Tapas (Small Plates)

Tapas (Small Plates) — connector documentation

• MCP endpoint: https://tapas.connectorbay.com/mcp
• REST API: POST https://tapas.connectorbay.com/v1/tools/{tool_name}, described by the OpenAPI 3.1 spec at https://tapas.connectorbay.com/openapi.json
• Transport: Streamable HTTP, stateless, MCP specification 2025-06-18 or later
• Authentication: none required. An optional Authorization: Bearer <key> raises rate limits.
• Health: https://tapas.connectorbay.com/health · Tool schemas: https://tapas.connectorbay.com/tools.json
• Publisher: Unify Dynamics LLC · connectorbay.com/tapas · agent@connectorbay.com

What Tapas (Small Plates) is for

The question that comes up whenever a tapas bar or a trip to Spain comes up in conversation — what's actually in patatas bravas, why do pintxos work differently from tapas everywhere else, what does "bellota" mean on a jamón label, did tapas really start because of a king's doctor, what should I order with gambas al ajillo — answered from one hand-curated tapas culture & dish reference, not a scroll through travel-blog listicles.

What it does

One iconic tapa's description, key ingredients, typical serving style and the region it is most strongly associated with — patatas bravas, tortilla española, jamón ibérico, croquetas (de jamón and de bacalao), gambas al ajillo, pimientos de padrón, boquerones en vinagre, pulpo a la gallega, calamares a la romana, albóndigas, pan con tomate, queso manchego and more (iconic_tapa_info); a keyword search across tapa name, region, category, description and ingredients (tapa_search); how tapas culture and etiquette differ by region — the Basque Country's self-served pintxo tradition, where toothpicks are kept and counted at the end; Andalusia's custom of a free tapa arriving automatically with a drink; Madrid's tapeo bar-hopping; Galicia's seafood-forward raciones; and Catalonia's weekend vermut hour (regional_tapas_guide); general bar etiquette covering ordering customs, standing at the barra versus sitting, the tapeo tradition, and the tapa / media ración / ración portion ladder (tapas_bar_etiquette); a typical drink pairing — vermut, fino/manzanilla sherry, cerveza, tinto de verano, txakoli, sidra — for a named tapa (pairing_guide); a deeper look at key ingredients, including jamón ibérico's official four-seal grading system (bellota, cebo de campo, cebo) and queso manchego's aging categories (ingredient_spotlight); the commonly told tapas origin legends — a drink cover against flies and dust, a king's doctor's advice — presented explicitly as legend, followed by a summary of tapas' real, gradually spreading documented evolution as a bar-culture practice (history_overview); a balanced tapas-crawl planner that mixes categories — seafood, meat, potato, vegetable, cheese, egg, bread — instead of repeating the same kind of plate (tapas_crawl_planner); and a glossary of tapas-culture terms — tapa, pincho/pintxo, ración, tapeo, barra, vermut, DO/Denominación de Origen, montadito, chato, txikiteo, sobremesa (tapas_glossary).

What it is not

Not a recipe book — there are no step-by-step cooking instructions, quantities or timings here, and it is not a restaurant finder, reservation service or live menu. It is not a single official standard for where a tapa "belongs": most tapas are eaten, served and claimed well beyond the one region given here, and regional associations reflect the strongest common tradition, not an exclusive rule. This is 35 hand-picked tapas chosen for how iconic and widely recognized they are — not an exhaustive inventory of Spanish small plates, and not a substitute for a local bartender's judgment. The tapas-origin stories are told here explicitly as legend and folklore, clearly separated from the connector's own documented-history summary, because none of the popular founding stories can be pinned to a specific place, date or verified document.

Tools

Lookup & Search

iconic_tapa_info — One iconic tapa's description, key ingredients, typical serving style and the region it is most strongly associated with. Use for "what is in tortilla española", "tell me about jamón ibérico". Args: name.

tapa_search — Search iconic tapas by keyword across name, region, category, description and key ingredients. Use for "tapas with octopus", "what has pimentón in it". Args: query.

Culture & Etiquette

regional_tapas_guide — How tapas culture and etiquette differ by region — the Basque Country's self-served pintxo tradition (toothpicks counted at the end), Andalusia's free-tapa-with-a-drink custom, Madrid's tapeo bar-hopping, Galicia's seafood raciones, and Catalonia's vermut hour. Use for "how are pintxos different from tapas in Andalusia", "what's tapas culture like in Madrid". Args: region.

tapas_bar_etiquette — General tapas-bar etiquette: how to order, standing at the barra versus sitting at a table, the tapeo (bar-hopping) tradition, the tapa/media ración/ración portion ladder, and how paying and tipping usually work. Use for "how do I order tapas like a local", "what's a media ración".

history_overview — The commonly told tapas origin legends (a drink cover against flies/dust; a king's doctor's advice) presented explicitly as legend/folklore, not confirmed history, followed by a summary of tapas' real, gradually spreading documented evolution as a bar-culture practice. Use for "did tapas really start because of a king", "where do tapas actually come from".

Ingredients & Pairing

ingredient_spotlight — A deeper look at a key tapas ingredient — jamón ibérico's official four-seal grading system (bellota, cebo de campo, cebo), queso manchego's aging categories (semicurado, curado, viejo), and the basics of Spanish olive oil, pimentón and sherry vinegar. Use for "what does bellota mean on a jamón label", "what's the difference between curado and añejo manchego". Args: name.

pairing_guide — The typical drink pairing (vermut, fino/manzanilla sherry, cerveza, tinto de verano, txakoli, sidra) for a named tapa, with a short reason. Use for "what should I drink with gambas al ajillo". Args: tapa.

