Pronounced 'Carrrrca' with a rolling of the 'r' sound, the newest Spanish restaurant in the Southern Highlands, Carca Restobar, brings the taste of Spain to Moss Vale.
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Carca, derived from the Basque dialect from Northern Spain, means old fashioned and traditional and is the brainchild of local chefs Ian Armstrong and Angelo Oyales.
"It's a funny story," Ian explains.
"When Angelo told me the name, I wasn't sold on it. I was looking and Don Ian or Don Angelo. And then he said, CAR are the first letters of my mother's name Carmen and CA are the last two initials of your mum's name Veronica.
"I was sold after that. We have their portraits in the restaurant."
Carca Restobar was born from Ian's love of Spanish food.
"I've been to Spain three times now," he explains.
"The food is simple, raw simple food. Once you start cooking it correctly, it's amazing.
"You don't have to put in the airs and graces like French food. It's just good honest food. What you see is what you get and it tastes amazing."
As the chef, Ian has had quite a say in what's on the menu.
"I knew what I wanted to do," he said
"I've worked in the industry for 30 odd years, I've met Spanish chefs, Argentinian chefs getting ideas.
"It was a case of I want to do this, how do we make it work in Australia. We don't alter it in any way. That's with the tapas, the mains and a lot of the seafood."
The desserts, however, are the work of Angelo.
"All our desserts are made in-house," explains Ian.
"However two of our desserts are Angelo's mother's recipes. It's a beautiful touch.
While the desserts have been influenced by Angelo's family, Ian joked that none of the food was inspired by his mum.
"None of the food comes from my Mum because she couldn't cook," he joked.
"Mum was cuisine challenged. I probably got the love of cooking from my dad.
"He use to cook up a storm for us."
His inspiration however comes from a love of Spanish culture which is reflected in the food offered at Carca Restobar.
"Once you go there, you can't get better than that," he said.
"Everybody knows that Mediterranean cuisine is the best cuisine to have."
For anyone keen to taste the flavours of Spain, Ian recommended sharing some tapas to begin.
"Spanish food has to be shared. You just graze," he said.
"Just order some traditional tapas first and then definitely go with a paella.
"I think we do the best paella outside of Sydney. We do it correctly, the traditional way and we serve it in the pan we cook it in.
"What we cook it in, is what you're getting."
And while business has now picked up since COVID-19 restrictions eased, Ian explained that it was tough when they first opened last year.
"It's a beautiful story but it's also a harrowing story," he said.
"John and Anna Psarakis from Seafood Affair wanted to sell up," he said.
"Tommy, John's son approached me and asked if I was interested in buying."
However Ian wasn't entirely convinced, but after speaking to Angelo and after several meetings with the Psarakis family they put together an offer.
"We formally bought it in February 2020, and we were getting ready for a launch at the end of February and start of March," he said.
"Then COVID hit."
"Everyone was in lockdown on March 20, 2020. We weren't even open yet.
"So Angelo and I sat down to discuss what we would do."
Ian explained that it was Angelo's idea to go straight to takeaway and delivery.
"It was a blessing in disguise," he said.
"It was out soft opening for a month and a half. We use social media and banners out the front to get the word out.
"To this day I am grateful to the people of the Southern Highlands who supported us."
The transition from takeaway to dining in was a different challenge for Ian and Angelo.
"People who were opened before us had to transition from dining in to take away," he said.
"We went straight to takeaway to dine in. We had the staff ready to go, we road-tested the food. It was an easy transition.
"Strangely however this last lockdown has been harder."
Ian said the business was hit hard when the Sydney trade stopped.
"We went into the takeaway delivery mode and we could not wait for the lockdown to end so we could get people in the restaurant."
With restrictions now eased, Ian and Angelo can't wait to welcome people back in the restaurant.
"We can't wait for people to come in," Ian said.
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Vera Demertzis
Journalist at the Southern Highland News covering council yarns and community news. Got a tip or a story to tell? Email vera.demertzis@southernhighlandnews.com.au or call on 0427 250 908.
Journalist at the Southern Highland News covering council yarns and community news. Got a tip or a story to tell? Email vera.demertzis@southernhighlandnews.com.au or call on 0427 250 908.
