Last Updated on November 12, 2023
Two Michelin-star lunch in the five-star Hotel Arts Barcelona
An invitation to review the Sunday lunch menu at Enoteca Paco Pérez had me counting my lucky stars. A two-star Michelin restaurant located in the superb five-star Hotel Arts Barcelona felt like a surfeit of good fortune. To add to my well-being, a mere two days earlier I had the privilege of reviewing another two-star Michelin restaurant from Paco Pérez. Miramar, located in Llanҫa near Girona, introduced me to the philosophy of this brilliant chef and the respect he has for the natural environment of Catalonia and its produce. All of which meant that my expectations were already high when I sat down to the El Arroz de Paco menu at Enoteca Paco Pérez.
Situated on the first floor of the Hotel Arts Barcelona overlooking the Olympic port, Enoteca Paco Pérez is a light and airy space. Glass doors lead onto a terrace while indoors, floor-to-ceiling, backlit, white shelving display a selection of the 700 wines offered by the cellar. The ambience is chic, with a relaxed formality. The white palette is complemented by wooden floors and chairs dressed with large comfy cushions. I found the restaurant to be noticeably tranquil, the sort of place where you hand yourself over to the very good care of well-trained staff and enjoy fabulous food and wine.
The Paco Pérez brand is evident in the smart, navy suits worn by the staff and the seascape on each table, set in a terrarium, containing sand, shells and beach grass. The restaurant uses top-quality produce from the same small producers as supply Miramar. Llanҫa is home to Paco Pérez where the landscape stimulates his imagination which informs the menu in the bustling city of Barcelona.
El Arroz de Paco incorporates produce of the sea, land and mountains with seasonal variations. It aims to present traditional Mediterranean cuisine with a twist. The menu is presented in a smart navy envelope and comprises eight dishes but we were served more than this. As it was a very hot day, and having rushed in from a morning of museum-hopping, I was delighted to be offered a refreshing glass of Corpinnat, Recaredo Serral del Vell, Brut Nature 2017. The deeply knowledgeable sommelier explained that Corpinnat is a new categorisation for sparkling wines produced in the Penedès region of Catalonia and was created initially by six wineries that stood aside from Cava and created Corpinnat.
I would recommend the wine pairing to any diner at Enoteca, not only to enjoy the fabulous wines on offer but because the sommelier was so engaging and informative that by the end of the afternoon, I felt as if I had been on a mini wine appreciation course.
The meal began with a series of tapas. Having spent the previous month travelling through Spain – including a week in San Sebastián, the gourmet capital of pintxos (tapas), we were still taken to new heights of discovery at Enoteca. First came a tomato tartlet. A beautiful crisp pastry contained an ice-cold gelatine of smoked tomato and rocoto foam – rocoto is a chilli from Peru. It was decorated with tiny frozen shots of lettuce, chives and tomato in hues of pink and light and dark green. I cannot think of a more refreshing mouthful for a summer’s day. An artwork to behold and a delight to eat.
‘Interpretation of Caesar salad’ was served on a glass plinth – a pastry cigar topped with pipettes of emulsion of chicken and Parmesan. Inside was a salad of seasoned rocket and mustard sprouts. This was accompanied by a martini glass of lettuce juice finished with a few drops of Vinaigre de Jerez and olive oil. This playful deconstruction was perfectly executed, such a refined way to eat a Caesar salad that had all the expected flavours. I particularly enjoyed the sensation of drinking lettuce.
It was at this point that the courses listed on the menu began to be served, with two tapas being presented. The first of these was ‘A Memory from Galicia’ served alongside ‘Crab & Mushroom’. Octopus is ubiquitous on Galician menus, but none served like this. Here, there was a phyllo pastry filled with a stew of octopus, saffron, white wine and shallots. Over this was draped a mosaic of octopus painted with the oil of red sweet paprika. Served on an undulating white platform, the wafer-thin mosaic of octopus linked the sea with the unmistakable taste of Spain, sweet paprika. Rust coloured, and crunchy with deep ocean flavours, the pastry was filled with the most tender octopus with a wonderful mouthfeel.
‘Crab & Mushroom’ was served on a rectangular, crispy cracker made from obulato paper, a transparent edible sheet made from potato starch. This tapa brought the fresh flavour of white king crab meat with a crab mayo (made with the contents of the crab head) so subtle and added to the delicious crab notes. Crab upon crab. It was topped with wafer-thin slices of mushroom which added extra umami flavour and visual interest. It was served with a seaweed garnish.
A basket of homemade bread (white sourdough, rosemary focaccia and brioche) was presented with two kinds of butter served on a white, organically shaped ceramic plate. The lime and wasabi butter was green while the black garlic butter was mushroom-hued. The server presented two extra virgin olive oils both from Tarragona, south of Barcelona. The first was an organic oil made with Arbequina olives which had a light colour but full-bodied flavour with spicy notes. Next came a puddle of Llum del Mediterrani (which means ‘light’ in Catalan) which is said to be the purest Spanish olive oil and is made with Farga olives. To preserve the flavour and colour of this limited edition oil, the olives are pressed and bottled in semi-darkness, the oil only seeing the light for the first time when the bottle is opened in the restaurant.
