b-served Gastronomy
Berasategui & Fonda España
Modernisme flavours
La Fonda España presents a new menu called 'Viaje por el Modernismo’ (journey through Modernisme), conceived by renowned chef Martín Berasategui together with Germán Espinosa. The restaurant located in the Hotel España embraces this modern artistic movement, a time between 1899 and 1903 in which the hotel was completely refurbished by architect Lluís Domènech i Montaner, sculptor Eusebi Arnau and painter Ramon Casas.
Contemplating Bar Arnau’s famous alabaster chimney, designed by the sculptor Eusebi Arnau, who the bar is named after, and chiselled by the craftsman Alfonso Juyol is a sublime experience and only one of the many preserved hotel renovations, others being the coffered ceiling in the Mermaid Room and la Fonda España’s rich ornamentation with its carved wood and brilliant mosaic of vegetal motifs and heraldic shields.
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Grapefruit in red vermouth blend served with salmon roe, accompanied with a unique interpretation on the traditional 'pan con tomate
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Cannelloni with marinated red tuna wrapped in a capuchin leaf and Ibéric ham with furikake (a mixture of egg yolk and seaweed), a variation on the classic béchamel sauce
Inspired by traditional Catalan cuisine, the restaurant’s 'Viaje por el Modernismo’ consists of 16 dishes prepared with avant-garde techniques and served in dishes specifically created for this culinary experience, with historical references to the modernist emblems of the city, such as Gaudi’s Parc Güell dragon or the Josep Puig i Cadafalch Panot Flor.
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The Mermaids
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For starters the new menu includes exotic combinations of flavours like concentrated grapefruit in red vermouth blend served with salmon roe, accompanied with a unique interpretation on the traditional 'pan con tomate'; an organic selection of cherry tomatoes cultivated in the Prat area spread with roasted garlic and oil and l’Escala anchovy served between slices off bread. Then the ‘Mar y Montaña’ with breaded pork-trotters stuffed with crab meat, tender garlic, mayonnaise and kim-chi, which provides a spicy touch, while the Cannelloni with marinated red tuna wrapped in a capuchin leaf and Ibéric ham with furikake (a mixture of egg yolk and seaweed), a variation on the classic béchamel sauce in a dish that commemorates the hotel’s famous mermaid mural. Or the pil-pil style Turbot, algae sponge, codium emulsion, sea grapes, semi-raw squid noodles, mullet roe, passion fruit, fresh codium and salicornia on a plate featuring the mermaid motif. Other dishes include the stew with Catalan sausage and cabbage, chestnut lobster with garlic flowers, and the chicken Royal with shrimp, creamy ‘cap-i-pota’ broth rice with sour apple and eel, as well as the Pork cheeks with turnips. For the finishing touch an unusual asparagus dessert with vanilla greens, white chocolate, tea and yogurt.
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Catalan sausage and cabbage, chestnut lobster with garlic flowers, and the chicken Royal with shrimp
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Photo of Martín Berasategui and Germán Espinosa
- Fonda España
- Carrer de Sant Pau, 9-11,
- 08001 Barcelona
- telf. 93 5500000
- www.hotelespanya.com