Cal Pep is undeniably a legend among Barcelona tapas bars. Over the last decades it gained a reputation for high-quality bar food, serving market fresh produce directly at the counter. Nowadays Cal Pep is a well-oiled machine,  attracting many foodie-tourists and one can read in specialist forums that it has lost some of its glow. So I might have been a little late to experience the greatness of Cal Pep, but I guess I at least wanted to add the place to my list and maybe check what the hype is about. Read the rest of this entry »

Although the famous Mercat de la Boqueria is flooded with tourists all day long, it is a must go destination for anyone visiting the city and enjoying food. Just a stone’s throw away from the Ramblas, which might also explain the never ending tourist stream, one enters a world made for gourmets and gourmands, consisting of countless stalls but also a handful of bars where you can have the freshest meals. After my recent post about the market of Valencia, here are some impressions of the Boqueria market. Read the rest of this entry »

So I previously wrote about Carles Abellan’s fine dining restaurant Comerc 24 – now it is the turn of his tapas bar project named Tapas 24. It is located close to Barcelona’s shopping boulevard Passeig de Gracia and offers modern or just high-quality interpretations of tapas classics. For coming straight to the point: I loved it! Not only are these tapas made of top notch ingredients, but the added tweaks and twists elevate many of the dishes. If you’re in Barcelona, just go there! You won’t regret it! Read the rest of this entry »

Carles Abellan, one of the former disciples of Ferran Adria, has built up a small empire of restaurants in Barcelona. His flagship restaurant is Comerç 24, where he serves a cuisine which makes use of molecular techniques he learned at El Bulli, but cares to accentuate the subtle flavor of the produce rather than emphasizing the gimmick. While his cuisine is based on many Catalan ingredients from the mountain and the sea, there is also a clear inclination towards Asia, so I decided to call it “Catalasian” (Catalan and Asian) cuisine.

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The Mediterranean Essence – Dieses kleine aber feine Event der letzten Sonnentage in Frankfurt hätte ich fast unterschlagen, dabei hat es doch einen bleibenden Eindruck hinterlassen. Es zeigte einerseits, dass es eine vielzahl leckerer Ribera del Duero Weine fürs kleine Portemonnaie gibt, andererseits, dass große Ribera Weine nicht unbedingt fette Schnecken sein müssen. Organisiert wurde das Event von der Sopexa, subventioniert wurde es unter anderem von der Europäischen Union. Read the rest of this entry »

When in Valencia, one has the opportunity to dive into the cuisine of Quique Dacosta, without a doubt the most acclaimed chef of the region – especially since he finally managed to achieve a well-deserved third star for his flagship restaurant in Denia (in between Valencia and Alicante) for which he’s been waiting far too long. His gastronomic bistro Vuelve Carolina is located in the center of  Valencia and offers high end bistro and tapas cuisine. It is a laid back place where beer on tap goes side by side with fine wine and where people go both for ordering several course menus as well as quick tapas bites. Quique Dacosta manages to put his personal stamp on quite a few traditional tapas dishes, but also offers modern creative cuisine based on fine-dining ingredients. Another important thing to know ans probably a must-try: There are always a few “arroz” dishes on the menu. As Quique Dacosta is also known as a master for arroz, the typical rice dishes of the region, one can expect quite some tasty things there. Read the rest of this entry »