Mundial Bar, Barcelona

Crazy Green Things

Mundial Bar, Barcelona

This place is about as old school as it gets. A single waiter might walk 30,000 steps a day in 500 sq ft because he was non stop taking care of roughly 30 customers. One guy taking care of 30 guests. Awesome. Also, there is only one guy in the kitchen. Just one and he is working his little closet of a space to knock out every dish in this place. Two guys handling an entire restaurant for dinner. Two guys. Major credit given for the work ethic at Mundial.

Upon entering Mundial, I spied some crazy green things on a plate. I say “crazy green things” because green vegetables in Spain seem to be as rare as diamonds. The green things were padron peppers which were wonderfully pan scorched and seasoned generously with salt. I’m thinking my near 50-year old body could use some fiber; and green veg and peppers sounded like a refreshing treat. Yep, delicious but not the best item here.

No reason to go too far out of the box at Mundial and keep it simple. Croquettes, Patatas Bravas, red wine. The Patatas were the best I had in Spain. Great fry job and aioli duo of classic heavy garlic (more like the Armenian style garlic sauce than aioli) and the second aioli spiked with smoked paprika..The two different types of croquettes were ok, the bacalao fritter tasted more of potato than fish, with two of the them being cold in the middle. The chicken croquettes were super hot and fresh fried but tasted of older thigh meat. I’m batting 0-2 on croquettes in Spain, but I’ll keep swinging.

As I set up in the previous review with Bar del Pla, I’m finding that each tapas bar has something they do extraordinarily well. In Bar del Pla’s case, it’s braised meat. In Mundial’s case, it’s Patatas Bravas and Padron Peppers. I’m sticking with my theory that it’s going to be difficult for any old-school tapas bar to “run the table” on all things tapas. Rather, the “tapas crawl” might be a better idea when it comes to eating tapas and it shouldn’t be difficult, many of these places are open all day and they certainly don’t close until late.

More reviews and more food pics to come…

Best Patatas Bravas of the entire trip!!!

One Man Army in the Kitchen

Bar del Pla, Barcelona

Braised Cheek

Bar del Pla (a guidebook favorite) in Barcelona was packed all day with locals and tourists alike. I’m not here to bash the guidebooks, far from it. They serve a useful purpose, enlightening first-time travelers to a city or region. But, just like wine ratings written by the casual drinker with no experience, the conventional wisdom often leads to a herd mentality, “if everyone else is drinking/eating Brand X, maybe I should too”.

Praise the Braise!

Bar del Pla is located in the heart El Born. It’s a classic place to eat The highlights for me were the ox tail topped with foie gras and the long braised braised cheek. Yep, two braised dishes that were solid and worth singling out Bar del Pla. These two braised dishes were the best braises the whole trip! Sauces were concentrated and reduced, flavors were bold and warming, classic execution of braised meat.

However, the rest of the food wasn't worth the hype online that this place gets. The croquettes at del Pla were the size, shape and crispiness of an egg roll or spring roll; not a bad thing. The inside was sort of creamy and chicken filled. Was it good? Sure. Should you drop everything to come here? Nah. If anything, I suddenly wanted an actual Thai/Vietnamese style spring roll. Croquettes are served practically everywhere in Spain. Keep searching. Bar del Pla are good, but there are better.

There was even an attempt at tacos here with another braised meat. Perhaps, to a European who’s never been to Mexico and never had tacos, the tacos at del Pla will be totally new and interesting. To me, they were meh.

Come to Bar del Pla for a braised meat tapas, a drink, and move on if you’re hungry. Trust me, there are croquettes, jamon and patatas bravas everywhere else in Barcelona and you should give them a try and move on from the guidebook. And skip the tacos.

Croquettes on the left, Ox Tail with Foie Gras on the right

Bar del Pla Tacos

Ramblero in La Boqueria Market, Barcelona

Ramblero in La Boqueria Market, Barcelona

La Boqueria or Mercat Boqueria Barcelona is one of the busiest markets #thewinemaestro been to at lunch time, regardless of the country or city. The only market it compares to in terms of busyness that I've been to is Djema el-Fna in Morocco at dinner back in 2006.

