Barceloneta or how to be a little happier
The Crusade of the Stars, awards and covers hides not a few chiaroscuro. A Holy War to which so many (and so many) restaurants submit and which inevitably involves making concessions and surrender to a certain idea of excellence.
The danger of that search ( that sometimes borders on obsession ) is that it can translate into losing one's identity. So much time, energy, dough and efforts working thinking about what others will think, that maybe you forget where you are . And what does he play?
That is why I can only rejoice in this trend of the outsider chef. Not so much of those who deny the sarao (like the great Julio Biosca, from Casa Julio —an excellent restaurant in Fontanars dels Alforins) but of all those who simply pass by. "It's not my war," one of the chefs down there tells me.
This “living outside of” translates into freedom, risk and more important than all that: personality . Beyond the pattern that equals so much (like the yeast in industrial wines) to many of the starred ones, there is nothing as satisfying as the personality of a local, and of the cooks, sommeliers and staff whose creed is nothing more than that dogma of the great Santi Santamaría: true cooking aims to make others happy.
Xavier Pellicer's project with the ecological flag
CELERI
Céleri is the project of Xavier Pellicer (chief kitchen of that wonderful Can Fabes, in Sant Celoni), behind which there are also those wonderful ecological madmen from Woki Tribe . His tomato was one of the best dishes of 2105 but more important than all that, Celeri is the confirmation (and the spearhead, I dare say) of a model of gastronomy that is here to stay: simple, honest and quality elaborations . Seasonal and local product. That everything is natural, ecological and healthy.
Seasonal and quality product
4 ROOMS 5 WOMEN
4 rooms 5 It follows exactly the same gastronomic line and the same natural DNA: perhaps this time with a more radical point. Proposal? A journey through seasonal vegetables and their spiritual framework the principles of biodynamics: his menu is divided into the four main families of vegetables: root, leaf, flower and fruit . And I'm saving the best for last: his kitchen is Toni Romero's thing —from Suculent, one of our (not so secret) jewels in Barcelona. A confession to finish: their “no callos” will be one of the dishes of the year; at the time.
Root, leaf, fruit, flower... and wood
ESTIMATE
An unexpected surprise. Half of Barcelona walks (the Barcelona that interests, of course) in love with this small restaurant three steps from the Gothic church of Santa María del Mar. The keys? Rafa Zafra in the kitchen (it comes from Hacienda Benazuza, that farmhouse in Adrià in Sanlúcar la Mayor), Anna Gotanegra in the living room and especially its credo: product, product and more product. Her motto is beautiful: “Estimate is the love for the sea and its raw material, the work with dedication and the passion for our clients” . Amen.
an unexpected surprise
** BRAVO24 **
I'll be honest: Bravo24 I didn't like it the first time . Too many topics and an approach perhaps more thought of “el foreigner”. But things have changed (and much ), it is noted that Carles Abellan (another son of elBulli) has refocused the proposal of the gastronomic flagship of the W Hotel. More product and an idea behind: barcelona cuisine updated, a journey through the gastronomic history of Barcelona, from Roman times to the beginning of the 20th century. From the last visit, this week, I prefer the “Pilota” truffle stew with Catalan-style farm chicken and Maresme peas with black sausage and cuttlefish. Bravo!
In the W hotel there is a no star that... could it be?
TANDOOR
Tandoor is perhaps the “least restaurant” restaurant on this list. The most rogue and the most "neighborhood" but for exactly the same reasons who promises a greater growth margin: I would not be surprised if in five years Ivan Surinder is the most relevant chef of Indian cuisine in Spain —something like the “Hideki Matsuhisa Hindu” . It's fair: his father Nath Surinder Oberoi he was one of the forerunners of this spicy and intense cuisine; Y his curry, one of the dishes that we love the most from this new generation of chefs in Barcelona.
Where is the best curry in Spain?
COURE
Albert Ventura's bar (now captained by Iván Solà) in Passatge Marimón. Good product with a twist, dishes to share and the kitchen as an excuse (there is no better one) to have a good time. A party: butifarra del perol and spinach croquettes , old cow tartar and (especially) the lacon muffin with kimchi mayonnaise.
Pure minimalism.
ESPAI KRU
“2,000,000 years ago. Before the fire. The origin. The beginning of everything. Just alive and raw. Cold. Then came the marinades, dressings and salted fish. Sashimis, carpaccios and tartare. A history forged by Mediterranean, Atlantic, American, Arab, Nordic and Asian culture”. Space Kru, the temple of Rías de Galicia in Poble Sec dedicated to the raw led by Ever Cubillas that drags so many foodlovers. Sashimi is a must. crab taco and the sea bass carpaccio.
To the rich oysters.
FRACAS
Rafa Peña's house is the favorite restaurant (and eye: secret, that they don't usually "let go" ) of so many friends from Barcelona who I begin to think that there is a secret conspiracy to take Barcelona . Extremely elegant cuisine, without ever taking your eyes off the floor (that is, the stratospheric quality of the product) without forgetting the great work in the dining room of a kindly Sergi Puig. He came like that, yes... We already chose Gresca as one of the 25 best food houses in Spain and its Spiced broth with pork noodles as ** one of the dishes of the year **. He deserves that and more.
SUCCULENT
I admit it: succulent is my downfall . I can't imagine going back to the Raval and not sitting at Toni Romero's table (watch out for the booth). What a cook, what a cook! Their ** steak tartar on grilled bone marrow ** is already part of the ideology of new Catalan cuisine, but the rest of the menu on our last visit was dizzying: horse milk, artichokes with truffles and panache, peas with black pudding and one of the future dishes of the year — lobster tartar with avocado and chicken skin chips.
DWELLING
The eatery advised by Jordi Vilà (from Alkimia) in the Sarrià neighbourhood; whose inner courtyard essential, in these first spring nights ) hides a curious hodgepodge of foodies, lifelong neighbors (Vivanda is over 30 years old) and well-to-do people from the Catalan bourgeoisie. However, the important thing happens at the table; the coca de sardines is marvelous and a classic of the house: the “molotov” salad.
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* Update of article originally published on March 26, 2015