffed with local shrimp. Small bites; you get the idea. The cooking mostly stays out of the way, which is harder to pull off than it sounds.
The room helps. There’s a huge bull mural behind the long bar, tiled walls, an open kitchen, and the sort of communal seating that makes strangers privy to one another’s dinner. Gin and tonics, vermouth, sherry, and Spanish wines lubricate a cadence that feels appropriately informal for food designed to be passed around.
Estadio takes a few reservations and lots of walk-ins, which tells you what it wants to be. This city has spent 20 years learning to cook for visitors. Here is a restaurant cooking for Tuesday.