To celebrate our 20th anniversary and my 50th birthday, Jean first
proposed to me that we spend a week in Paris in June. After some
thought, I countered with the suggestion that it be spent instead in
Barcelona, a city that neither of us had ever visited. My reasoning was
that, as much as we love Paris, Barna would afford us with architectural
splendor, great food and warmer weather in early June. After some
consideration, Jean agreed and so last week we boarded an Air France
flight from Chicago to Paris, then on to Barna.

Touristic notes
Once again, the stark difference between a European airline like Air
France and an American carrier such as Delta was borne home: on the
former, we were served complementary Heidsieck Monopole before dinner;
on the latter, we were given the option of buying a bag of potato chips
for a snack. Barcelona proved to be all that I'd hoped it would be, and
more. Our hotel, the Hotel Soho in the Eixample section of the city,
proved to be ultra-modern, clean, spacious and friendly. Most of the
major tourist attractions were within easy walking distance of our
hotel, too, though the modern and efficient Metro and plentiful taxis
made transport around the city swift and easy. The people of Barcelona
in general were polite and friendly, most speaking at least some
English, and the drivers were hands down the most polite and disciplined
that I'd seen in the Mediterranean. Although Catalan is the first
language, my schoolboy Spanish from 35 years ago proved to be helpful,
and people would switch to English if the need arose. The Gaudi
architecture was fascinating, with the two houses (Casa Batllo and Casa
Pedrera) providing important details of what Gaudi did and how he did
it. Although I had come to the city with an image of Gaudi's work as
borderline grotesque, I quickly gained an appreciation for both Gaudi
the artist and Gaudi the engineer -- his catenary arches are
fascinating. My only criticism is that the museums lag far behind those
of other major European cities. Well, that and the prevalence of
cigarette smoking the almost inescapable, even when walking down the
street.

Food
Everyday Catalan cooking is exceptionally tasty as well as fairly
priced. When one can sit down in a touristy café on a major plaza and
get a bocadillo de jamón Ibérico (Iberico ham sandwich) that consists of
tasty meat on good, crusty bread, life is not at all bad. Add to that
the plentitude of traditional tapas and you have a very tasty selection
of foods available at most places. One surprise for us is that
Barcelona is a beer town. Tapas bars mostly call themselves cervecerías
and the locally produced Damm beer is ubiquitous. Food was priced
somewhat higher than it would be in the US but still remained fairly
reasonable.

The centerpiece to our trip was a dinner out at El Celler de Can Roca in
Girona. This restaurant, a modern structure built around a
glass-enclosed triangular central courtyard, is an interesting blend of
the traditional and the avant garde. One big surprise was the dress of
our fellow patrons: men were dressed in jeans, tennis shoes and
occasional T-shirts, with the women not much fancier. The waitstaff,
all in suits, were the best dressed folks in the place by a long margin.
The menu of Can Roca included three set menus, priced from €80-125M,
and a la carte selections. We opted in the end for the 8-course €125
"feast" menu with paired wines for another €48:

amuse:
a "cracker" of black sesame seeds and cacao
a frozen "bloody Mary" bonbon
caramelized green and black olives
cucumber skin soup with smoked eel and almond
morel in a foie gras-morel sauce
pigeon "bombon" with Bristol Cream
(wine: Albet i Noia Cava El Celler)

menu:
seared tuna atop a wasabi brioche in a celery-scented fish broth
charcoal-grilled oysters with citrus marinade
(wine: '06 Rebholz Riesling Trocken Im Sonnenschein)
charcoal-grilled king prawn with prawn "sand" and prawn essence
('05 Pairal Xarel-lo D.O Penedes)
Herring smoked caviar omelet
(La Panesa Jerez)
Catalan cod pot-au-feu
('07 Valdesil Valdeorras)
Olive oil-poached sea bass in an olive purée with "sphericated" olives
('06 Nelin Priorat blanco)
Lamb and tomato-rubbed bread
('03 Clos Martinet Priorat)
Goose à la Royale with peach
('04 Villard St. Joseph)
Moixernon consommé
('90 Lustau Oloroso Abocado Jerez)
Orange chromatism (mandarin orange ice in a carrot sauce)
('02 Dr. Bürklin-Wolf Gaisböhl Auslese)
Spun milk dessert
(Fernando de Castillo P.X. Jerez)