At this point, we were in for a delightful surprise when the sommelier presented the second wine pairing. Vermut Lustau, a white vermouth, was drier and more sophisticated than the red vermuts we had been enjoying for weeks in Barcelona and Madrid where 1 pm on Sundays is designated vermut-o’clock and bars are packed with people enjoying vermut martinis and vermut con sifon (with soda). I had not realised how well vermut could pair with a meal rather than a quick tapa at the bar. Vermut Lustau comes from Jerez de la Frontera from the Emilio Lustau winery that also makes sherry.
With the vermut, we were presented with the next course – ‘tomato in textures’. This was served tableside. A bowl contained two types of tomatoes – one preserved in basil oil and the other slightly dehydrated – along with piped cheese emulsion and roasted pine nuts. In the middle of this, the server scooped a granita of tomato that was smoking, like dry ice, in a glass pot. It was made with Monticello tomatoes which were frozen with nitrogen and blended into a delicate pink powder. Then a cold, cooked tomato soup was poured around the side, it was finished with pipettes of basil oil and a vinegar reduction. My husband asked me what I thought the chefs had done to make a tomato dish taste this intensely good. A fine question, I replied, that has a two Michelin star answer.
The third wine took us to northern Spain and hailed from the Basque country. Aitaren is a white wine similar to txakoli, the fabulously popular white wine that I had enjoyed in San Sebastiàn where it is served with gusto in every bar and restaurant. This wine, from the production area D.O. Getariako Txakolina, had spent 10 months in untoasted oak and had some salinity along with citrus notes. The texture was silky and crispy on the palette. It was akin to a refreshing breeze from Spain’s Atlantic coast.
Along with the wine we enjoyed ‘squid moment’ a dish served warm in an oval, white porcelain dish. In a rust-coloured squid sauce swirled with an almond sauce and oscietra caviar, perched a baby squid stuffed with a squid tartare and topped with a dollop of caviar and a tiny piece of red pepper, adding colour and Spanish symbolism. Cutting into the white squid, the purple colour of the tartare was revealed. There was an unexpected citrus note emanating from the tartare which was wonderful when eaten along with the deeply umami-flavoured sauce with its rich almond cream. This was an intelligent and beautifully complex dish.
By this stage, we were thoroughly enjoying each visit to the table of the sommelier who presented one excellent pairing after another. The fourth wine was a white from Tarragona, not far from Barcelona, from the prestigious Priorat wine region in the Montsat mountain range. One of Catalonia and Spain’s most prestigious wine regions, Priorat is a Denominación de Origen Calificada which is the highest classification for Spanish wines – the only other such in Spain is Rioja. Served in a brandy snifter, Dido ‘Macabeu i Garnatua’ 2011 was very complex on the nose. The wine enjoys a slow oxidisation over 12 years which produces a golden hue. There is a love story behind the wine which is produced at the Venus la Universal winery by Sara Pérez and René Barbier, a married couple, who are the children of two wine pioneers who revived the Priorat in the 1980s, one from Catalonia and the other from Rioja.
At this point, we were served a dish that was not on the menu. A mushroom escabeche with pickled fennel four types of mushroom and shaved truffle topped with whisps of foam made with portobello mushroom liquor and garum of pigeon. Each mushroom added its own umami note to this symphony of mushrooms and the citrussy sauce included a lovely pop of mushroom seeds. The pickled fennel added crunch and cut through the rich mushroom flavours, negotiating their place amidst the silky fungi. This dish was where umami met citrus, a beautiful representation of the land. In my mind’s eye, I imagined the forest floor blooming with fungi on an autumn morning. Although the weather was very warm, it was the beginning of October, so technically autumn even if the heat suggested otherwise.
We moved on to a red wine produced exclusively for Enoteca Paco Pérez. In a region known for its white grapes, K22 Bonesvalls 2015, a red wine from Penedès is cultivated in the Montsat region, in the Alemany i Corrio winery. Aged in barrels for 24 months, it was distinctly fresh and fruity on the nose and both smooth and velvety to drink. It was an excellent pairing with the rice dish that was served next.
In the centre of the menu was ‘seasonal creamy rice – lobster & mushrooms’. Rice dishes as a concept hark back to family meals. As a main course, paella is a dish prepared for large family lunches on weekends or holidays. Hence, rice takes centre stage at Enoteca on Sundays. This was no ordinary rice dish. It was an elegant plate of Italian acquerello rice, aged for 7 years, topped with red lobster medallion, mushrooms, summer truffle and olive oil. The rice had the perfect bite and depth of flavour. Colour and layers of umami and shellfish flavours were added by the sweet, pink lobster medallions and yellow mushrooms. This was the sort of dish one would wish to come home to at least once a week. I found on my travels in Spain that rice dishes were a bit hit-and-miss. At Enoteca, we were in very safe and experienced hands. I loved the textural contrast between the rice and the silky seafood. Equally, I enjoyed the deep rich flavour of the rice contrasted with the light sweetness of the lobster which was so luxurious.
