Tapioles 53
On Thursday night we went with some friends for the first time to Tapioles 53, a new restaurant in the Poble Sec area of Barcelona.
Tapioles 53 is the baby of designer Ricardo Feriche and Sarah Stothart (who used to be Rupert Murdoch’s personal chef) and is beautifully designed and situated in an old umbrella factory. The restaurant almost always requires reservations and people are no booking from New York months ahead - which is understandable when you taste the food!
There is no menu as such (which I found a bit daunting at first but it is a fantastic touch and really makes the experience) and Sarah comes to talk to you at your table, explaining what is on the days menu. All the ingredients are sourced locally from markets or personally imported (she hunts mushrooms locally and uses produce from her parent’s garden in the Penedés region). On our visit for starters we were offered a choice of carrot and ginger soup with cardomom and roquet and parmesan salad with poached egg which was absolutely sensational.
Entrées offered a choice between Sarah’s homemade Gnocci with sage and spinach and a Moroccan tajine of lamb and sultanas with couscous - Sarah procured the spices for this dish from Morocco I believe and it was perhaps the best example I have tasted outside the region or perhaps in a restaurant in Paris.
This was one of the best dining experiences as a whole that I have experienced anywhere, let alone in Barcelona, and the food was excellent which is something that you can’t always say in Barcelona, regardless of how cool the restaurant is. It was very reasonably priced too although I can’t remember how much it was or I’d post a guideline. Not expensive I think. I’m going back - soon.
I think something interesting is happening on the Barcelona food scene at the moment. There are some good-looking places springing up and it’s about time. Food is still dire in way too many places and your chances of getting a curry that is anything remotely approximating what you might expect of something going under that name are virtually zero. In fact, actually zero in my experience. But forget slumming it, if you are in Barcelona then treat yourself and check out Tapioles 53 - while it is still relatively unknown. It’s definitely going to be massive.
Tapioles 53
On Thursday night we went with some friends for the first time to Tapioles 53, a new restaurant in the Poble Sec area of Barcelona.
Tapioles 53 is the baby of designer Ricardo Feriche and Sarah Stothart (who used to be Rupert Murdoch’s personal chef) and is beautifully designed and situated in an old umbrella factory. The restaurant almost always requires reservations and people are no booking from New York months ahead - which is understandable when you taste the food!
There is no menu as such (which I found a bit daunting at first but it is a fantastic touch and really makes the experience) and Sarah comes to talk to you at your table, explaining what is on the days menu. All the ingredients are sourced locally from markets or personally imported (she hunts mushrooms locally and uses produce from her parent’s garden in the Penedés region). On our visit for starters we were offered a choice of carrot and ginger soup with cardomom and roquet and parmesan salad with poached egg which was absolutely sensational.
Entrées offered a choice between Sarah’s homemade Gnocci with sage and spinach and a Moroccan tajine of lamb and sultanas with couscous - Sarah procured the spices for this dish from Morocco I believe and it was perhaps the best example I have tasted outside the region or perhaps in a restaurant in Paris.
This was one of the best dining experiences as a whole that I have experienced anywhere, let alone in Barcelona, and the food was excellent which is something that you can’t always say in Barcelona, regardless of how cool the restaurant is. It was very reasonably priced too although I can’t remember how much it was or I’d post a guideline. Not expensive I think. I’m going back - soon.
I think something interesting is happening on the Barcelona food scene at the moment. There are some good-looking places springing up and it’s about time. Food is still dire in way too many places and your chances of getting a curry that is anything remotely approximating what you might expect of something going under that name are virtually zero. In fact, actually zero in my experience. But forget slumming it, if you are in Barcelona then treat yourself and check out Tapioles 53 - while it is still relatively unknown. It’s definitely going to be massive.