Enoteca, Barcelona

Enoteca, 4-9-14, 145 Euros/9 Courses, French-Mediterranean

Enoteca is the only Michelin 2-star restaurant located within the city boundary of Barcelona. Since I had to catch the trans-Atlantic flight from Barcelona to NY, I decided to have dinner at Enoteca. It is inside the Hotel Arts located in the marina section of Barcelona. The theme color in the restaurant is white, with simple and classic decoration and fabulous ocean view. I ordered the tasting menu with a special request for their signature dish “fresh sea cucumber”.

Amuse Bouche

I. 1st course
1) Waldorf Salad – pineapple gelatin, apple cullies, diced onion and vinegar foam.

2) Pine Nut (slightly roasted) in wulato paper. Pine needles are for decoration only.

3) Foie Gras in dunkin donut shape covered by raspberry coating. Raspberry’s sweet-sour taste

complemented with Foie Gras’s richness. It was also chef’s creative work.

II. 2nd course

1) Coco Thai – coconut mousse, marinated langoustine and dyed red color onion.

2) Chili Crab – Northern Catalan Cap de Creus crab in chili sauce.

3) Niguiri - Tuna tartar with rice meringue cover.

III. 3rd course
1) Shrimp with suckling pig – sautéed shrimp on a piece of crispy sucking pig skin.

2) Andalucía shrimp in rice paper, mayo and olive oil.

VI. 4th course – Viva Mexico
1) Taco with guacamole mousse, avocado and couscous.

2) Macaroon with guacamole.

3) Hot pepper covered with Chibodre chili paste.

The Amuse Bouche served in Enoteca, like what served in El Celler de Can Roca, were with a “world” view, offering varieties from different countries.

1st Course – Almond cream, almond ice cream and caviar

This course served as a palate cleanser to clear the Mexican scented Amuse Bouches. Caviar, very good quality, was from Caspian Sea.

2nd Course – Braised oyster, white radish air and its soup

Oyster was braised in its soup and sea water, decorated with gold piece. I have heard that some Mediterranean dishes were cooked with sea water. Incorporating sea water in the cooking process did produce a very strong sea water taste. It was too overwhelming.

3rd Course – Sea cucumber, morrel, fava beans and cherry tomato

During this trip to the Northeastern Spain, I have had fresh sea cucumber three times at El Celler de Can Roca, Sant Pau and Enoteca. Sea cucumber was considered good food, the type of food which strengthens your health, in Chinese herbal medicine. Out of these three servings, Enoteca’s was the best. Later, I was informed by the Executive Chef that it was stir-fried in high heat quickly. It was very tender and tasty, tasted almost like scallop but firmer than scallop and less chewy than squid. Baby fava beans were also tender and yummy.

4th Course – The garden and foie gras

Seared foie gras served with gelatin of almond, carrot cream, asparagus, cream, artichoke heart, onion, potato cream, beet root and beet root sauce. The combination of almond gelatin and beet root sauce made this dish stand out.

5th Course – Creamy rice with sea urchin and melanosporum black truffle

It was risotto with sea urchin and topped with shaved black truffles. All the top notch ingredients cooked with the right technique produced a perfect dish of risotto.

6th Course – Sole with winter vegetables and meuniére of fennel

Poached filet of sole served with shrimp gamba, parsley foam, artichoke, purée of vegetables, muniére of fennel, and baby radish (at lower left corner in green color). Fish was well prepared, not over-cooked and sauce was delicious.

7th Course – Wagyu, beef, its braised juice and contrasts

Wagyu beef served rare-medium with sweet potato gnocchi, carrot, chestnut, and beet pumpkin butter. All the vegetables were well-prepared and beef was top quality. Beet pumpkin butter was something unusual, delicious but not greasy.

8th Course – Palate cleanser

After Eight – chocolate-mint ice cream was served before the desert was served.

9th Course – By Tarantino

I have never had any desert with this kind of texture. It was made with white chocolate with a texture firmer than mousse but lighter than cheese cake. There were tiny pieces of strawberry gelatins inside the cake and the cake was served with strawberry sauce. It was sumptuous and visually very pleasing.

Petit Four

Starting from left, they are: Caramel meringue with mint, vanilla macaroon, chocolate hazelnut truffle, and fennel liquor with coffee bonbon. My favorite was chocolate hazelnut truffle.

At the end of meal, the Executive Chef came out to the dining room to greet every guest. It was at this occasion that he told me the proper way of cooking fresh sea cucumber. Enoteca offered finely prepared food with high creativity and beautiful presentation. The signature dish “Sea cucumber, morrels and fava beans” definitely is the best and should be in the “do not miss” list (for the foodie) when travelling in Northeastern Spain-Catalan.