The most memorable dishes we the king prawn, where the "sand" was
created from the juices of the head and the "essence" was incredibly
reduced prawn juice; the sea bass, which was perfectly done and
perfectly paired with a Roussanne from the Priorat; and the goose, which
was decadently rich and flavorful. The wines were well chosen, but the
wine steward was less than communicative (in his defense, he was serving
wine to the entire room). Despite the large number of dishes and the
large number of wines, we ended the evening feeling pleasantly full but
not stuffed and sober (at least in my case -- Jean was a bit worse for
the wear). Overall, the meal was a revelation, and stands as one of the
most memorable of my liife. The prices being charged are probably half
of what a comparable experience would fetch in the US or Paris.

Our other major stop was at Monviníc in Barcelona, a wine
bar/restaurant/wine reference library. Only open on week days, Monviníc
has an extensive and interesting wine list that one peruses on
electronic tablets and a selection of foods prepared by their
enthusiastic and able chef Sergi. The six sommeliers are friendly,
helpful and quite knowledgeable. The food, while on the expensive side,
is well prepared and wine-friendly.

Apart from those two destinations, we ate somewhat simply, often getting
an assortment of tapas for either lunch or an "early" dinner (ca. 8 pm).
Near to our hotel was the excellent Ceverceria Catalana, a very
traditional tapas joint with a bar and a dozen or so small tables. The
foods were a selection of tapas and pintxas, including a small number of
specials chalked on a board. There was also an enticing array of
shellfish on display in the bar. The place was bustling both times we
were there, but the Philipino waitstaff handled the traffic admirably.
In the Barri Gotic we had a surprisingly good meal at El Atril, a small,
dimly lit hole-in-the-wall with a decent wine list, tasty tapas and a
small selection of larger dishes. The evening we were there, there was
live music in one end of the cramped interior space. From the lack of
English spoken there, I'd hazard a guess that it's not much of a tourist
destination. We also had lunch at Tapas24, the tapas joint run by the
well-known proprietor of Commerc24, an El Bulli alum with a reputation
of his own. Of all the meals we ate in Barcelona, this was probably one
of the less interesting. We also had a couple of simple meals
constructed from bread, cheese, jamón, almonds and olives. Even the
corner store was stocked with tasty provisions.

Wine Shopping

We did spend one morning scoping out two wine stores. The first,
Lavinia, is the Barcelona outpost of the small chain of upscale wine
stores with an extensive selection of interesting wines. This version
was not nearly as palatial as the Paris branch (but what is?) but still
had many interesting wines from all over Europe. Since my purpose in
visiting was to secure some bottles of Spanish wine, I was pleased to
see a fairly extensive collection of Spanish wines, including many
labels with which I was familiar. Alas, they were sold out of the '07
Do Ferreiro Cepas Vellas and the bin stood empty. However, they did
have the '06 Finca Sandoval, so I secured a bottle to be able to later
harass Victor de la Serna about. They also had an interesting
selection of Sherries, which we availed ourselves of, and the requisite
collection of old and new Rioja from both the traditionalists and the
Modernistas. Prices were reasonable, if not especially cheap.

From there, we next ventured to Vila Viniteca in the old part of
Barcelona, This was a cramped, floor-to-ceiling affair, much like my
favorite bookstores and wine shops (i.e. Caves Augé in Paris) with the
added twist of a second level accessible by catwalk and stairs. Again,
many interesting wines here from Spain and elsewhere in Europe (They
also had a special section devoted to rare wines, including a bottle of
'00 Ridge Lytton Springs!!) Again, a nice selection of Sherries, Riojas
and plenty of wines from elsewhere in Spain. Although I had attempted
to locate the Valdesil Valdeorras we'd had at Can Roca, I settled here
for another Valdeorras from Guitian. They also had a companion store
next door selling meats and cheeses that positively had us drooling
almost to the extent that we had at La Boqueria. Prices here were again
reasonable and perhaps a tad lower than at Lavinia.

