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Restaurant round-up
Calle Argumosa, 43, Madrid, tel: +34 914 670 202 Open: Lunch 1-4pm, dinner 9pm-midnight. Closed all day Tuesday and Monday evenings
The glistening red zinc and glass new wing of the Reina Sofia Museum has shocked and delighted madrileños in equal measure. Here, the art doesn’t stop with the Picassos: step inside the new restaurant created by French architect Jean Nouvel’s team and take your part in a giant installation – at the bar near the high glass windows, or at a table beneath the rocket-red metal roof. If there weren’t cunning corners created by dividers and pools of light from cordless lamps, it’d be like dining in a large aircraft hanger.
By day, classic Spanish dishes are served, including eight arroces (rices) for those partial to paella, but wanting to experiment. However, it is at night that the space comes alive with DJ David Fernández setting the mood and fabulous cocktails mixed at the bar.
The evening menu is pica pica, tapas given an upmarket makeover by two-Michelin-starred chef Sergi Arola: the daintiest potato tubes filled with a brava – spicy tomato sauce – and garlicky alioli; and lightly bread-crumbed langostines with mayonnaise mousse. Esqueixada was particularly good – a Catalan dish of raw cod served with a black olive paste – as were tiny quail drumsticks and a foie gras mousse sweetened by caramelised sunflower seeds; and a scrumptious dessert: coffee crème caramel on gingery biscuits.
Nothing on the menu is new, but it’s all surprising, in keeping with the surroundings: traditional ingredients with an avant-garde twist. Average price of dinner for two with house wine: €90. Words Sarah Morris
C. da S.Stefano, 95041 Caltagirone, tel: +39 0933 25064 www.casaledellerose.com
Hip it is not, but the dinner I had at this agriturismo just south of Caltagirone was the hit of my trip to Sicily. Having spent a week encountering the likes of baby octopus stuffed with sheep offal, I was mentally on the flight back home.
The dining room décor gave little indication of the pleasures to emerge from the kitchen.
It is of the checked tablecloth variety, while outside there’s an attractive courtyard for diners overlooking orange groves (just fab for scenting the night air).
And then, joy! Simple, classy Sicilian food that delighted my tastebuds: the antipasti ranged from raggedy pompoms of wild spinach studded with pine nuts, to cubes of shredded pork set in a savoury lemon jelly, crispy tartlets of ricotta and anchovy, and spicy caramelised pumpkin, pan-fried with garlic and black olives. I could have stopped there, but the procession of temptations produced under the watchful eye of Signora Lirosi (the sprightly and charming matriarch) continued: primi included the house special of pasta with a coarse pesto using chopped almonds, basil, and pepper; secondi of homemade sausages and veal roll with a delicate Marsala sauce were a delirious blur; while the ricotta turnovers – fried pastries filled with wobbling fresh cheese – washed down with zibibo, a sweet local wine, were sublime.
All the food and wine is organic and what little produce that doesn’t come from the farm is sourced locally. Expect to pay €25 a head. Average price of dinner for two with house wine €50. Words Vicky Bennison
Rua Marquês de Fronteira, Jardim Amália Rodrigues, Lisbon tel: +351 21 3862211, www.restauranteleven.com Open: Tue-Sat 12.30-3pm and
7.30-11pm
Winning a Michelin star within one year of opening has placed Eleven firmly on Lisbon’s gourmet dining map. This über-trendy restaurant located at the tranquil end of Parque Eduardo VII, gives diners commanding views across the city centre towards the river Tagus. Head chef Joachim Koerper is one of eleven partners who inspired the restaurant’s name, another is João Correia, the architect responsible for creating the glassy modernist creation. The clean-cut interior is enlivened by kaleidoscopic photo murals by Jorge Cruz.
German by birth, but Mediterranean by nature, Koerper is famous for his ‘whatever is ripe is on the menu’ approach to market cuisine. After a complimentary glass of champagne, the menu offers aphrodisiac entrées and sensuous main courses: Wild black truffles are served with fresh scallop and pumpkin ravioli followed by garoupa fish fillet on a bed of baby spinach drizzled in Alentejano red wine sauce. If that’s not enough to get the juices flowing, then the labour-intensive desserts should be (they must be ordered with the main course). We tried a traditional apple tart which came served soaked in caramel sauce with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice-cream on top. All desserts are accompanied by a glass of port or dessert wine – Churchill’s Port or a Hungarian white. If you’re in a hurry the express menu offers a quick fix lunch for €35 with a choice of two starters, main course and dessert, but diners should allow a minimum of two hours to linger indulgently over the €80 tasting menu.
Average price of dinner for two with house wine: €160. Words Rupert Eden
1 Capitaine Crespel, tel: +32 (0)2 513 0303 www.cospaia.be Open seven days a week
When Cospaia opened its doors last October it was a major event. That’s partly because of the fact that one of the partners is renowned Brussels chef Jean-Pierre Bruneau, who bestows his personal quality seal on every dish. Together with Jan Tindemans, he has filled a much-needed gap in the local restaurant scene by creating a hip new restaurant with good, down-home dishes at affordable prices (starters range from €10-16, mains €20) and in an ideal location: off the Avenue de la Toison d’Or shopping street. The credit for the interior design, which features strange-looking orbs and lounge-like seating for 170 spread among various rooms, goes to Netherlands-based Marcel Wolterinck.
The menu offers a modern, light take on traditional Belgian fare, like the croquettes of chicken and crab served with a refreshing crustacean coulis or scallops cooked in their shells with endives; even the meat dishes are accompanied by lots of vegetables. The wine list is small but varied. This place is all about branding (sometimes a bit too much) from the omnipresent Veuve Cliquot Champagne – also on sale in the shop downstairs – to the beef carpaccio à la Guiseppe Cipriani and création Pierre Marcolini dessert.
The large 180 square-metre terrace is sure to be a huge hit this summer with the clientele, an electric crowd ranging from jeans-clad twentysomethings to bourgeois middle-aged couples. Average price of dinner for two with house wine: €130. Words Renée Cordes
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