Restaurant Can Pineda (Sant Joan De Malta, 55 Barcelona Tel: 34-0-93-308-3081)
The location of this restaurant is not easy to find (even by a taxi driver who’s a native of Barcelona!) and it’s not a place that you’d just “find” by taking a walk–it’s on some obscure corner, alone, without shops around it so you’d really have to have heard about it to make it a destination. Whether or not this was a part of why I came away from this restaurant with such an extra-ordinary feeling, I don’t know but I do know that the food Jon and I experienced felt like an enormous (and fabulous) treat.
This was our second dinner in Barcelona–the first, as you now know, I was recovering from an allergic reaction, so this was really my first night that I felt like “me.” It was about 9:45 pm (we were a bit late for our 9:30 reservation because the taxi driver had trouble finding the address on a map). We walked into the restaurant and, right away, I thought to myself “oh boy, this is going to be less than I hoped for”…the lighting was nothing special (bright–which I tend to not love, especially at dinnertime. I like it dim and candle-lit). The place itself was very simple–nothing at all fancy to look at and the blue and white ceramic back-splash behind the bar seemed almost Dutch-like–as opposed to whatever I thought would reflect Spanish decor. (To learn more about Catalan culture and cuisine, click here and to purchase authentic ingredients, click here.)
So, resolved to have a so-so meal, we were brought to our table which was in the smoking section. (We didn’t know to ask for a nonsmoking table–but, in retrospect, I wouldn’t have changed a thing–Having said that, if it’s an issue for you, just know that people are even allowed to smoke cigars in this restaurant, so you might want to remember that when you make your reservation…). Just as I was about to sit down, I glanced towards the table to my right and saw two people eating something that made me immediately put on my glasses. They each had before them a bowl with golden strands of fresh pasta that had, perched on top, a pile of thinly sliced WHITE TRUFFLES!!! I looked at Jon and said…”Honey…do you think they’re eating what I think they’re eating?” He said, “I think so…” At that moment, I knew that this night would be filled with edible surprises…and, trust me, it was.
We had an adorable waitress who spoke very broken English (which we were VERY grateful for) and I pointed to what the couple next to us was eating and she nodded “yes” to what I thought they were eating. When she saw my eyes light up (at the mere mention of truffles), she shook her head “no” to what theywere eating and and then pointed to something on the menu that she pretty-much insisted I have. At this moment, after seeing that she understood that white truffles make me extremely happy, I totally relinquished all power to this young woman–trusting her to order my entire meal, along with all the different Spanish wines we enjoyed, by the glass (which was a very good thing, indeed).
My first course:
A white, somewhat oblong plate was laid in front of me. (Did you ever see something edible that made you audibly gasp? Well, my first course arrived and, even before taking a bite, I became almost dizzy from the anticipation of pure pleasure.) On this plate were two perfectly cooked poached eggs and, each one was sitting on top of a very small mount of what I think was whipped potatoes–but they were a bit more toothsome–almost as if the creamy potatoes where mixed with some gently simmered grits. AND, on top of each egg was a pile of you-know-what –WHITE TRUFFLES!! Oh, I’m not done describing this masterpiece….Also on the plate, on the side of each egg, was an sublime slice of seared fois (duck liver)–Can you imagine?? The seasoning was perfect–just a very light dusting of exquisite sea salt–I tell you–this dish was beyond, beyond, beyond! Actually, my food was so good that I can’t even recollect what my husband ate–something high in omegas (sardines, anchovies, herring–since those foods are, to Jon, what poached eggs, truffles and seared fois is to me).
We shared a second course…
A combination of deeply caramelized fresh mushrooms, flecked with sauteed onions, garlic and studded with lots of small, succulent nuggets of cooked monkfish. The sauce was savory and light, yet sturdy enough to hug each member of the plate. Another winner!
The simple ambiance in this restaurant combined with the level of culinary savvy showed by the chef, along with the warmth of everyone around us, kept Jon and my scenes reeling. Jon and I were in pig-heaven.
Speaking of pig, our third course arrived…
Although I was sure that nothing could compare to what I had already eaten, this next course had Jon and I positively giggling like children–no joke. Let me see if I can do this dish justice… On a plate was a golden brown wedge of something that, at first glace, looked like a triangular shaped, 1-inch thick potato galette. Jon and I both used our fork to cut into this and, as we were chewing, that’s when Jon and I started to laugh, as if to say “how is it possible that this meal just keeps getting better??!”
I noticed the waitress looking in our direction–No doubt she found it fun to watch us so visibly happy. She came to our table wanting to offer any information that she could about what we were eating. She said “pig” and held her hands in front of her, about one-foot apart, to convey that our dish was made using a very young specimen. She also wanted us to understand that the chef initially cooked this pig low and slow–and that then, the suckling pig meat was “pulled” and place in between two layers of pig skin–which was then seared and rendered amazingly crisp on both the top and bottom, with an interior that remained incredibly succulent. This was then cut into wedges and served with an intensely flavored side-puddle of a burgundy-red, glaze-like sauce that was savory-fruity and perfectly acidic. Although I noticed there were a few roast potatoes sitting to the side of the plate, I chose to save every inch of what was left of my capacity to take in food, for the most amazing pork dish I have ever eaten.
It was like we had stumbled into this candy-coated land, only the treats offered gave us a very different kind of “high”… So, not wanting to ruin the perfection of how we felt, we declined ordering dessert. That doesn’t mean that we didn’t have dessert…
We asked for the check. The waitress came back to the table and, instead of bringing the bill, she held a tray with two glasses and two bottles of dessert wine, one white and one red. She poured the white wine into Jon’s glass and I was the LUCKY recipient of the red one that was bursting with the flavor of dark cherries. (Again, another best–I had never had a red dessert wine that was so rich-so silky–so very delicious. Trust me, I could have drank several more glasses of this–they left both bottles on the table. I restrained myself.)
Then, the wife of the chef came to our table with a small, rectangular wooden plate. On the plate were two nuggets of something that looked like a flaky pastry that was dusted with bit of powdered sugar. She, not speaking English, instructed us, by motioning, to eat the pastry in one-bite. I “got” that this was imperative (funny how certain things are just understood, no matter what language you speak.) So, she walked away from the table and, just as we each put the pastry into our mouths, she (like clockwork) turned and look straight at me (it was clear that she wanted to see see us experience this pastry in exactly the way the chef intended…). We both simultaneously closed our mouth around this crisp nugget and, as I bit down, I felt a squirt of two completely different textures (one soft and creamy and one velvety and unctuous, for the first time in my life, this little something edible literally brought tears to my eyes–it was that good.
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