An example of chef Nacho Manzano's fall cuisine, at Casa Marcial.
We all know that traveling on highways can be, in gastronomic terms, a risky sport. Dry sandwiches, plasticized sandwiches and combined dishes in which the fried food becomes strong are the order of the day. However, if you search a bit, authentic gastronomic oases can be found as soon as we deviate.
** SALE LA DUCHESA (CADIZ) **
On the outskirts of Medina Sidonia, near a roundabout on the Vejer road, is one of the best eating houses in the area. Venta la Duquesa is known for its traditional dishes, to which the incorporation of Miriam Rodríguez, the daughter of the owners, trained in restaurants such as Casa José (Aranjuez) and El Celler de Can Roca (Girona), sometimes brings just the right touch update. You have to try their retinta beef or classics such as rice with mountain partridge.
How to get there: Very well located if you move along the Jerez-Los Barrios A-381 motorway.
Trained at Casa José and El Celler de Can Roca, Miriam Rodríguez has been in charge of updating the dishes at Venta la Duquesa.
** MARCIAL HOUSE (ASTURIAS) **
The winding climb from Arriondas would be worth it for the scenery alone. But when arriving at La Salgar, a crossroads in the mountains, we find one of the best restaurants in Spain, recognized with two Michelin stars and place of pilgrimage for gastronomy enthusiasts from all over the world. You have to get carried away by the tasting menus at Casa Marcial, so it's a good idea to set aside time for it.
How to get there: It is not far from the A-8 Autovía del Cantábrico.
To enjoy the tasting menu at Casa Marcial it is necessary to dedicate time to it.
**TO VILANOVA FACTORY (OURENSE) **
André Arzúa is very popular in Galicia thanks to his program on regional television, but it is in this old tannery factory in Allariz where he develops his most personal project.
The setting, dominated by a medieval bridge that crosses the river Arnoia, seems chosen on purpose to enjoy the flavors of Galician cuisine brought up to date in dishes such as Galician beef tartar with Arzúa-Ulloa cured cheese toast, the bean stew with clams or the partridge cannelloni.
How to get there: Allariz, one of the most beautiful towns in Galicia, is just a stone's throw from the Rías Baixas A-52 motorway.
André Arzúa, chef at A Fábrica de Vilanova.
** AS GARZAS (A CORUÑA) **
If Galicia is in a corner of the map and A Costa da Morte is in a corner of the map of Galicia, to say that Barizo is in one of the most remote corners of that region would not be an exaggeration. And yet it's still worth taking the detour and moving along secondary roads to this house overlooking the cliffs where Fernando and María José defend an updated local product cuisine.
At As Garzas, the spectacular fish and shellfish from the neighboring port of Malpica rule the roost and are offered in one of the dining rooms with the best views in Galicia.
How to get there: From the Costa da Morte AG-55 motorway, continue towards the coast.
Updated scallops at As Garzas restaurant, in Barizo.
** ECHAURREN HOTEL (LA RIOJA) **
There are many reasons that make the Hotel Echaurre n, in Ezcaray, an obligatory stop for gastronomy fans. Your gastronomic restaurant, El Portal del Echaurren, run by chef Francis Paniego, is the only one recognized with two Michelin stars in La Rioja, while on the other side of the hotel reception, the Echaurren Tradición restaurant brings together the classic recipes of Marisa, the cook's mother.
Here the croquettes, considered by many to be among the best in Spain, the Roman style hake, the meatball or the roasted peppers rule. And, as if this were not enough, the hotel breakfasts are one of those that will remain etched in your memory for a long time if you decide to stay.
How to get there: From the Highway of the Camino de Santiago A-12 there are about 20 minutes of distance along a beautiful road.
** GUEYU SEA (ASTURIAS) **
You have to go down to Playa de Vega, in Ribadesella, out of season, be amazed by the landscapes of the deserted sand and let Abel Álvarez offers us the best fish of the Cantabrian winter cooked on the grill with that elegance that he has made Güeyu Mar famous.
How to get there: From the A-8 Cantabrian motorway, you only have to go down a few kilometers to the beach.
** THE PHARMACY OF MATAPOZUELOS (VALLADOLID) **
40 km from Valladolid, in Matapozuelos, a town with just 1,000 inhabitants, the chef Miguel Ángel de la Cruz has managed to develop in La Botica de Matapozuelos a elegant and light cuisine in which the flavors of the nearby pine forests are the protagonists that coexist on the menu with the classic dishes of Teodoro, his father.
Among the latter stands out the suckling lamb roasted in a wood-fired oven, while in Miguel Ángel's cuisine dishes such as red beetroot with sour soup dressing and suckling lamb kidneys stand out, or lacquered gizzard with unctuous cream of pine nuts and green pineapple from Pine tree.
How to get there: The restaurant is located a few kilometers north of the Autovía del Noroeste A-6.
An ice cream flavored with pine and pistachios? Yes, at La Botica de Matapozuelos.
**SAFFRON (ALBACETE) **
The perfect stop to get to know the current cuisine of La Mancha is in Villarrobledo, that place that is more or less halfway whether you come from Madrid or if you do it from Valencia, Alicante, Murcia or Ciudad Real. That location turns Teresa Gutiérrez's restaurant into a kind of gastronomic oasis, the perfect getaway for those traveling on the highways in the southeast quadrant of the map.
But since the situation is not everything, her gastronomic proposal, with more informal alternatives such as the Villamalea cheese salad with roasted peppers or the artichokes stuffed with game marinade and other more serious ones, such as the hare and pumpkin lasagna or the roast pigeon with gurullos, become the definitive argument for typing their coordinates into the GPS.
How to get there: the restaurant is one step away from both the Guadiana A-43 motorway and the Madrid-Levante AP-36 motorway.
Azafrán, the gastronomic oasis of Teresa Gutiérrez.
**ELS CASALS (BARCELONA) **
On the outskirts of Sagàs, a small village in the Berguedà region, This 18th-century farmhouse has a menu of homemade sausages, local vegetables and meat from animals raised on the farm itself.
The fame of some of the specialties of Els Casals, such as homemade sobrassada, roast cannelloni or roast duck with black turnips, crosses borders. And the possibility of staying the night in your small rural hotel is the perfect complement.
How to get there: It is a few minutes from the Autovía del Llobregat C-16.
Local vegetables nourish the Els Casals menu.
**LERA (ZAMORA) **
In Lera, the most traditional Castilian cuisine of Cecilio, the father, coexists with proposals updated by his son Luis, so it is possible to jump from spoon dishes such as beans with hare, which alone would be worth the trip to Castroverde de Campos, to the pheasant with quince or to an updated version of the duck with orange.
How to get there: Both the A-6 Northwest motorway and the A-66 Ruta de la Plata motorway are good starting points to enter Tierra de Campos towards the restaurant.
Light floods the room of the Lera restaurant, in Zamora.