Moving onto the desserts we began with a pre-dessert that was not on the menu. Black Forest was served as a chocolate leaf studded with pipings of chocolate and vanilla cream topped with small squares of cherry confit. In the centre was a quenelle of dark, cherry ice cream and tiny spheres of jelly. It was eaten like a taco and the very dark and rich ice cream ran voluptuously down my fingers. It was over in a bite which was the perfect quantity for this very rich creation. A cleverly deconstructed Black Forest minus the gateau.
The wine pairing changed to dessert wines with an ambrosial wine, Sols* from Empordà in Costa Brava. Served in a tulip-shaped glass, this nectar-flavoured wine is produced in the last wine region before the French border. A late harvest of Garnacha rosa grape, it had a beautiful hue and flavour of dry nuts and dried peach with a hint of salinity.
Next up was ‘our version of an apricot crumble’. It looked resplendent on a golden-hued, glass plate and took the form of a small, iced tart. The tart was made of speculoos and filled with apricots and frozen shots (cream, brown and orange) of almonds, brown sugar and apricots. A dainty quenelle of apricot ice cream accompanied the tart. It tasted like the essence of apricot and was served on an apricot compote of utterly smooth, sweet and tart deliciousness. I liked how the meal was bookended with frozen tarts – tomato at the beginning and apricot at the end.
The wine pairing was not only ambrosial in itself, but toned perfectly with the plate on which the apricot dessert was served. The attention to detail at Enoteca is exquisite.
The final course was called ‘cherry’ and comprised seasonal fruits in various textures. In a white bowl two white, yoghurt paper slopes were leaning against one another creating a tent-like shape. This was dusted with strawberry powder. On prising open the slopes of yoghurt paper, one encountered pickled cherry and the crunchy texture of confit cherry, deeply aromatic. Shaved strawberry ice provided a textural contrast and made me think of the yoghurt paper as a ski slope. There was additionally a cherry sauce and strawberry juice, cooked rhubarb and green tea ice cream. The dish was sweet without being cloying, every mouthful was interesting. This is a menu that keeps diners intrigued and excited until the last mouthful.
The final wine pairing for the cherry dessert was Torre de Capmany, from a small village near the Pyrenees, in an area known as Old Catalonia. This wine uses pinkish garnatxa grapes giving it a lovely hue. It is a dry, fortified wine, slightly fortified, up to 15.5 degrees alcohol but not a sweet wine, more akin to a sherry with notes of blackberry.
Petit Fours were served along with an espresso and mint tea – the dried mint was brought to the table and infused in a glass teapot. The petit fours were served on tree-shaped metal sculptures with wooden leaves holding each delicacy. These included blackberry and fruit marshmallows which were soft, yielding and very colourful. There was a tropical mango and passion fruit gum with chilli and coriander shaped like a segment of satsuma which was a great combination of heat and sweet. A caramel, almonds and milk chocolate sweet was stamped with Enoteca. A bonbon of figs, marmalade and chocolate was dotted with gold leaf. Slightly sweet with a dark chocolate finish. This was the sweetest branch I have ever encountered.
El Arroz de Paco is a menu that responds to the change of seasons. The lunch we enjoyed straddled the end of summer and the beginning of autumn with summer fruits such as cherries, apricots and strawberries along with an autumnal colour palette – rusts, deep reds, orange, brown and pops of green. Ingredients wove in and out of the dishes, mushrooms making several appearances, as did tomatoes. Crockery and glassware were beautiful and thoughtfully displayed to enhance both food and wines.
By the time we finished lunch, it was late afternoon, and the head chef came out of the kitchen to greet us. Not only was his menu exciting and intriguing from start to finish but the execution was superb. As was the service which was faultless, friendly, highly informative and professional. An outstanding meal all around. I mentioned that I had the privilege of meeting Paco himself a couple of days before at Miramar and the spontaneous outpouring of warmth from the staff about their boss indicated to me that Enoteca is a happy place to work. It is certainly a delightful place to eat and not to be missed whether or not you are staying at Hotel Arts Barcelona.
The benefit of a restaurant housed in a hotel is that guests do not have far to go before being able to rest as I needed to after the veritable feast of food and wine to which we were treated. As I lay at the hotel pool, my mind swirling with the tastes and images from the lunch we had eaten, I thought about how fortunate the Hotel Arts Barcelona is to have a restaurant of the calibre of Enoteca Paco Pérez and equally, what a wonderful location this outstanding restaurant has found. It is a perfect match.
Enoteca Paco Pérez offers a tasting menu which is available from Wednesday to Saturday for dinner and costs 220 euros. On Sundays at lunchtime, the El Arroz de Paco menu is available and costs 120 euros with wine pairing at 130 euros. There is also an à la carte menu.
Enoteca Paco Pérez,
Hotel Arts Barcelona
Marina 19-21
08005 Barcelona
Spain
Open for dinner Wednesday – Saturday and for lunch on Sunday.
Looking for more? Check my review of the Hotel Arts in Barcelona