Djema el-Fna in Morocco, 2006

When researching the Boqueria Market and where to eat, based upon every TV show, online mag, Google search, etc. they all say to go to Quim and Pinotxo. Why? Who knows. If you’ve ever looked up ‘Lobster Rolls in Maine’, Red’s Eats ALWAYS comes up and is ranked #1. Why? Don’t know. I’ve been to Red’s, it’s good but there are plenty of other choices in the ENTIRE state of Maine that I’ve been to that are equally as good and waaaaay less busy…but I digress.

Pinotxo is at the entrance to Bocqueria, so it's the first thing every tourist sees plus the queue to get a seat; so good luck with Pinotxo. Quim was about as un-organized as it gets. People are waiting behind other people getting up to leave, only the staff really know who is in line next, but refuse to say who is next when asked, it’s all sort of laissez faire; EXCEPT when two seats open up and you sit down. Then suddenly, by some miracle, the staff finds their voice to say the seats were reserved. This happened twice at Quim. At that point, I’m done, which is why we bailed. Based upon that, we tried Ramblero..

Why Ramblero? One huge shellfish plate after the other and controlled turnover of the seating. It's a tourist location, like everything else in El Boqueria, it's on the map, there's probably better, but you're here, so sharpen your elbows and grab the credit card, you might as well eat and you’re gonna pay for it.

Ramblero will tell you to get a platter of fish. They told each guest the same thing, “We suggest the fish platter.” They push shellfish, but since my gout knows about shellfish and baitfish and the trouble it can cause, it was firmly suggested by me that no shellfish be brought, only seafood with scales and suckers. Well, they brought out salmon, tuna, sea bream, sea bass, calamari, octopus all stacked on top of potatoes and garnished with cabbage, olive oil, lemon, and some greens. Basically, a mound of fresh seafood served on a plate in a total time of 8 minutes from order to plate.

Mound O’Fish at Ramblero made quite an impact in terms of quality, simplicity, speed to table and sheer size. I have zero complains about the food. None of the fish was off, all of it was cooked properly, and seasoning profile was good.

The downside to the whole place is, it's cramped. You've been served a beautiful mound of fish and it's not meant to be savored and enjoyed, it’s meant to be efficiently eaten as it was prepared quickly to make room for the next customer who also read online that no trip to Barcelona could be complete without a trip to the Boqueria Market! Blah Blah.

A memorable meal for sure, although not our favorite of the trip, (it was crowded, loud, not relaxed, touristy, and we felt hustled the entire time), but it was an experience. Table turning is an art and science here. Chalk it up to the "10 Places You HAVE to Eat in Barcelona" if you believe in that sort of thing.

First Impressions of Barcelona, Spain

Barcelona

As a neophyte to Spain, #thewinemaestro saw Barcelona like he sees Rome, a great place to fly into, but the whole point is to move on to a smaller city. The advantage of Rome over Barcelona, Rome has plenty of things you can see (from a historical perspective) just from walking around. There is no Coliseum, Spanish Steps or Trevi Fountain in Barcelona; sorry. Barcelona's main attractions, Sagrada Familia and other Gaudi attractions are all “pay to see inside”, which means you have to plan your visit, buy tickets, and schedule stuff. Same with the Picasso Museum. Let’s face it, #thewinemaestro is not a huge museum goer. I’d rather wander around town and see what people do and what they’re eating and drinking.

In terms of where tourists congregate in Barcelona, it’s all about El Born, Gothic and La Rambla (all of the world is on La Rambla). El Born and Gothic are neighborhoods with plenty of things to eat and drink. La Rambla is one big long street with a lot of humans and shops.

We stayed in Poblenou, a neighborhood nearly 2 miles away from El Born and an easy walk each day to see whatever sites interest you. I didn’t see a single tourist in Poblenou, or at least none that stuck out. Poblenou in the summer could be a great place to stay; the beach was a 10 minute walk from the apartment. In many ways, Poblenou was much like The Outer Richmond District in San Francisco that I lived in in the late 90’s; locals only, no tourist attractions, great neighborhood to live in, close to the beach, quiet and a couple miles from the hustle and bustle of the city.

