Already a member? Not a member? Sign up Explore our Food Tours → the simplest bite has you forgetting your expensive wine Your friends around the table are all laughing you’re lost in primitive aesthetic bliss and something akin to communion with the universe Here are a few moments from 2024 when we got lost in food oblivious to the jokes and comments of our competitions at tables in Barcelona Cured Fish and Leg of Lamb at Ultramarinos Marín Ultramarinos Marin, which we mentioned in our last review of neighborhoods to visit an upscale area of the city with a mix of residential and business establishments While the prices in this area tend not to be cheap the average quality is generally quite high it’s still important to be discerning as some places are overpriced for what they offer certain establishments are truly exceptional and unique – and this is one of them Ultramarinos Marín is a bar-grill-restaurant for hardcore food enthusiasts prepared from scratch using a mix of refined techniques for curing Chefs and owners Borja Garcia and Adria Castro have perfected a neo-old-school style based on traditional preparations without unnecessary flourishes is a tribute to the popular neighborhood bar-restaurant so typical in Spain a hidden dining room with a charcoal grill where diners can watch their fish and meat being cooked run by Venezuelans Juan and Aquiles Martini converting meat-eaters into devout veggie lovers They also occasionally invite like-minded chefs to create unexpected new plates to conquer the hearts (and stomachs) of their formerly carnivorous clientele This winter, we had the pleasure of tasting a sample of fantastic dishes cooked by Blanca del Noval, our collaborator in San Sebastian Blanca took over Fat Veggie’s kitchen to roast eggplants She transformed these simple veggies into exciting dishes with her secret ingredient: Yagi Miso made in the Basque Country (where “Yagi” means “ferment”) uses wild acorns or organic beans – imagine a miso with a flavor current of Iberian ham we especially loved the sweet roasted pumpkin elevated with the acorn Yagi Miso demi-glace accompanied by chestnut cream and aromatic Jerusalem artichoke and crowned with a flavor splash of intense coriander flowers once the veggie feast was over and we could recover our senses and return to our conversation Fesols de Santa Pau at Girona’s El Hostal dels Ossos Volcanoes might be known for their hellaciously destructive force and the beautiful dark sand beaches they leave behind – but they also produce uniquely delicious legumes Such is the case with the Catalan “Santa Pau beans,” similar to the lentils from the Canary Islands in the Girona province’s La Garrotxa region and have Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) status The landscape of this area is dominated by several dormant volcanoes and a dark soil with very specific characteristics that make the bean’s skin so thin and its texture so creamy In Barcelona, these beans can be found in several restaurants specializing in traditional Catalan ingredients, like our friend in Gràcia, La Pubilla The restaurant El Hostal dels Ossos in Girona serves several dishes featuring local volcanic cuisine but our favorite was the simplest: sautéed Santa Pau beans velvety and infused with the rich flavors of Catalan sausage and mushrooms We reviewed Buriti when it opened a year ago and it remains a constant source of satisfaction We come back to meet friends with the certainty we’ll enjoy a fun meal with time-honored Brazilian cuisine: moqueca Local Brazilians love it because they know they will find the real deal here but with extra quality and professionalism that elevates each dish to its best the food is a balm for saudade – a uniquely Portuguese word meaning a blend of longing We call the different smaller subtypes of queen scallops zamburiñas or volandeiras and they are easy to confuse with other non-local varieties – like the more industrialized Pacific scallops We have strong memories of the scallops in the A Guarda fishing village during our Galician “Seafood pilgrimage” in September an iconic restaurant in the village run by the notable local chef Chus Castro He creates buttery and rounded aromas using quality local volandeiras cooked in the oven with some minced vegetables and a drizzle of olive oil to confirm and reconfirm this delicious mini miracle loading map - please wait...Map could not be loaded - please enable Javascript!→ more information