Plan & Reference

tapas_crawl_planner — A balanced tapeo (tapas-crawl) plan for a given number of stops, suggesting a genuine variety of tapa categories — seafood, meat, potato, vegetable, cheese, egg, bread — rather than repeating the same kind of plate back to back. Use for "plan me a 5-stop tapas crawl", "help me order a varied round of tapas for 4 people". Args: number_of_stops.

tapas_glossary — Definitions of tapas-culture terms (tapa, pincho/pintxo, ración, media ración, tapeo, barra, vermut, DO/Denominación de Origen, montadito, chato, txikiteo, sobremesa). Use for "what does tapeo mean", "what's a montadito". Args: term.

Conventions

• Read-only. Every tool reads public data or computes; nothing is written anywhere and nothing about the user is stored.
• Result envelope. ok: true with data, or ok: false with a structured error (bad_input, not_found, upstream_error). degraded lists optional sources that were unreachable.
• Rate limits. Free tier 60 tool calls/minute and 300/day per user (keyed on the user identifier supplied by the host agent, else client IP); Pro keys raise this. Over-limit calls return HTTP 429 with Retry-After. initialize and tools/list are never counted.

Support

agent@connectorbay.com · connectorbay.com/tapas/support

Tapas (Small Plates) — Privacy Policy

Effective 24 September 2026. Unify Dynamics LLC ("we", "us"), Menlo Park, California.

What Tapas (Small Plates) is. Tapas (Small Plates) is a connector (an MCP server and REST API) that AI assistants and personal agents call on your behalf for a hand-curated Spanish tapas culture & dish reference: iconic-tapa lookups and search, a regional tapas-culture guide, bar etiquette, drink pairings, an ingredient spotlight, a history overview, a tapas-crawl planner, and a glossary. You interact with your assistant; the assistant sends us only the arguments needed for that one lookup.

What we receive. The arguments of each tool call — a tapa name, a search keyword, a region, an ingredient name, a glossary term, or a requested number of crawl stops — the technical headers needed to serve the request (an IP address or a client identifier supplied by the assistant, and a Pro API key if you have one), and standard server logs.

Everything is answered from a bundled, hand-curated reference file and nothing is stored. No request is forwarded to any third party — there is no upstream call at all, live or otherwise — and no query is logged in request bodies, recorded, or used to train anything.

What we do not receive or store. We do not receive your conversation with the assistant or your name, and we do not build a profile from your queries: each request is answered independently and nothing carries over between requests. Rate-limit counters (a client identifier and timestamps) are held in memory for at most 24 hours. Hosting-provider access logs, which contain IP addresses and request paths but not request bodies, are retained for up to 30 days for security and abuse prevention.

Sub-processors. None — the entire dataset is bundled with the server and answered locally. Hosting: Vercel (United States regions).

Legal bases and your rights. Our processing is necessary to provide the service you request through your assistant. Because we store no personal data beyond short-lived logs, requests to access, correct or delete personal data are usually satisfied automatically; you can still contact agent@connectorbay.com and we will respond within 30 days. We do not sell or share personal information and do not use your data to train models.

Children. Tapas (Small Plates) is a general-audience service operated by the adult using the assistant. It covers alcoholic drink pairings (vermut, sherry, wine, cider) informationally and factually, and does not encourage consumption.

Changes. We will post changes here with a new effective date.

Tapas (Small Plates) — Terms of Service

Effective 24 September 2026. These terms govern use of the Tapas (Small Plates) connector ("the Service") operated by Unify Dynamics LLC ("we", "us").

1. The Service. Tapas (Small Plates) returns a hand-curated Spanish tapas culture & dish reference — iconic tapas with region, category, key ingredients, serving style and drink pairing; a regional tapas-culture guide; bar etiquette; an ingredient spotlight; a history overview; a tapas-crawl planner; and a glossary — from data hand-curated and verified at build time. It is accessed through an AI assistant or directly over MCP or HTTP.
2. Not a recipe book, and not an official standard. Tapas (Small Plates) is an independent reference tool, not affiliated with or endorsed by any government body, tourism board, or culinary institution. It gives no step-by-step cooking instructions, quantities or timings, and the single region attributed to each tapa reflects common tradition, not an exclusive or official claim — most tapas are eaten and served well beyond the region listed. The tapas-origin legends in history_overview are presented explicitly as folklore, not verified history.
3. Alcohol is covered informationally only. Drink pairings that are alcoholic (vermut, sherry, wine, cider) are described factually, with an age-appropriate note, and nothing in the Service should be read as encouraging alcohol consumption. The Service does not verify the age of any user.
4. Acceptable use. Automated use within the published rate limits is welcome.
5. Availability. The Service is provided "as is" without warranty. We may change, limit or discontinue it at any time.
6. Data. Our Privacy Policy describes what we process. In short: your query is answered from a bundled reference file, and nothing is stored.
7. Pro keys. Optional Pro API keys are issued at our discretion, are personal to the holder and may be revoked for abuse.
8. Liability. To the fullest extent permitted by law, Unify Dynamics LLC is not liable for any loss arising from use of or reliance on the Service. Our total liability is limited to US $100.
9. Governing law. California law; venue in San Mateo County, California.
10. Contact. Unify Dynamics LLC · agent@connectorbay.com · https://connectorbay.com/tapas

Tapas (Small Plates) support

Email agent@connectorbay.com. We answer within two business days.

• MCP endpoint: https://tapas.connectorbay.com/mcp
• REST API: https://tapas.connectorbay.com/openapi.json
• Live status: https://tapas.connectorbay.com/health

When you report a problem, include the question you asked your agent, roughly when, and which agent you used (for example Claude, ChatGPT or Gemini). Never send us passwords, account numbers or ID numbers. Tapas (Small Plates) never asks for them.