Evaluation: 16/20
This is a well hidden gem in Spain. It is a boutique hotel-restaurant complex, hidden in the hills above the wealthy Catalane town of Lloret del Mar.
Our friend Josep Vilella took us to this place, which is only known (for the moment) to a privileged few. He drove ahead of us and for good reason, because you drive on a dirt road among the cyclists and joggers, and, had I been driving there at night, I would have thought that I was lost and would have gone back.
My wife, Linda, was taken aback by the view and character of the place and proposed to take our photo.
The host, Nico, speaks good English and gave us a tour of the kitchen. Naturally, he wants to spread the word about this place and rightly so. The kitchen is a far cry from Can Roca/El Bulli-like sterile kitchens, where everything is prepared in advance and kitchens that look like ads in furniture magazines serve the function of last minute assembly.
No, this is a real kitchen with nice aromas, aromas of mushrooms picked the same morning, calles “escarlets blancs,” garlic, bloody meat, charcoal, and briny shellfish.
They resort to my favorite forms of cooking: a la plancha grilling with wood charcoal (olive branches), smoking, grilling, roasting in the wood fired oven, etc.
And there is no god damn sous vide!
Following the tour of the kitchen and feeling the pangs of hunger at 3 PM (no we had not had breakfast, only coffee), we were seated in a cozy and comfortable room which looked like the dining room of a wealthy Catalan home, with good taste. In front of us a family, composed of three generations, was having a feast, and their enthusiasm further titillated our taste buds.
Tony first brought us some house cured fat anchovies with tomato puree. I should note the high quality of the anchovies. They were much less salty than usual and very tasty.
The next dish was the best mussel dish I have eaten so far. Mussels were from the same species as what I know as “moules du bouchet,” but the Spanish version. But what made them special was how they were cooked. They were smoked and grilled a la plancha. This is a true masterpiece from a pedestrian shellfish.
Next we were served a langoustine (cigalas) dish. Langoustine, which is translated as “Dublin bay prawn” to English (but does not exist in America), is one of my favorite seafoods on earth. I love them a la plancha and whole. The day before I had come across live langoustines in one of my favorite seafood temples in Spain (HOGAR GALLEGO in Calella), and they were firm, succulent, and sweet. I was not overwhelmed with the quality of langoustines at Can Bosc, which I found to be too soft and not as sweet and juicy as they can be when very very fresh. But the preparation was very good. They were served with sweet pumpkin cream, crumbled nuts, and black trumpet mushrooms. I should say that the quality of pumpkin and mushrooms, which accentuate the sweet and earthy components of the seafood, were more impressive than the langoustine.
The next dish was a real winner. It included a silky potato puree, barely smoked trout caviar, and fresh fennel sprouts. Sometimes the most difficult thing is to elevate the simplest ingredients to regal status. In this combination the interaction of smooth and crunchy textures, and salty, smoky and earthy flavors was optimum. A lesser chef would have tried to make this dish more complex and would ruin the balance as a consequence.
This dish deserves a special nod for the quality of the mountain potato.
Tony was most proud of the next dish, but I thought it was the weakest course. It featured fine calamari (but not as amazing as I find at SIMPSON), colored by its own ink, served in a smoky sheep milk sauce and with a royal of calamari legs and liver. The tart sauce somehow did not interact well with the calamari, and the royal did not have the cloudy-creamy texture of this classic from French haute cuisine. (See the becada royal at CA L’ENRIC.) I think the chef does better with simpler, rather than complicated dishes, which aim to showcase creativity.
The final course, however, was more than a winner. It was the best steak I have eaten outside of Japan. The hugh rib eye cut, which came from a 16 years old white Galician cow, was dry aged for 150 days. It was taken out of the fridge for one day. Its surface was rubbed with fat, seared on the grill, and then cooked in the wood fired oven, I believe. The supplier of this masterpiece is Luismi, from the Basque country.
The steak was served with the firm, aromatic, and very special escarlets white mushrooms and black trumpets. It was rich, succulent, decadent, nicely crusted, and very, very flavorful.
I really wished my friend and ex-Gastroville partner, Michael Johnson, were there. In his Hedone restaurant in London, he is serving a specially dry aged Black Angus, which possibly is the best steak in gastro-poor London. I believe this is the texture and taste for which he is still searching.
As a now retiring critic of the wine world used to say about his 100 pointers: “this steak has to be tasted to be believed”.
The dessert was also quite good, even very good, and appropriate after the orgasmic experience. It featured a fresh meringue with orange skin, praline, and eucalyptus ice creams and strawberries. It is light and refreshing. It also went very well with an oxidized ‘58 Superior Tarragona white wine which reminded me of aged Madeira with nutty notes.
I should also add that the house gives importance to serving very high quality coffee with excellent madeleines and chocolate bonbons.
This level of cooking and ingredients requires matching wines.
1. 2010 Priorat white. Pedro de Guix
This wine is a blend of grenache blanc and pedro ximenez and will compete favorably with French wines from the same cepage. It has a smoky, citrus aroma, and is probably aged on the lees. It has good body, intensity, fine acidity, a steely backbone and a nutty finish. It is balanced, with 13% alcohol. It was a great match with the potato and trout caviar dish. Our host Nico thinks that the distinguishing feature of this wine which elevates it to a status higher than your typical garnacha blanca is the blend with pedro ximenez which comes from old vines. GRADE: 91/100
2. 2009 Espectacle de Mont Sant
This wine carries its 15% alcohol well, thanks to bracing acidity. This wine is made by the Barbier family from outside Priorat. I was impressed by its juiciness, overall balance, bright red fruits, and intoxicating spicy finish. Oak is perfectly integrated and tannins are not noticeable. Clearly they found a perfect cool spot for Grenache. The vines are 120 years old. I am not sure about how long it will age without losing its fruit, and this is why I may be conservative in my ranking.
This bottle is a perfect match with dry aged steak, since it is so juicy and counters the metallic/earthy steak. The high alcohol absorbs the smoke and the fat well.
Grade: 94/100
Sant Pere del Bosc does merit two Michelin stars.
Vedat Milor
December 2012