Barra Fion

Barra Fion bills itself as Spanish and tapas inspired, and the marquee holds up the claim: a paella thick with chorizo and saffron rice, patatas bravas under spicy ketchup and garlic aioli, churros to finish. Then the menu wanders. Tacos arrive stuffed with blackened fish or forest mushroom; the stone hearth turns out a dill pickle pizza next to a Margherita; pulled pork sliders come crowned with Spanish fried eggs. This is a Burlington kitchen that took the tapas format — many small plates, ordered to share, built to keep coming — and decided the format mattered more than the borders. Everything is made in house, from scratch, which is what lets the range hold together.

The small plates are organized for grazing. Seafood tapas bring a pound of steamed mussels in a choice of broths — white wine, marinara, curry cream, diablo or a goat cheese cream — and a Mexican street corn salad scattered with blackened shrimp and queso duro. The meat side runs to flank steak skewers in garlic-hoisin and piri piri, and a warm bacon-jam cornbread baked in house with chipotle aioli. The meatless plates are no afterthought: buffalo cauliflower bites in buttery hot sauce, garlic parmesan potatoes, a warm brie skillet with roasted garlic, bacon jam and berry compote, served with crostini. Order three or four and the table starts to fill.