More QRW Autumn 2007 feature articles:

All Things Grape and Small/Randy Sheahan

Wine Scene:

• Chef Sandro Gamba/Four Seasons Westlake Village
• Chef Ron Siegel/The Ritz-Carlton Hotel, San Francisco
• 10th Professional Excellence Awards
• Happy 5th Birthday Two Buck Chuck
• Harvard Business School Women’s Association

Burgundy Sans d’Argent/Clive Coates, M.W.

The Word on 2006 Bordeaux/David Peppercorn, M.W.

Then and Now: QRW Covers

At the Pinnacle: Sterling Vineyards/Eleanor and Ray Heald

Better Wine Through Biodynamics at Beaux Frères/Jeff Frees

Red Wine of The Quarter: Heller Estate Merlot 2003/QRW Staff

Dernier Cri: First Growths: What Price Glory?/Randy Sheahan

Madrid, Puerta del Sol (All photos courtesy of The Tourist Office Of Spain)

Let us count some of our reasons for visiting Spain: history, architecture, culture, museums and sun. Food and wine? For us that was never a primary reason, but our last few visits to Madrid and Barcelona have changed that and been a revelation, a temptation to keep busy trying and discovering more and more exciting restaurants, whether reflective of traditional or avant-garde molecular gastronomy.

There is little doubt today among epicures that brilliant and exciting things are happening on plates and in glasses in Spain, making it arguably the most compelling and emerging destination for wining and dining beyond the few established world gastronomic capitals. We have written before about two of Spain’s greatest restaurants with their towering Basque influence: El Bulli and Arzak, but this little story of Madrid and Barcelona is simply that: a small account of some of the places we heartily recommend. Thanks to the success of French Women Don’t Get Fat (Las francesas no engordan) and the just recently published in Spanish French Women for All Seasons (Las francesas disfrutan todo el año y ... no engordan), and with accompanying promotional tours, there’s been lots of forks in Spain that have passed our lips and educated our palates. Yum, yum.

The dynamic cultural and physical changes to both Madrid and Barcelona over the past 20 years are so striking to occasional visitors like us that exchange students returning there barely recognize the cities of their youths. New York may be the city that never sleeps, but Madrid’s street and night life plays in that league. However, Madrid still seems very provincial at heart as we’ve gleamed from staying in different parts of the city, a city that has managed to find its equilibrium reflecting tradition and regionalism while embracing modernity and a cosmopolitan feel. That feeling applies to the table and helps proffer a wealth of choices worth (re)visiting. We have enjoyed going back to some of the classic restaurants like Madrid’s El Botin, a favorite of Hemingway and still making great suckling pig, or Barcelona’s Casa Leopoldo for oxtail stew and fried fish. But what fun it has been exploring the trendy image setters and the wide range of tapas bars that are the basis of Spanish society’s rituals.

Madrid

Madrid, Plaza de EspañaBarcelona, La Sagrada Familia designed by Antoni Gaudí

A Madrileño friend who knew we were staying near the Paseo del Prado and the magnificent Retiro Parque (Madrid’s version of Central Park with magnificent gardens, an exhibition hall and a lake) in Salamanca, one of the richest and most charming areas of Madrid mentioned that we shouldn’t pass Pan de Lujo (Jorge Juan, 20; tel. 91 436 1100), a trendy fusion restaurant where we would also eat very well. He was absolutely correct. The design is ultramodern with reflecting pools and green plants cascading weathered brick walls. We lunched with appetizers such as lettuce hearts with yogurt and yuzu sauce and the crunchy eggplant with hummus and honey, both unusual and utterly satisfying. We shared -- almost regrettably because we wanted it all -- a poached snapper with baby vegetables.

Thanks to another recommendation by a local we found El Lando (Plaza Gabriel Miro, 8; tel. 91 365 3252) and its menu of Castilian dishes. We’ll have to go back to run the offerings because all we got to enjoy was a Spanish omelet with potatoes and a spectacular steak tartare. Dining at Zaranda (Paseo de Eduardo Dato, 5; tel. 91 446 4548) brought back memories of the finest langostinos we’ve had and added to them with a superb saffron rice. The bacalao confitado was more robust but equally memorable.

At La Paloma (Jorge June, 39; tel. 91 576 8692), a small, comfortable eatery famous for its cuisine du marché with French and Basque influences, the fare hit the spot on a cool, rainy night. The food here is rather robust with specialties like game, tripes and variety meats like pig trotters. A foie gras carpaccio followed with grilled turbot with tomato paste was splendidly executed.

Another good find, though the setting was dominated with businessmen, was Goizeko in the Wellington Hotel (Villanueva, 34; tel. 91 577 0138), a modern dining room mixing elegance and luxury. The cuisine is regional with Basque influence and offers succulent fish dishes. Oysters are a must and come in all shapes, forms and uncooked or cooked combinations. Classic seafood platters make for a lovely lunch and codfish, fried merlu (hake) Bilbao style or marinated tuna with caviar are other good choices.

