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Archive for the ‘Restaurants in Spain’ Category

Awarded with a Michelin star, our gourmet restaurant is blazing a trail in traditional Catalan cuisine. Directed by Carme Ruscalleda, the only female chef in the world to have earned six Michelin stars for her restaurants in Spain and Tokyo, and her son Raül Balam, Moments is one of the finest dining experiences in Barcelona.

Key to Ruscalleda’s success is the inspiration she finds in fresh produce; her culinary team search daily for the season’s finest. The Moment’s menu will feature traditional dishes from the Catalan cookbook such as arroz caldoso (rice dish with broth), fricandó (veal stew) and suquet (fish stew). Read the rest of this entry »

Every year “Restaurant” magazine brings out a list of the Top-50 restaurants in the world, based on a poll conducted by them among renowned chefs and food critics. Here are the Top 10 among them.

The-Bulli-Restaurant-Spain1.     The Bulli, Spain
This small restaurant in Catalonia in Spain, is open only from April to October, and takes bookings only on a single day in October for the next season. A pioneer in Haute Cuisine, it specializes in imaginative and experimental cuisine. It has topped the list for the best restaurants in the world 4 years in succession Read the rest of this entry »

As a third generation of Barcelona restaurateurs, Alejandro Pages comes from a tradition of serving royalty and commoners. His grandfather used to serve the Duke and Duchess of Barcelona and his family has had over 20 restaurants in Spain.

Empanadas are fried crisp, and stuffed with chicken and vegetables. (photo by Jill Weinlein)

Alejandro fondly remembers being in one of the restaurants before he could walk. “I sat in the kitchen and ate chips,” he shared with me recently when I dined at Little Spain in the Farmers Market. I bet it was exciting for this little lad to watch chefs prepare food and servers whisk the dishes to guests in the dining room. “When I was ten years old, my family taught me how to make Crème Catalana. I’ve been perfecting it for the past 27 years,” Pages said.
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There was already twice as much retail/restaurant in existence than the average U.S. American could sustain… before the economy crashed. So, besides going out of business, what is one way restaurants are surviving, and thriving?

According to this article in the Wall Street Journal, think of how people are beginning to favor the connectedness of cities over the isolation of suburbia. Thus, rather than $50 entrees with white tablecloths with maximum distance from other diners (ie big homes on big lots with expensive cars), restaurant owners are favoring more lounge type seating with a bar that fosters a more festive atmosphere, offering smaller meals at lower prices, and adding live music – think piazzas and outdoor dining scenes. Read the rest of this entry »

Those who run the great restaurants of the world are deeply interested in their work. Indeed, it would be fair to talk of their occupation in terms of vocation. They have a sense of calling which takes them on the pilgrimage road towards perfection. This makes them eager to experience the food of fellow practitioners: they have to see what there is to learn from their rivals. And this is why the tables in the finest dining rooms are often occupied by those ‘in the business’ – waiters, sommeliers and, of course, those who man the stoves. I was therefore not at all surprised to be told by the chef of the magnificent Restaurant Santceloni, in Madrid, that he had last seen me when we were both enjoying food from the best kitchen in Rome, at La Pergola. Read the rest of this entry »

After years of trying out Manhattan’s Spanish restaurants—the upscale, the midscale and the downscale varieties—I’d almost given up hope of finding a place that really felt like Spain. That was before I West 14th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues, La Nacional is easy to miss, unless you’re lookingliving in New York City.

Situated in an old brownstone on West 14th Street, between 7th and 8th Avenues, La Nacional is easy to miss, unless you’re looking for it. There’s no advertising, other than a small wooden plaque, to draw you into the charming, ground floor restaurant that’s open to the public. Beyond the restaurant is an unassuming bar and party room for club members and upstairs there’s a salon where you can take flamenco and tango classes. Read the rest of this entry »

If only all restaurants in Spain were like this! It is classic (hasn’t changed in decades – neither have the waiters, who, by the way, are friendly!), opens at 11 am, and is non-smoking!

What this means it that we can go there with our baby and eat with him before 1pm! Seeing as he has a siesta at 2pm, there is practically no other restaurant in Spain we can eat lunch at these days – oh, and all the others are mostly smoky too, so 100 more points to Asturian Cider House Extraordinaire Casa Mingo for keep0ing the nicotine out as well. Read the rest of this entry »