I think after my stay, Barcelona, like San Francisco, is all about the neighborhood. Find ones you like and explore them. El Born and The Gothic will always be there, just like The Financial District and Union Square will be there when I return to SF. If and when I return to Barcelona, I’ll check out some different neighborhoods and skip the museums, I want to see how people are living today while enjoying a glass of vermut.

The Maestro Takes a Vacation to Spain and Portugal

As a working winemaker and owner, it’s difficult for #thewinemaestro to take vacations and truly “check-out” of the daily routine. However, there is one time of year that it slows down, just after Christmas. Most people are wrapped up in New Year’s resolutions of eating healthy, working out and going dry in January. I, on the other hand, can slip away for a little while and eat cured meats, drink copious amounts of wine (and vermouth it seems) and walk around cobblestone villages till midnight working off my 9pm dinner.

Overlooking Granada from the Alhambra

So that’s exactly what I did, I took a trip to Spain and Portugal; I’ve never stepped foot in either country and Southern Spain has nice weather in January. Luckily, there are direct flights these days to Barcelona, where I started and ended my holiday. In between the Barcelona bookends it was a world-wind type of trip, Lisbon, Seville, Granada; sticking with the south for warmer weather. I’ve given the short list of some of the great dishes and restaurants I checked out. I’ll detail more of them on the blog in the weeks to come.

The quick and dirty on some of the best dishes and Restaurants:

• Pan con Tomate Tapisco, Lisbon

• Croquettes, Bodegas Castaneda, Granada

• Best Braised Meat, Bar del Pla, Barcelona

• Chicharrones, Bar Alfalfa in Sevilla

• Best Salad, the one I prepared at my AirBnB

• Fried Cuttlefish aka Fish Sticks Tapisco, Lisbon

• Tortilla Espanola, Petra, Seville

• Biggest Pile of Fish on a Plate, Ramblero within the Boqueria, Market Barcelona

• Best Dessert, Chocolate Cake, Landeau Chocolate in Lisbon

• Patatas Bravas, Mundial Bar, Barcelona

• Paella...I haven't had it enough to make a judgement

• Tartare of Fish, Tartare-IA inside TimeOut Market, Lisbon

• Bocadillo, aka Sandwich, Taberna Malvasia, Granada

• Vermut aka Vermouth, Terrazza Dona Maria, Seville

• Red Wine, Horacio Simoes Segredos 2015

Highly noteworthy dishes and Restaurants…

Best Simple Dish made Creative and Elegant and shouldn’t pair well together: Slow and Low, Barcelona Artichokes in fonduta drizzled with chili oil with a heaping pile of freshly shaved truffles

Best Spin on a Classic, Suba, Lisbon and a “reinvented” Tartare of cooked beef in truffle cream.

Best Overall Dish: Hoja Santa, Barcelona Black garlic mole of 70 ingredients with avocado and pistachio (Yeah, I know, I fly all the way to Spain to rave about Mole’…blame Albert Adria and Paco Mendez for making incredible food!)

I’ll be focusing on each of the towns I visited and the individual dishes and restaurants, complete with pictures of the food and occasionally the scenery.

Spain and Portugal treated me very well. It was a welcome vacation. There are several blog posts to follow regarding the details of the food and wine, so stay tuned.

Pescheria, Lecce, Puglia

Pescheria

For my Fresno readers, if “Bulldog Grill and Pismo’s” had a love child in Italy they would have named it Pescheria. Pescheria is a restaurant where you order at the counter and have food delivered to the table; in this case, the counter is an open fish counter full of fresh fish. More Pismo's prices than Bulldog Grill prices.

The ‘order at the counter’ model might work for apertivo, gelato, and panini. This concept is probably a stretch for many Italians, as prices are that of a sit down restaurant. My gut says the concept was created to cut costs on staff, so higher level of product, fresh seafood, can be served.

Squid “noodles” tossed with celery, hazelnuts and olive oil, crudo style. Raw squid body, sliced into ribbons, just like a pasta and tossed with raw celery of similar thickness along with some salt and olive oil. Garnished with some crushed hazelnuts and presto, squid crudo. Unlike Pismo’s, this calamari was not deep fried, breaded, or sautéed, it was raw. This might be a stretch for some people. I happened to enjoy it.