(End of part 1)
Mark Lipton

--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

Mike Tommasi > wrote in
:
>
> Great notes Mark !
>
>> Touristic notes
>> Once again, the stark difference between a European airline like Air
>> France and an American carrier such as Delta was borne home: on the
>> former, we were served complementary Heidsieck Monopole before
>> dinner;

Mark,

were you flying First Class?
>
> For 3 stars that is good value. Spanish high end restaurants seem
> reasonable compared to France. Even El Bulli is not much more
> expensive. And, most important, their margins on wine are nowhere near
> the astronomical level in France.

Actually, El Celler de Can Roca is 2 stars, even if they deserve 3.
>
> Also interesting, the attention to wine. No other restaurant I have
> been to puts that much emphasis on matching food and wine. El Bulli
> pays NO attention to wine. The sommelier has a thing for German
> rieslings, which shows even in your list below. These Roca guys are
> the best.

El Celler de Can Roca's maitre and co-owner, Joan "Pitu" Roca is an
obsessive wine lover. And that marks the restaurant winelist. BTW, it is
not that "he has a thing for German Riesling" but he actually has a
stake: He is part of a company importing some of the best German
producers into Spain. Astonishingly good portfolio (when I was hired by
another company to help them bring foreign wines to our country, I was
very lucky that they had forgotten on some great producers, but most of
the great German producers are in their portfolio).
>
> I am surprised you found it expensive, my dinner came to 60€ with
> wines.
>

Interesting. I had two glasses of wine there with my wife two months
ago, and we asked for a small tapa of (very good) jamón ibérico, and
that was 50 euros. So, yes, it is expensive. There is a very big
difference if you ask for a bottle, since bottles have very fair prices.
But single glasses of wine are expensive. You actually pay for a bottle
with 1,5 glasses of wine.

> [cut]
>> We also had lunch at Tapas24, the tapas joint run by the
>> well-known proprietor of Commerc24, an El Bulli alum with a
>> reputation of his own. Of all the meals we ate in Barcelona, this
>> was probably one of the less interesting.

I love Tapaç24. Their Bikini (a sandwich with fresh mozzarella and black
truffle) is orgasmatic. As is the case with some of their more
traditional dishes, like huevos rotos con butifarra del perol. Ok it is
not refined, but it is very interesting IMHO. And they serve Cava from
magnums, which is interesting for such a place.

s.

santiago wrote:

> Mark,
>
> were you flying First Class?

Nope, Coach class. There was a different Champagne listed on the menu,
but the Monopole is what they were pouring for everyone in Coach. When
dinner arrived, I asked if I could get another pour of the Monopole, but
desolée non. The La Vieille Ferme was the white they gave me, which
again wasn't what was listed on the menu.


> El Celler de Can Roca's maitre and co-owner, Joan "Pitu" Roca is an
> obsessive wine lover. And that marks the restaurant winelist. BTW, it is
> not that "he has a thing for German Riesling" but he actually has a
> stake: He is part of a company importing some of the best German
> producers into Spain. Astonishingly good portfolio (when I was hired by
> another company to help them bring foreign wines to our country, I was
> very lucky that they had forgotten on some great producers, but most of
> the great German producers are in their portfolio).

What Victor de la Serna told me was that Josep was the importer (he's
listed as the sommelier, no?). He also said that Can Roca had the best
wine list in Spain, with particular emphasis on their German Rieslings.


> Interesting. I had two glasses of wine there with my wife two months
> ago, and we asked for a small tapa of (very good) jamón ibérico, and
> that was 50 euros. So, yes, it is expensive. There is a very big
> difference if you ask for a bottle, since bottles have very fair prices.
> But single glasses of wine are expensive. You actually pay for a bottle
> with 1,5 glasses of wine.

Although I found the food expensive, I found the wines to be quite
cheap. In our case, here was one price we paid:

Copa, Telmo Rodriguez Rueda Basa €1,87

I didn't retain any record of the others, but my recollection is that
they cost typically between €2-5 for some very nice wines.

For comparison, the bottle of the '00 Comte Armand Pommard 1er Clos des
Epeneaux cost €74,77 at Monvínic.

