Archive for the ‘Restaurants’ Category
When I visited Spain last year, I tasted several different types of cookies that were baked by nuns. It’s not uncommon for different convents to specialize in different baked goods. In fact, it’s a tradition that has been going on for centuries, so in many cities and large towns you can find shops that specialize in this type of treat. Caelum is one of those places, and I visited it on my more recent trip to Barcelona. It’s a charming cafe in the heart of old-town Barcelona that specializes in baked goods and confections made by nuns from all across the country. The selection wasn’t limited just to cookies, but featured fudge, tarts, candies, cakes and – most importantly – lots of chocolate.
Caelum’s specialty is rich hot chocolate. Theirs is made with purely nun-produced chocolate and, as you might guess, tasted heavenly. You can buy boxed products to take home, each bearing the name of the sisters who produced it, but you can also dine in the cafe itself and choose treats from a beautiful dessert buffet that they have set up. The prices were reasonable, everything was delicious (especially the hot chocolate!) and the place had a great atmosphere.
The pastries and hot chocolate that they sell at Caelum certainly make it worth a visit, but the shop has one other feature that is worth going out of your way to see. It is built on top of a medieval Jewish bath, and a beautiful seating area has been set up in the historic basement, which was part of the baths. This space is what gives Caelum its character and ambiance. The stone walls and vaulted ceilings are beautiful and make the space very romantic.
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Pinotxo Bar is something of an institution at La Boqueria Market in Barceonla. Located right near the entrance of the market, the tiny 14-seat restaurant is bustling with activity from the moment it opens in the morning, both with cooks behind the counter and with hungry patrons waiting for seats out front. Pinotxo is recommended in just about every guidebook on Barcelona and in most of the newspaper/magazine articles you read that mention the market. The bar has been there just about forever, according to bowtie-clad Juan Bayen, the owner of Pinotxo who can always be found behind the counter, and it serves tourists and locals alike with high quality food.
Like El Quim and the other restaurants in the market, the food served here is some of the freshest you can get and most, if not all, of the ingredients come from neighboring stalls. There are some staples on the menu, but much of it changes on a daily basis according to what they have to work with.
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El Bulli is undoubtedly one of the most famous restaurants in the world, renowned not just for the quality of its food, but for the way that chef Ferran Adria reinvented ingredients and presented food in an astoundingly innovative fashion using techniques that have come to be known as molecular gastronomy. El Bulli was not an easy restaurant to get a reservation at (and was definitely a splurge if you could get one!) and closed in February 2011. This left chef Adria to pursue new culinary adventures in Barcelona. He currently has two restaurants there. Tickets is a casual fine dining experience and 41 Degrees, next door to Tickets, was supposed to be a low key tapas bar serving traditional tapas and a few small El Bulli bites. I was excited about the possibility of tasting some of Chef Adria’s creations when in Barcelona and I headed out to 41 Degrees to give it a try.
I had a little bit of a surprise because about 5 days before I arrived in Barcelona, Chef Adria changed the concept of the restaurant. It went from a no-reservations tapas bar to a 16-seat fine dining restaurant serving a 41 course tasting menu. Reservations required, of course. Nowhere near as expensive as El Bulli was, either. The concept was so new (and so unadvertised) when I was there that I might have actually been able to get it, but since I had no idea that the restaurant changed from a tapas menu to a tasting menu, I never got the chance.
After the tasting menu diners clear out, 41 Degrees turns back into a regular bar and that is where I walked in: confused at the concept change, disappointed that I didn’t try to get seats at the restaurant (and that they didn’t serve food at the bar) and ready to try one of the chef’s cocktails. A cocktail bar doesn’t sound that revolutionary here, but few bars in Barcelona seem to serve anything more complicated than a gin & tonic unless it’s a hotel bar that really focuses on international (and American) clients.
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I had a lot of favorites on my trip to Barcelona, so I’m not going to try to rank every meal that I ate in order of preference. Instead, I’m simply going to say that I think El Quim de la Boqueria is an absolute MUST try for food lovers visiting the city. The small restaurant is located right in the heart of La Boqueria Market. It has just 16 stools and a very busy grill that is swarming with outstanding chefs at its heart. It opens early in the morning for breakfast and also serves lunch, then closes in the early afternoon as the market crowd thins out. The food features both traditional Spanish and Catalan dishes alongside very innovative ones. Everything is incredibly fresh and unbelievably well prepared. I raved about it while I was eating and went back several times on my trip, never to be disappointed with anything I ate.
When you arrive at El Quim, it will probably be swarming with people. Just stand behind a few seats where the diners look like they’re almost finished and be patient; chefs will point out open seats and the stools turn quickly. When you sit down, take a quick look through the glass cases at the bar and see what looks good. You’ll find some traditional tapas dishes and lots of seafood that is so fresh it’s still moving. Next, read through the menu (you can get it in English, too) and see what sounds good. Finally, take a look at what the people around you are eating; most of the diners are very friendly and are more than happy to tell you what they’re eating and make recommendations for their favorite items.
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When I mention fahrenheit on this site, it’s most likely that I’m about to give instructions about how to preheat your oven before baking a batch of cookies. In this case, however, I’m taking about the restaurant Fahrenheit, in Tremont, a hip suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. I had the chance to dine there on a recent trip to Ohio to visit the Smucker’s headquarters with some other bloggers. The restaurant is owned by Chef Rocco Whalen and is one of the hottest spots in Tremont, which is an area known for its vibrant culinary scene and high quality restaurants.
We actually started our meal with a whole variety of appetizers, including crispy calamari and lobster pizza, but the appetizer that really appealed to me were the Potato Nachos. Homemade tornado-cut potato chips topped with bacon, green onions and a goat cheese dressing. With the salty combination of crispy potatoes, creamy cheese and bacon, it’s pretty much impossible to go wrong: this dish was dangerously addictive and I think just about everyone who took a bite became an instant fan.
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