Pachierri (oversized rigatoni) stuffed with bacala (salt cod) in a red sauce. Straight up, classic Pugliese style cuisine. A couple ingredients, some red sauce, salted fish; it doesn’t get any more traditional. Plenty of ways to cook salt cod in Italy and it seems popular in the winter. Several restaurants incorporate some form of bacala on the menu, I’ve already forgotten how many times I’ve had it.

I thought the food quality was high and the execution solid. Most Italian restaurants I’ve been to generally don’t have lots of staff to begin with, one person can generally work the entire front of house even in a busy restaurant, so I didn’t feel like I had a lack of attention, but I’m not a native Italian either, just a traveler making an observation.

Mamma Elvira Double Down, Lecce, Puglia

I enjoyed both Mamma Elvira Cucina and Enoteca. The Cucina provides a more classic sit-down restaurant experience and full menu of Puglian specialties. The Enoteca also has an indoor area to eat, but the real action is on the patio (even in Winter). And when I say 'patio' I mean to say the dozen or so tables that are positioned on an active street in Lecce. Let me reiterate, an active street in Lecce. Several other adjacent restaurants and wine bars do exactly the same thing, perfectly Italian and wonderfully busy.

Mamma Elvira Cucina

Mamma Elvira Cucina is a full service restaurant, a newer place in Lecce, spun off from their wine bar (which I dined at on night one) in the center of town. They helped me find some of the Cantine Imperatore I liked so much.

I was offered an amuse of fried blooming onion without the heavy breading. A local tiny onion that was not harsh, however a hint bitter, similar to the braised onion I had at Elvira Cantina. The onion was well fried, not heavy on the seasoning; likely this dish is for an apertivo to be eaten with Aperol or Campari based cocktails. Not the best pairing with my wine, so I drank sparkling water.

Baccala fritters. Solid. This is basically the Puglian version of fish and chips, without the chips. If you're hungry, need protein and gluten in your life and some deep fat fryer grease, this is Nirvana. It's filling and I probably shouldn't have ordered it at 9pm, but I did, because I haven't had this version on my trip and it sat like a brick with me through my night terrors 5 hours later. And yes, I would order it again.

Pasta was straight forward Puglian frutta di mare. Octopus was tender and the sauce was a simple pan sauce, fresh. Notice the seeds and connections were removed from the tomato; I love that attention to detail down here. Pasta was buckwheat, traditional for the area. This pasta to me is a Wednesday night, home cooked meal. It's served without pretense but beautiful. 

Dessert was a tiramisu type of dessert, but richer in flavor. Could have been a yogurt base or some type of thicker cream. Dried fruit is a staple in Puglia and provides some texture to the dessert experience.

Mamma Elvira Enoteca

On my first night in Lecce, Marco showed me around town and suggested Mamma Elvira as one of his spots to eat. So I did.

Meatball 1: Bombette di Martina Franca, pork meatball filled w scamorzza cheese and sautéed more like a pork involtini as it's a pork cutlet rolled up and sautéed. It did not seemed like a braised piece of pork. The only sauce was a quick deglaze of the sauté pan with caramelized onions and probably a splash of wine.

Meatball 2: A flattened meatball, quickly sautéed and finished with a red wine reduction and braised little local pearl onion. The beef didn’t seem to have the heavy seasoning of a sausage patty, more as billed, a flat meatball. The onion is a hint bitter, like bitter greens. Dark flavors here, braised meat flavors that actually make wine #2 a lot better.

I'd go back to both restaurants upon my return to Lecce, great wine lists at both.

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00 Doppiozero, Lecce, Puglia

00 Doppiozero

Another restaurant recommended by Marco, 00 Doppiozero was another favorite in Lecce. Easy to pop in for an espresso, pastry, amaro, or light lunch. Here's the highlights.

Lunch of some of the best selection of breads I've had to date, followed up by an oversized bruschetta of a light, creamy blue cheese with bitter greens, tomato and anchovies with olive oil and some red wine of local flavor. Easy and tasty.