> I love Tapaç24. Their Bikini (a sandwich with fresh mozzarella and black
> truffle) is orgasmatic. As is the case with some of their more
> traditional dishes, like huevos rotos con butifarra del perol. Ok it is
> not refined, but it is very interesting IMHO. And they serve Cava from
> magnums, which is interesting for such a place.

The Bikini was outstanding. I was less taken with the truita we got
there and whatever else it was that we ordered, but we may not have
ordered well.

Mark Lipton


--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net

Mark Lipton > wrote in :
>
> What Victor de la Serna told me was that Josep was the importer (he's
> listed as the sommelier, no?). He also said that Can Roca had the
> best wine list in Spain, with particular emphasis on their German
> Rieslings.

That's correct, it is Josep and not Joan who is the sommelier and importer
of German Riesling.
>
> Although I found the food expensive, I found the wines to be quite
> cheap. In our case, here was one price we paid:
>
> Copa, Telmo Rodriguez Rueda Basa €1,87

Well, my wife had a white Givry from François Lumpp and I had a glass of
Huet Sec Clos du Bourg, and both were about 12 euros each. A bottle of Huet
sec costs less than 12 euros at the cellar's door and could get to 16 from
an importer.
>
> For comparison, the bottle of the '00 Comte Armand Pommard 1er Clos
> des Epeneaux cost €74,77 at Monvínic.

Well, I was talking about Monvinic!!!
>
> The Bikini was outstanding. I was less taken with the truita we got
> there and whatever else it was that we ordered, but we may not have
> ordered well.

That has happened everybody, I guess. Anyway, it is not a place for comfort
or for refined food. It is all about ambience and rustic food.

I am glad to see you enjoyed your trip and am sorry that I was not able to
make the jump to Barcelona to meet you.

s.

Mike Tommasi wrote:

> Great notes Mark !

Thanks, Mike. I had some great advice beforehand ;-)


> Air France got its act together about 10 years ago, before that it
> featured the rudest staff of any airline. I now try to fly AF or LH when
> possible.
>

LH??? I've never had a problem with AF, mostly because my standard of
comparison is domestic US carriers. Air Taliban would look good
compared to them (remind me some time to relate a particularly horrific
flight from NYC-LHR on the late, unlamented Peoples Express)

> In fact Spain is a beer country, people drink a lot more beer than wine.

Interesting, given their historical placement as #3 in terms of wine
production. I guess that exports must have always been important.


>
> Also interesting, the attention to wine. No other restaurant I have been
> to puts that much emphasis on matching food and wine. El Bulli pays NO
> attention to wine. The sommelier has a thing for German rieslings, which
> shows even in your list below. These Roca guys are the best.

No disagreement from me.


> I am surprised you found it expensive, my dinner came to 60€ with wines.

Ours came to €172 for two with wine:

Aigüa Hildon 0,75l €4,21
Amanida de tomàquets i gambas €15,89
Saltat de bolets €20,56
Colomi curat i confitat en terrina €17,29
Copa Rueda 2 x 1,87 €3,74
75 cl Armand Pommard 1er €74,77
Galta de vedella amb parmentier €17,29
Mandarina iogurt €7,01
IVA 7% €7,01

So, not cheap by my reckoning, though the wines are very reasonably priced.



> You were lucky, venturing into a restaurant in Barna without prior
> research can be dangerous for you tastebuds. It is a little like France,
> you have some of the top restaurants available to you, but the average
> restaurant you venture into by chance usually turns out to be atrocious.
> The very best and the worst...

Well, none of the restaurants we went to were actually unknown to us.
They were all part of a list we'd compiled before leaving. Even so, my
experience is that the average tourist-oriented café in Barna serves far
better fare than its Parisian counterpart. Even though we studiously
avoided the obvious tourist traps on La Rambla and Passeig de Gracia,
Mark Bittman of the NY Times proclaimed that the best sandwich he'd ever
had was an Iberico ham sandwich from a place on the Rambla. In my
experience, the worst bocadillo de jambón Iberico I had put to shame the
average Croque Monsieur one would find in a tourist-oriented café in
Paris.

Mark Lipton
--
alt.food.wine FAQ: http://winefaq.cwdjr.net