Sant Pau, San Pol de Mar

Sant Pau, San Pol de Mar, 4-4-14, 159 Euro/10 Course, French-Catalan

Sant Pau was the only Michelin 3-star restaurant owned by a female chef/owner Carme Ruscalleda. I have read an article a while ago that the esthetic presentation made by this chef was considered the epitome of ying-style while the esthetic presentation made by chef at El Celler de Can Roca was the epitome of yang-style. I decided to use Girona as base to venture out to the Northeastern Spain. My major concern was that the trip from Girona to San Pol de Mar required a mid-point transfer. English proficiency among the Catalan people was poor; it would be difficult to make a smooth trip with a required transfer. When I arrived at Girona, I went straight to the Customer Service office. Unfortunately, the representative could not speak English at all. But, I was very blessed with the help of a female customer who could speak just enough English to make me understand that as of April 1, there are selected schedules (approximately every 2 hours) that the same train runs from Girona to San Pol de Mar.

I arrived at San Pol de Mar without any hassles and noticed right away that I could see Sant Pau’s kitchen activities while I was still on the platform. The restaurant’s dining room faces its own backyard and the Mediterranean Sea. I ordered the tasting menu.

Appetizer of April (Each course of appetizer was comprised of only one item)
1) Croquette of Sant Jordi mushrooms: chopped mushroom, mixed with flour and cream, and coated with bread crumb, then deep fried.

2) Xiulets in tempuras: baby string beans peapod (without peas inside) were thinly coated in flour and fried, served with Romesco sauce and almond.

3) Sponge of creamy tupi, confited tomato, fresh oregano: cheese cream tupi with green oregano jelly, macadamia, apricot purée and baby petunia. The presentation was absolutely beautiful and adorable.

1st Course – Miso, foie & vegetables

Foie gras was served in miso sauce with vegetable on the side: white mushroom, shredded pea pod, daikon, dark red leaves and beet root flower. Its taste was as fabulous as its presentation. White mushroom had a whiter look than what available in the US.
Sant Pau baked only one type of bread.

2nd Course – Maresme peas, cuttlefish

This is Sant Pau’s signature dish. Three-inch long julienned cuttlefish was sautéed and served on a bed of sweet peas. Cuttlefish was very tender and tasty.

3rd Course – King prawn, artichoke

Artichoke was the most important ingredient in this course. It was shredded, it was roasted and it was made into sauce. Artichoke was very fresh and tender, this is artichoke season. King prawn was also very tender and delicious.

4th Course – Gambas, sailor’s toast

Gambas required 3 steps: 1) toast bread; 2) soak in fish stew; 3) toast bread again. This shrimp gambas dish was made from premium quality shrimp available from the region.

5th Course – Monkfish, lemon verbena suquet

The best quality of monk fish is from the Mediterranean Sea. Or, here out of Sant Pau’s backyard. Monk fish was thinly coated in flour and fried, served with crumbled purple potato (from Peru) and crosne in lemon verbena sauce. It was well prepared although fish was not tender enough.

6th Course – Espardenyes, celery, cucumber and fine herbs

Espardenyes = sea cucumber. It was served as a whole piece in this dish, the night before I had sliced sea cucumber at El Celler de Can Roca. This dish also had baby mushroom. celery, and mini cucumber balls and a beautiful yellow flower in the center. It was an excellent dish which can be prepared only when local fresh products are available.

7th Course – San Jorge, 3 combinations with courgette and almonds

San Jorge cheese (mild flavor) from Portugal was prepared in 3 different styles – one plain cheese chunk, one with julienned zucchini, one made into paste on a piece of cracker.

8th Course - Calisay passion

A scoop of passion fruit sorbet in Calisay liquor. Calisayis an herbal liqueur produced by infusing cinchona calisaya, and other barks, roots and flowers in grain neutral spirit and seville orange extract. It is used as a bitter ingredient in cocktails. I love passion fruit and its sorbet. I would prefer something less bitter to accompany passion sorbet.

9th Course – white banana, olive oil, salt

Banana was served with white chocolate and almond. The presentation was certainly amazing.

10th Course – Black and Green Olives, Aragon, sevillanas, sweet wine

I had chocolate coated olives at Roca the night before. I wonder chocolate coated olives are a fashionable item for the time being. Both white chocolate and dark chocolate were used to present the word “olives”. A large piece of puff pastry was used to present a ship along with some small pieces for decoration. This dish also had olive oil in the plate.

Petit Four

Each of these four delicate chocolate bonbons was placed in a spoon since they were too messy to handle by fingers. Puff pastry with pine nuts was placed in a glass. The rest were placed in a toy train. Among the petit fours, my favorite was the chocolate bonbons.

