In 2007, only 1 week after a memorable dinner at Ferran Adria’s El Bulli, my brother and I had a meal at Quique Dacosta’s Michelin-starred restaurant El Poblet. Back then we found many parallels to the just-discovered molecular gastronomy of master Ferran Adriá but also, in comparison to El Bulli, we found the meal at El Poblet to be much closer to a regular meal, with slightly bigger portions and more time to savour what’s on the plate. We agreed that in a week we just had one meal representing the very foundations and another meal probably representing the next step of molecular gastronomy.
Only in March 2015, 8 years after that meal, I made it back to this place. A few things have changed. Mainly: the name of the restaurant isn’t El Poblet anymore but simply Quique Dacosta. Plus, it now carries 3 Michelin stars. According to many, a well-deserved distinction that chef Dacosta had to wait for far too long. 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 »
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 »
