Category: Spain

There. Are. No. Words.

(There may be words later. Food coma ongoing. In the meantime, read about Arzak at The World’s 50 Best Restaurants and enjoy the captioned photos whilst we process the meal.)

Continue reading “Lunch at Arzak”

While researching dining options for our trip to Spain, I came across the restaurant Bal D’Onsera, in Zaragoza, which the Michelin Guide gives one star. I wasn’t able to find a lot of information on the restaurant other than its gorgeous (Flash-based and Spanish-only) website, but did find this information on the Foods from Spain website:

“Josechu Corella and his wife, Carmen Arregui, have run the Bal d´Onsera since 2004. Continue reading “Bal D’Onsera Does Zaragoza Proud”

The city of Zaragoza today was focused on the highlight of its annual Fiestas del Pilar, namely The Offering of Flowers to Our Lady of the Pillar, the patron saint of Zaragoza.

Legend has it that in the early days of Christianity, the Apostle James, while preaching the Gospel in Zaragoza, experienced an apparition of the Virgin Mary standing on a pillar (pilar), accompanied by angels. The Virgin assured the Apostle that the people would eventually be converted and their faith would be as strong as the pillar she was standing on. Continue reading “Zaragoza’s Fiestas del Pilar”

Nintey-nine kilometers north of Barcelona, in the incredibly charming city of Girona (Gerona) on the Costa Brava, the Roca Brothers Joan, Josep, and Jordi (respectively: chef, sommelier, pastry chef) work their magic so skillfully as to have earned the coveted third Michelin star in 2009, and this year were bumped from #2 to #1 on the World’s Best 50 Restaurants list.

Inconspicuous from the street, El Celler de Can Roca is housed in a stunning, purpose-built space that facilitates an extremely efficient operation delivering a magical experience to a house full of patrons thrilled to be at their table. Beautifully appointed in wood and glass, it brings the outdoors inside, literally, with a courtyard filled with trees enclosed in glass forming the center of the dining room, and glass walls looking out to the yard.  Continue reading “El Celler de Can Roca Rocks the Table”

Our apartment in Barcelona is just a few blocks off La Rambla, a 1.2km tree-lined pedestrian mall that connects Plaça de Catalunya with the Christopher Columbus monument at Port Vell.

La Rambla is home to shops, hotels, restaurants, La Boqueria Market, theaters, newsstands, kiosks of all sorts, and more. The pedestrian traffic includes tourists and locals bustling to and from work and recreational activities. Street performers often stop traffic with their antics. It’s also lined with sidewalk cafes where people eat, drink, and watch the world go by.
Continue reading “Rambling Along La Rambla”

One of Barcelona’s hottest spots is also one of its hidden gems. Known to foodies the world around, but seemingly not so well known to the locals we’ve talked with, 41° is one of the latest projects from the culinary minds behind ElBulli.

Albert Adrià and his team also run Tickets, a widely known tapas bar on Avinguda Paral-lel, near Placa d’Espanya. Tickets is very visible from the corner, 41° — which draws its name from the 41st parallel upon which Barcelona sits — is more discreetly tucked into a small, 16-seat space right next door. The signage is very low-key and almost invisible from the street. And what would be the point of a bolder visible presence? Everyone entering the doors has made reservations weeks, or up to three months in advance online. It’s just about the only way to get one of those 16 seats. They don’t need foot traffic to fill them; they couldn’t accommodate walk-ins anyway.
Continue reading “Forty One Degrees of Awesome”