At the end of the meal, I did not feel that I was overstuffed or fully-contented. I wondered why and figured it out. First, I did not eat much bread at all because of lack of variety at Sant Pau. Second, Sant Pau did not offer any Amuse Bouche comparing Roca’s more than a dozen Amuse Bouche items. Third, the quantity of the tasting menu was no more than 60% of what served at Roca. Even though Sant Pau charged 159 euros/10 course which was 30 euros less expensive than what Roca charged. Roca offered far more in both quality and quantity. May be because I had these two meals back-to-back, my wonderful experience at Roca was still overwhelmingly fresh in my mind while I was dining at Sant Pau. I considered I got a whole lot of more value (quality and quantity) out of each dollar I spent at El Celler de Can Roca.

El Celler de Can Roca, Girona

El Celler de Can Roca, Girona, 4-3-14, 190 Euro/14 courses, French-Catalan
(and Can Roca, Girona 4-8-14)

As soon as I finalized my travel arrangement 7 months in advance of the departure date, I contacted El Celler de Can Roca, a Michelin 3-star and #1 rated restaurant in S. Pellegrino’s top 10 lists, for an appointment. Unfortunately, they were fully committed already. I requested to be on the waiting list and was truly by luck that I got a slot within the time period of 8 days that I planned to stay in Girona. Being a foodie, I was thrilled for the opportunity.

I took the bus there and arrived a bit earlier than the appointment time. Since I was a bit earlier, the receptionist was kind enough to show me its kitchen. I got seated nearby one of the supply counter and was in a spot offering a nice view of all the activities. I was offered a glass of complimentary Cava to start with.

Amuse Bouche
I)the World:
1)Mexico: “burrito” with mole poblano and guacamole
2)Peru: ceviche broth, liquid inside
3)China: pickled vegetables (carrot, scallion, radish and cucumber) with pureed plum cream
4)Morocco: almond, rose, honey, saffron, ras el hanout, goat yogurt
5)Korea: panko fried bread, bacon with soja sauce, snow peas, kimchi and sesame oil

II)2 items:
1)Caramelized Olive: Caramelized olives with stuffed anchovies inside and coated with chocolate outside
2)Crispy Shrimp: thin shrimp wafer

III)2 items:
1)Carpano bombon with grapefruit, black sesame and Vermouth inside
2)Caviar Omelette: Herring caviar in cream sauce covered by thin layer of omelette

VI)truffle treats:

1)Truffled bombon: truffle mousse covered with powdered truffle

2)Truffled brioche: Brioche filled with truffled cream and topped by a slice of freshly shaved truffle

El Celler de Can Roca baked varieties of gourmet breads. I did not request every kind, afraid they would fill my stomach. I selected olive brioche, tomato brioche, read wine with raisins, and apricot with walnuts.

1st Course - Vegetable stock, pumpkin puree, parsnip, quince jam, turnip, potato, carrot, violet potato, comté cheese, porcini gnocchi, hazelnut tofu

This vegetable consommé was served with Capuccin flower, truffle, artichoke, pomegranate and tofu.

2nd Course – White asparagus and truffle viennetta

According to my server, this is one of Roca’s signature dishes. White asparagus and cheese was made into ice cream and served with powdered truffle viennetta. To keep the slice of ice cream in adequately cold temperature, it was placed on a pre-frozen slab. This was a truly amazing dish.

3rd Course – Calçot Lyo, aioli, dried cherry pepper, charcoal-grilled calçot purée, calçot oil, calçot and chervil oil, ca yenne oil, distilled sand, solid cava, calçot dust, calçot consommé

Calçot is a local seasonal plant in Northeastern Spain available around this time of the year. It is almost like a hybrid of scallion and leek, two-three times bigger than scallion. In this course, there was a roasted stem standing straight, there were cooked and dried crumbled calçot, and fume produced by burning calçot covered by a piece of pyramid shaped white cardboard paper.

4th Course – Mackerel with pickles and mullet roe, mackerel sauce with white wine, lemon, capers and chillies in vinegar, fried tomato, mullet roe, mackerel marinated in sugar and salt. Mackerel infusion.

Ordinarily, I am not a big fan of mackerel. However, it was an exception this time. Mackerel was super fresh and even the decoration resembled mackerel’s skin. It was served with white sauce and cream, tomato purée and green olive purée, Caviar, olive, anchovy.

5th Course – Salad of sea anemone, razor-clam, royal cucumber and seaweed in escabèche

I had “escabèche” sauce served with fried fish at Pakta on 4/1/14. This sauce was ideal to accompany seafood. Although I have had sea cucumber many times, it was the 1st time that I tasted the fresh sea cucumber. Fresh sea cucumber is in white color, usually sliced thin for cooking. Catalonian region is famous for producing quality fresh sea cucumber. Every item in this course was fresh and delicious.