My Jedi Restaurant senses tell me this is a new model for Italian bar/restaurant/cantina in Puglia. It's open all day starting at about 730am, they do not close until midnight or 1am. You can buy a bottle of wine to take home at a discount to the dine-in cost. You can grab a espresso. You can buy bread. You can buy cured meats to take home. You can order at the counter or order at the table. You can have a full, sit down lunch or dinner (at 12 noon or 6pm), or you can do the Italian thing and have apertivo and sip Spritz and nosh on goodies.

I've popped in for an Amaro, a coffee, a pastry on different days at different times. I like the access and the quality. I was even greeted by a regular after the third visit. The breakfast croissant filled with pastry cream is outstanding. I could have eaten one each day.

When nearly everything is closed at 3pm, "00" in Lecce is open. They are open on Sunday. I want them to be open when I return here. They do close at about 3pm on Monday though, otherwise open.

Introduction to Lecce, Puglia

Lecce in southern Italy has long been called the Florence of the South. It's a trek to get down this far from Tuscany (Puglia is the heel of the boot), I won't lie about that. From Bologna by train, it's about an 8-10  hour trip depending upon the train you take and the delay factor. The nearest airport is Brindisi, about 30 minutes away by car. 

I hadn't been to Puglia since my 2009 trip. I only spent a few hours in Lecce back in 09 before moving further south to the town of Ugento. I promised myself back then to return to Lecce and give the town its due. I'm very happy that I returned for Tour d'Italia 2017.

Plenty of dining options in Lecce, from fast casual to full-blown multi-course formal. I'll detail my dining experiences in the next several posts, this post represents the overview.

Art on the streets of Lecce, Puglia

Lots of pizza and good bread (00 Doppiozero) being consumed in this town. The pizza places aren't large dining establishments for sitting down, street dining is the thing around here, so an entire family will be huddled around a small table eating pizza together outside. Pizza is social, it's family, it's friends, it's take-away. It's also creative. Everyday I walked by Il Pizzicotto, Pizza al Taglio (my preferred place, thanks Marco), there was another version of pizza being displayed. I love the variety. Sure, I'm a sucker for pepperoni and cheese in the States, but it's hard to beat a truffle cheese pizza with mushrooms on a Sunday night. A word of note, Il Pizzicotto charges for its pizza by weight, as each individual piece is cut for the customer.

Il Pizzicotto, Pizza al Taglio , Lecce

00 Doppiozero bread selection, the BEST

The town of Lecce is easy to navigate within the old city. Plenty of landmarks and churches to explore. Train station is a 5 minute walk to the center of town.

Sunday's are busy in Lecce, unlike some towns in Tuscany which can be nearly shut down except for the most touristy towns. Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Lecce the streets are packed with people and nearly every bar and restaurant open. The main restaurants don't open until about 730pm, sometimes 830pm. Pizza is served in some places as early as 6pm.

Monday’s in Lecce might lead you to believe that zombies attacked the town right after you walked safely back to your apartment on Sunday night. The streets are empty. Businesses are closed and you wonder where everyone is. I've never seen anything like it in a major town in Italy, there's always someone out. Not here. So remember to stock up on food for the day, because your options are limited.

This is one of two main squares in Lecce on a Monday morning.

I look forward to returning to Puglia. I would base my journey in Lecce but would rent a car to re-explore the towns around the region. 

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Osteria dal Manzo, Lucca

Osteria dal Manzo in Lucca, Italy

I missed this restaurant on my 2016 trip to Lucca, they may have been closed for part of the winter. I’m pleased to say they were open for Tour D'Italia 2017.

Manzo Night 1

To start, artichoke confit and finished in bacon fat, additionally there were bacon crumbles and a small piece of bacon as garnish. A Parmigiano fonduta was at the bottom of the plate as an anchor and provided a textural contrast to the al dente nature of the artichoke. While looking back on the entire trip and the number of artichoke dishes I consumed, this rates highly on the list.

Pappardelle anatra, was a simple dish of ground duck, long cooked in broth (something I've recreated at home). While I couldn't detect any pieces of onion, carrot or celery, there was a whole bay leaf as garnish. This is no nonsense Italian food, part of the reason I love pasta so much, minimal and traditional. Pasta was silky and a bit more thin than the previous two days. A shout out to my friend Hillary in Vincenza, her dish was better. Pasta was thicker and al dente.