The best meal of our recent stay was at El Paraguas (Jorge Juan, 16; tel. 91 431 5840). The only way we could get a table was as early birds, but we were leaving town and thought we’d give it a try as a few people seem to have had the same idea. The staff had just finished their meal but were accommodating and we found the nearly empty dining room glorious and inviting. Our friend Fabrice, who loves Asturian cuisine (great for fish), mentioned not to skip the pastel de centollo (an excellent crab dish) or the merluza à la sidra (white fish in a cider sauce) and pixin (monkfish) à la Asturiana, and if we still had room for dessert to go to the fine tarts (which we did). The wine list was filled with good values, and our sommelier very helpful in recommending subtle food/wine pairings.

Of course visiting Spain and thinking food evokes the irresistible option of stopping at a tapas bar or two. So, here are two in Madrid we can recommend. Near Retiro Parque is La Castela (Doctor Castelo, 22; tel. 91 573 5590), a modern bar with traditional dishes like croquettes, chicken and blood pudding. And wearing its reputation well as one of the best is El Txoko, pronounce “choco,” (Jovellanos, 3; tel. 91 532 3443) with Basque food: try the baked onions stuffed with goat cheese and jamón (Iberico ham) as well as the cod soufflé.

Barcelona

Barcelona, La Sagrada Familia designed by Antoni Gaudí

Perhaps after Madrid, one tends to think that it doesn’t get any better than that, but Barcelona this time around was even more pleasurable. Barcelona, which seems to thrive on ambiguities even better than Madrid, has truly soared in the past decade. A city with the reputation for creativity and individualism (we find ourselves admiring Gaudí’s work more and more) with its growing port and global presence is a melting pot for Catalan culture. We had heard that the city’s tourism was growing too fast with more and more “cruise tourism” and visitors from trade fairs, events and conferences. It made us a bit apprehensive as we were not sure where the flux of additional tourists would wine and dine and how it would affect service, city traffic and street flows, but our brief visit was as agreeable as we could imagine. (It did help that it was May and not July/August.)

For those of us who had the privilege of tasting Ferran Adria’s El Bulli cooking at the source, his eponymous restaurant in Roses, it’s hard to imagine how his cuisine/setting can be transposed in a busy city. Several of his disciples have found a happy balance in opening wildly creative small temples of alta cocina such as Lasarte (Mallorca, 259; tel. 93 445 3242), where a young, daring Catalonian chef de cuisine, Alex Gares, is putting his own stamp on quite a few dishes. Our meal started with a peach gazpacho then a smoked shrimp soup, tiny scallops from Galicia served on the daintiest roquette; a Napoleon of eel, foie gras and caramelized apples; hake fillet with white asparagus, prawns with egg-yolk and truffle emulsion; papada (pork jowl) ravioli. All dishes were hits. The wine list’s concept was as creative with a well thought out and well priced selection divided into four categories of wines from balance/round to scents/structure, sand/gravel and clays/velouté. The desserts were a bit of a disappointment, but the perfect espresso and petits fours made up for it.

For seafood lovers, Mondo (Imax Building, Moll d’Espanya; tel. 93 221 3911) offers what many consider the best seafood in town. The panoramic view is an additional enticement though the bill might scare a few, but, hey, quality and beauty often have a price. For langoustine lovers, the cigalas was perfection, but all fish are cooked to perfection a la plancha. (Some say this is le Bernardin of Barcelona.)

El Principal (Provenca, 286-288; tel. 93 272 0845) seemed filled with a magazine and publishing house crowd, and the dining room at first appeared austere but was actually relaxing with its minimalist decoration, indoor patio and clever way of opening or closing rooms to allow for intimacy or small or large parties. The cuisine is Mediterranean, and we enjoyed simple sea bass a la plancha, carpaccio of tuna with cèpes mousse while the gentlemen at our table picked the bacalao confitado with pimiento and fried bread and a goat dish with a subtle caramelized sauce. The strawberry gratin with pepper was the refreshing last note to another superior meal.

While we had wonderful tapas in Madrid, experiencing Barcelona’s latest crop of dining bars and bistros offered delicious simplicity at its best: the ultimate example is Tapaç 24 (Diputació, 269; tel. 93 488 0977) where breakfast, lunch and dinner are treats made from a few choice ingredients, such as anchovies on a slab of requeson cheese or a bikini (grilled mozzarella sandwich with Iberico ham). If you can beat the crowds there, try Inopia (Tamarit, 104; tel. 93 424 5231), a wildly popular tapas bar owned by Ferran Adria’s brother. We would also go back to Cal Pep and Casa Alfonso.

We are still looking to top one of the finest paella we’ve had so far, which was at Fogon, the Paris restaurant run by a chef from Barcelona! For once, vive la globalization.

One cannot visit Barcelona without going to the Boqueria Market: try Bar Pinotxo (La Rambla, 91; tel. 93 317 1731) for an incredible potato omelet or the most garlicky aioli and the renovated Santa Caterina market in El Born where a perfect lunch of grilled clams with rosemary, prawns in garlic infused olive oil or cuttlefish with caramelized rice can be savored or devoured at Cuines Santa-Caterina (Avda. Francesc Cambó; tel. 93 268 9918). Two last stops are not restaurants but shops where you can sample and buy an excellent selection of cheese at Tutusaus (Francesc Pérez Cabrero, 5; tel. 93 209 8373) and chocolate at Oriol Balaguer (Pl. Sant Gregori, Taumaturg, 2; tel. 93 201 1846).

With such places popping up like proverbial mushrooms, we are eager for a return to Gaudí and contemporary Spanish gastronomy.