While I featured what I called "the Triple Crown of Barcelona Restaurants" in an earlier post, I wanted to mention the three really great restaurants we ate at on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday nights. They were all excellent in their different ways, and each earned the kudos I give it here.
Wednesday night, Bar Canete: Carol wanted some new places, not just to return to our old haunts, and this one fit the bill. On a tiny street just west of La Rambla, the ambiance, food, and service were impeccable. We were seated at a table, even though I jealously eyed the counter (if you go here as a two or one reservation, get seats at the counter).
The table was fantastic too. A very nice place, with great food and service. I can't remember everything we ate, but can highly recommend the Iberico Presa (Spanish grilling pork) and the lamb. I'm pretty sure we had jamon croquettes here, razor clams which were quite tasty, burrata with tomato and pesto, and octopus. If we didn't have one of those dishes, what we had was pretty close.
They've got a great wine list, as well as a very cool wine room. Some of the tables are accessible only by walking through the kitchen. At first we thought there were tables in the kitchen, but it was a separate room. I will say that when I went to check it out, the chefs greeted me enthusiastically, and liked me even more after I wholeheartedly complimented their food. I meant every word I said, but it also doesn't hurt to compliment people who work very well with sharp knives.
As my favorite Mark Twain saying goes, "There are only three kinds of people susceptible to flattery -- men, women, and children." (I just searched for that saying, and it didn't come up, so maybe someone made it up and attributed to Twain. However, I'm going with it as a Twain saying until proven otherwise.)
The counter from the south end.
The counter from the north end.
(And yes, I'm strange for
knowing which way is north
and south inside a
restaurant for crying
out loud!)
Friday night, Cocina Hermanos Torres: Carol and I ate here in 2019 for my 57th birthday dinner, and it was spectacular. Disfrutar might get the hype, and it IS excellent, but we thought the food and entire show was better at this Two Star Michelin in 2019. The Michelin Guide has since awarded Cocina Hemanos Torres a 3rd Star (which I just found out by googling to reconfirm the two-star status).
Yes, it is expensive, but if you are going to splurge, this is a fabulous place to do it. It is the kitchen of the Brothers Torres, and the kitchen is the show. There are three rows of kitchens set up in the middle of the dining room, so customers are treated to watching the food being made, the wait staff impeccably serving those dishes, using four people to deliver to food to the four of us simultaneously, and then putting the food down in choregraphed way, all four at once.
I will let the Michelin Guide describe it:
"The Torres twins (Sergio and Javier) dreamt of incorporating their culinary microcosmos into the heart of the dining room, transforming a culinary experience into a true spectacle, hence the three cooking stations that dominate the centre of the room, around which tables are arranged beneath romantic "clouds" of light. Although à la carte is an option, the most popular request is for the superb tasting menu, a gourmet journey that extols the very best seasonal and local ingredients, using them in such a way to extract maximum impact and flavour with a minimum of intervention."
There were thirteen courses served, including four desserts. Like a lot of Michelin star restaurants, each plate is small, but packed with a wow factor of flavors. I'm not going to list all 13 courses here, but I will mention a number of the main ingredients from the different courses, including Iberian pancetta, squid, eel, sea urchin (twice in a day!), Iberian ham, truffles, prawn, suckling pig, and that's a very incomplete list. It's quite a gastronomic experience.
And, by the way, while this restaurant has been given a third Michelin Star, the more famous Disfrutar still has two stars. (By the way, Disfrutar is our second fav of the five from 2019, but I'm glad the good folks at Michelin agree with Carol and I that Cocina Hermanos Torres is better). Curious, I checked; there is only two other three star restaurants in Barcelona. Ironically, one of them is right around the corner from our current apartment.
All three of the kitchens. Taken from our table.
The two closest to us were the head chef
and the assistant head chef for the evening.
Saturday night, Sensi Tapas: Okay, I thought I had booked at Sensi Bistro, where we did eat in 2019, but instead I booked one of their sister restaurants, Sensi Tapas. I call these tricked-up tapas, similar to our favorite D.C. restaurant, Jaleo (yes, that's the Jose Andres flagship restaurant).
The food was great, the atmosphere is strong, and you feel both crammed in and relaxed. The highlight of the dinner was me overhearing the waiter recommend Clos Dominic to a table near us. That sounded familiar, because it was! This was the first of the two wineries we went to our tour of Priorat. Wonderful to find a bottle from this small winery available on the menu.
We had the oxtail croquettes (where has oxtail been all my life?), padron peppers (of course!), roasted boneless chicken legs Peruvian style (pretty sure it's the only place we saw chicken on the menu), and fresh truffle ravioli in parmesan cream and truffle oil. It was all fantastic. I'm not sure why I didn't take any photos here, but such is life.
Shoutout to Mark Ganung, who first put me on to both Sensi as well as Brunch & Cake. We'll see if he's reading this because it will prompt a text.
Wrap-up: Six great dinners, one solid restaurant, and one okay one (that was my fault because I was too tired the first night). Just amazing food, incredible atmosphere, and great fun. Not bad for eight nights of dinners.
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