The tordolli in meat sauce was outstanding and I think, better than any other I'd tasted in Lucca by a wide margin. There was substance to the pasta, real depth. The noodle was al dente and a hint thicker than most American style stuffed pasta. Tordolli is a round ravioli to translate into easy to use American. Of the generic, ubiquitous tordolli in meat sauce, I found the pasta at Manzo to be a highlight.

As a second course, the classic grilled steak over greens with some lightly marinated artichoke pieces. The artichoke wasn't dressed heavily, if anything a bit more acid than oil, which was purposeful as you want acid with the steak. No off artichoke flavors when consumed with the wine. Steak was a spot on mid-rare, tender and simply seasoned. No mistakes, just wonderfully complete.

Brownie with cream. As billed by the server, dessert was an American style brownie not made from a box you picked up at Costco. Moist and chocolatey.

As an addition, Antonio, the proprietor came to the table to talk. Great guy. We spoke about all things wine, politics, food, tourism and agriculture. 

Manzo Night 2

To start, Fegatini over creamed spinach with Mandarin orange. This could be one of the finest examples of wonderfully cooked chicken livers I’ve experienced. These chickens were raised right, I didn’t get a single piece of connective tissue or fiberous material in a single bite. Texture and flavor were the best in memory. The play to use a creamed spinach (I’m a sucker for creamed spinach) paired well. The addition of citrus brought the whole dish together. Great preparation on a classic dish.

Ravioli with bacon and peanuts in a light cheese fonduta. I don’t recall ever having peanuts with Italian food. Usually it’s hazelnuts or pistachio nuts with the Italians. The peanuts weren’t a focus of the dish, but rather a texture element. The ravioli were of a size and texture similar to what I grew up on, small and densely packed with filling. The bacon added both crunchy texture and salt to the dish. Overall, wonderful and I would like to recreate this dish at home.

Grilled pork with crispy potato (the potatoes were best I’ve had this trip, they were actually crispy, not sitting in a steamer tray). I’m leading off with the potatoes because I’ve had roasted potatoes several times and each time they seemed to be pre-cooked and holding somewhere in a steam tray. Manzo was making these potatoes fresh, as there was only crispy golden goodness and not an once of moisture on any potato.

Manzo Night 3

Beef Tartare. Yes, I know, I’m pushing my luck like I did last year. Italian beef tartare can be boring. Light in flavor and salt and no egg yolk. Manzo’s preparation was with balsamic vinegar, which helps bring out flavor. Add the base of artichokes and a little horseradish cream on the side and this dish is a good play on tartare.

Spaghetti with a creamed spinach and nuts, not a pesto sauce, there was also some anchovy in the base of the sauce. Using what seemed to be the creamed spinach base from my chicken liver dish, it coated the pasta completely and beautifully. I was preparing something close to this spinach style sauce with arugula, walnuts and cheese back in Mammoth last year. Using the anchovy changes the sauce into something more mouth-coating and full palate than using greens alone. Also, I didn’t taste any heavy or even moderate garlic flavors as you would in pesto. It's powerful flavor would work with bretty wines, acidic white wines, and fruity reds.

Duo of fried rabbit and chicken. Each breading was different, the rabbit used rosemary and the chicken used garlic. The chicken was fried a bit longer. I liked the rabbit best. Tender, juicy white meat and the hint of rosemary. I could have eaten three more pieces. I’m not complaining about the chicken, it was just an easy second place for me, albeit, well fried and well salted. 

Dessert was a no cook cheesecake, with what tasted like a mix of creme fraiche and cream cheese, maybe some mascarpone. Great crust and I think an easy dish to recreate and serve for people at a dinner party.

Wine was Bordocheo house wine, which was a bit high in acid for me this season. Certainly, the best pairing was with the duo of fried food.

Finished with Amaro with pine nuts in it.

I'm incredibly happy to have eaten at Manzo three times and look forward to my return. Thanks to Antonio and the whole crew that took care of me each night.