San Francisco

When returning from a trip home, most people come back lugging suitcases of lasagna, ginger snaps, rugelach, and other lovingly prepared treats they're overjoyed to devour in stony loneliness. Now one San Franciscan's come back lugging a restaurant: Lalola.

Lalola's a tiny tapas bar helmed by two attorneys, one of whom ("Gonzalo") grew up in Madrid, and recently completed both culinary school and a grub-fueled tour of his homeland that took him from Basque country to Barcelona. The decor's modern and simple, with stainless steel-legged stools clustered 'round the polished marble bar, mahogany high-tables, black and white photos of Gonzalo's grandmothers, and an exquisite Murano chandelier from Italy, which is totally near Spain. The fine-tuned menu ranges from $3 bites of pork loin w/ brie, mushroom/picadillo flatbread, etc, to bigger, badder stuff like fideo pasta w/ sausage-almond pesto, and spinach stew w/ garbanzo cod (better step off, bean).

Alcoholically, Lalola's pouring 16 all-Spanish, carefully chosen reds, whites, and cavas, a couple of TBD bottled beers, and pitchers of house sangria, which, as with all homemade things, you'll take down all by your lonesome.