Als ich vor 2 Jahren im Restpostenkorb eines Lebensmittelmarktes eine deutlich reduzierte Flasche Frühburgunder des Spitzenweinguts Jean Stodden fand, musste ich einfach zulangen. In der Hoffnung ein passender Anlass würde sich bald finden legte ich diese Flasche in den Keller. Frühburgunder sagt man allerdings nach er könne nicht so lange altern wie sein Bruder der Spätburgunder, und so langsam sorgte ich mich, dass ich auch meine Flasche viel zu sehr vor ihrem Schicksal beschütze. Read the rest of this entry »

Valencia really is an exciting city with lots of change happening there in these last years, with the construction of impressive edifices such as the Palau de Les Arts de la Reina Sofia or the modern Port for the America’s cup.
Of course it is also very appropriate for a night out with dinner, drinks and nightclub. But for now I’d rather focus on tapas. We’ve had several good tapas in the city, but in the end one has the impression that each tapas bar has the same offering, and most of them rely on tins when it comes to serve anchovies or seafood. There was one tapas bar though we found to be different. Casa Montana is a bodega and tapas bar located in the area El Cabanal next to the port. It’s a bit hidden in a rather residential area but worth the detour. Read the rest of this entry »

During our small road trip through Eastern Spain we seized the occasion and drove through one of the most interesting wine regions of the moment. Priorato is located approximately 150 Km Southwest of Barcelona next to the river Ebro. The region is mostly mountainous and the vines are growing on rather steep slopes within a dramatic landscape. Taking the tiny roads can be dizzying, especially when they are winding around these steep slopes and a local follows closeby and nearly pushes your car.
We drove through Gratallops, Torroja and Porrera, 3 villages where some famous winemakers such as René Barbier (Clos Mogador), Alvaro Palacios, Rotllan Torra and Cims de Porrera have their cellars.
The interesting story concerning this region is that it was already on the way to disappear from the wine map, when 20 years ago, French winemaker René Barbier came there and realized the potential of old Carinena vines within this microclimate. Since then, the region is booming and makes some of the most Read the rest of this entry »

If you ever go to Rosas, when you have a reservation at EL Bulli for instance, there is another restaurant which might interest you. I believe it is some kind of well-known secret tip (check out here) that Can Rafa propably offers the best seafood in town and represents the ideal contrast to El Bulli. Here everything is simple. There is no menu: Rafa will compose Read the rest of this entry »

Although I’ve been several times in Denia before, it is only OAD’s post that informed me about the existence of a gastronomic hotspot there. So one week after we’ve been to EL Bulli, we spontaneously went to EL Poblet – that’s the name of chef Quique Dacostas’ restaurant on Las Marinas road km3 in Denia – Soon to be one of the better-known culinary destinations of Spain and Europe. Quique Dacosta is known as a young, 35 years old chef who Read the rest of this entry »