Twelve whole hours after our mega feast at Tickets, we hopped on a train and headed one and a half hours north of Barcelona, to a town called Girona. This small town in the Catalonian region housed our next meal in our three day español fiesta.
El Celler de can Roca was started up back in 1986 by three brothers - Joan, Josep and Jordi. Today, it is recognised as the second best restaurant in the world - second only to the famed Noma in Copenhagen.
To say that the meal was a gastronomical fanfare would have been a gross understatement. My friends and I have dined at many Michelin starred and Michelin quality restaurants during our time and we all agreed that El Celler is amongst the best that we've had. That saying, we have yet to dined at Noma nor the previous world's number one - El Bulli (now closed).
We opted for a tasting lunch instead of dinner - mainly because we knew the experience would probably last us in the vicinity of some 4 hours and trying to make our way back to our hotel after a 4 hour dinner would no doubt prove challenging when intoxicated.
Nonetheless, the food was phenomenal. I've been complaining lately to my husband that we have sampled our fair share of Michelin starred/molecular gastronomy in the last four years and the more we eat, the more discerning we have become. To the point where some of these so called Michelin starred restaurants of late no longer create the sensation they once did when we first started our quest for brilliant cooking. So to dine at El Celler and be blown away by the tastes and sights of the food, has somewhat renewed my interest for food on a whole other level.
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| our olive tree |
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| caramelised olive |
It was a sunny day when we turned up so we opted to have the amuse bouche in the garden fronting the restaurant. Shortly after we settled comfortably into our loungers, an olive tree was presented to us. On closer inspection, it was no ordinary olive tree but rather edible treats made to appear like real olives, suspended on hooks and attached to the branches of the tree.
We ate an obscene amount of food that day. It was along the lines of 8 amuse bouches, some 11 'mini' mains and 3 desserts followed by 3 sets of petit fours.
I could probably go on for several pages about the food, but instead, I always prefer to let the pictures do the talking.
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| campari bombón |
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| foie gras & figs |
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| foie gras & figs [up close] |
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| anchovy bones |
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| anchovy bones [up close] |
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| mushroom (truffle) bombón |
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| mushroom (truffle) bombón [up close] |
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| ring calamar adaptation |
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| zucchini omelette |
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| truffled brioche |
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green salad: avocado, lime, melon, cucumber, chartreuse, sorrel, green shiso, tarragon, rocket, oxalis, eucalyptus, olive sorbet & olive oil |
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| oyster with Palo Cortado - white & black garlic |
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| cherry soup with muscovado-smoked eel, bitter almonds and ginger ice-cream |
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| charcoal-grilled king prawn, king prawn sand, ink rocks, fried legs, head juice & king prawn essence |
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| charcoal-grilled sole meuniére, milk skin, black butter, lemon & capers |
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| sole skin with flowers & citrus peel |
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| braised salt-cod tripe, salt cod foam, olive oil soup, shallots, honey, thyme, & chilli pepper. vegetable contrast |
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| iberian suckling pig with riesling - mango & summer truffle terrine, beet, garlic, orange concentrate & saffron pistil |
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| red mullet, stuffed with red mullet pâté & aniseed flavoured herb, orange & saffron gnocchi |
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| steak tartare with mustard ice-cream - 5 segments comprised of 1) spiced tomato, caper & lemon compote; 2) hazelnut praline; 3) béarnaise sauce; 4) oloroso-sherry raisin, chive butter; 5) sichuan pepper, pimenton de la vera (D.O), smoked paprika & curry. Served with small scoops of mustard ice-cream, mustard leaves, baby onions with vinegar |
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| lamb with charcoal-grilled sweet pepper & tomato |
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| wood pigeon liver with onion, caramelised hazelnuts with curry, juniper berries, orange skin & herbs |
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| lemon cloud |
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| milk caramel, sheep's milk ice-cream, sheep's milk curd cheese foam, sheep's milk yoghurt & milk cloud |
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| vanilla, liquorice, caramel & black olive |
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| vanilla, liquorice, caramel & black olive |
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| petit fours: assortment of fresh fruit |
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| petit fours: assortment of marshmallows & jellies |
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| petit fours: assortment of hand made chocolates |
We spent in the vicinity of €180 per person that afternoon which comprised of food, wine and service. It was not a cheap lunch, however I have previously paid more for a less than stellar experience elsewhere and would happily spend that money again at El Celler. This time I'll make sure to take the hubby along, who unfortunately, was stuck at work while my friends and I gorged our way through Spain.
el celler de can roca
can sunyer 48, girona, 17007
tel: +34 972 222 157
http://www.cellercanroca.com/PORTADA/intro.htm