6th Course – Baby octopus with fermented black onion and caramelized onion

7th Course – A whole prawn: Charcoal-grilled king prawn, head juice with seaweeds, seawater and sponge cake of plankton

This is Roca’s 2nd signature dish. Prawn was from a special place in Costa Brava region which produced the best quality of shrimp. Prawn was served with seaweeds, crystalized shrimp feet, plankton cake and seaweed foam. Served almost raw, you can taste the sweetness of prawn’s meat. Two days after I had dinner at Roca, I visited the Costa Brava region of Spain where the ocean was so unpolluted and blue that you can see the bottom. No wonder, seafood produced from Costa Brava yield the best quality.

8th Course – Palo Cortado-steamed Langoustine, bisque velouté and Jerez caramel

Langoustine was flambéed in Palo Cortado (dry Sherry). Bisque was also enhanced with sherry. The condensed sherry was placed in a spoon to take as the last bite. Langoustine was semi-raw, bisque was delicious and condensed sherry was so potent.

9th Course – Grilled sole with black and white garlic, parsley juice and lemon

Fillet of sole was slowed cooked with a very tender texture. Black garlic juice and puréed parsley make a beautiful pattern of geometrical display.

10th Course – Spicy mandala of artichoke flower, milk-fed lamb belly, lamb sweetbreads, curry yogurt, beetroot, spinach, turnip, lemon, tangerine, sweet potato, leaves and flowers

Lamb belly was made into bite size of bacon. They were visually enjoyable as well as palatially satisfied.

11th Course – Pigeon trilogy: Heart of pigeon and the cloud of rice. Stock of pigeon. “Botifarro” and Tatje pigeon breast

Heart of pigeon was covered by jelly of pigeon sauce. Sauce for this course was made with truffle, cocoa, kumquat, mandarin orange, ginger and fennel. Botifarro means pigeon + truffle + rice.

12th Course – Lemon cloud: Bergamot cream, lemon compote, lemon distilled-water granite, muffin ice cream, lemon sugar

Lemon compote served with bergamot cream. It was served as a dessert and palate cleanser.

13th Course – Milk desserts: Milk caramel, sheep’s milk ice cream, sheep’s milk curd-cheese foam, sheep’s milk yogurt and milk cloud

This is Roca’s 3rd signature dish. I requested for this one as a substitute without knowing this is one of their signature dishes. It required a lot of work and was very refreshing and delicious, the fused flavor of guava ice cream (in orange color) and sheep's milk made a very pleasing taste.

14th Course – Chocolate anarchy

Varieties of chocolate from 8 different countries (Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Indonesia, Brazil, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ecuador, Malaysia) and were made with 12 flavors of spices.

Petit Four

There were 3 bite-size vanilla macaroons with pistachio, orange and apricot flavored filling, one mini chocolate tart, one chocolate cookie with cream filling, some jelly candies and a chocolate truffle coated in gold. They were all yummy. But, due to the spacing issue, I had to request for packing some of them in a goody bag.

After the meal, Roca’s sommelier asked me whether I would be interested in visiting their wine cellar. Of course, I would be delighted to see it. Roca has 40,000+ bottles of wines, they have to place their wine menu on a cart with wheels. When I got out of the restaurant it was around 12:30 am. I have spent approximately 4 hours for the best meal that I have ever had in my life.

On my way to El Celler de Can Roca, I met a local resident, who was kind enough to lead me the way to Roca, informed me that there is an old Roca’s located nearby. I wasn't too sure of what he meant. Later, the receptionist in the hotel told me that Papa Roca’s restaurant is not too far away from El Celler de Can Roca. I decided to venture out to Papa Roca’s restaurant on April 8 for lunch. I met Papa Roca, Mama Roca and Joan Roca (the eldest brother of the three brothers in El Celler de Can Roca) happened to be there at the same time. I had a 4-course lunch (comprised of salad, pasta, grilled baby squid and desert) for 10 euros only. Papa Roca told me that his sons charge too much for the fancy meal. Papa Roca and Mama Roca are in their mid-seventies and are there daily to supervise the restaurant’s operation. Its meal was quite good, my favorite were grilled baby squid and Mama Roca’s own recipe of Catalan custard (a bit softer than cream brulée). The price tag at El Celler de Can Roca may look high from Papa Roca’s point of view because he believed in modesty. I have high respect for Papa Roca. However, when you compare what El Celler de Can Roca offered with other Michelin 3-star restaurants’ you may draw a different conclusion.