A SINGAPORE PRESS HOLDINGS WEBSITE
Barcelona, Spain, August 28, 2010 Gresca Gresca
C/ Provença, 230
08036 Barcelona, España
Rafael Pena is one of a growing breed of chefs in Barcelona who are fuelling the “bistronomia” wave – where young chefs with more talent than money are offering a cross between fine dining and bistro cuisine at value-for-money prices.
The rationale is clear – if you can’t afford very expensive products to use in your restaurant, you can use cheaper but good quality ingredients to create inventive dishes. As a result, Pena’s imagination and budgetary constraints come together to offer a full-fledged degustation menu for a ridiculously low 50 euros.
You wonder how he does it, but it’s clear passion is more important than money for the tousle-haired, affable young man who steps out of the kitchen on a warm August evening in bermudas under his apron.
Not everything on the menu works, but you can’t help marvelling at the care and thought that goes into each dish.
A fresh sardine – with no fishy smell at all – is lightly spritzed with lemon and wrapped in a layer of pork fat that mellows out the acidity and flavour. Chopped fresh prawns (overpowered somewhat by the addition of dill) and cheese are wrapped in smoked duck, another interesting combination.
Our favourite would be his fluffy egg white souffle, puffed up like a flower filled with delicious runny egg yolk, on top of potato ribbons made to look like pasta. Also tasty is the traditional
Catalan salt cod with rice and herbs in a creamy white sauce.
Less successful are the overpowering foie gras marinated in vinegar with leek, a nicely pan-fried turbot paired awkwardly with creamed pine nut and pickled onion, and roast suckling pig with skin that failed to crisp correctly.
A nice attempt at dessert results in a refreshing fruit sorbet that is served in slices rather than the conventional scoops, with a prune cream. A pina colada dessert shaped like a coconut is cute but that’s about it. Even with the few drawbacks, Pena’s menu is easily worth at least 70 to 80 euros. And a chef like him deserves more.
Hopefully, he’ll be able to get to a position where he’s able to use better quality ingredients and utilise his talents to the fullest. When he does so, he’ll be worth a re-visit.
In the meantime, budget-conscious diners looking for a good deal are making a bee-line for his restaurant. If you’re new to dining in Barcelona, make this one of your stops.
C/ Provença, 230
08036 Barcelona, España
934-516-193
