Restaurant Montiel

9 courses from start to finis  from our meal at Montiel. June 2018. Barcelona, Spain. 

Sean and I first ate at Restaurant Montiel in 2011, the night we got engaged. We had made the reservation earlier the same day and arrived at 10pm just after deciding to get married. The restaurant had a reasonably priced 9-course tasting menu and was well reviewed. We arrived this evening in June after retracing our steps from that fateful night 7 years prior. Much like our relationship, which has changed a lot in the previous 7 years, restaurant Montiel had undergone its own growth and evolution. The narrow two-story restaurant had recently undergone a renovation that made the primary upstairs dining room more spacious and had replaced the wooden table and chairs with sleek turquoise booths. The walls were adorned with large canvases wrapped in swaths of colored cloth.

While their vision likely had not changed, we were acutely more aware of it during this visit. The restaurant prides itself on being a local seasonal organic farm to table restaurant with a 9 course tasting menu. The price was unchanged (~70 Euro for the tasting menu and ~30 Euro for the wine pairing).

Sean and Krystal at Restaurant Montie.  June 11,2018.  Barcelona, Spain

A Playful Beginning

Course 1: Strawberry-Tomato Gazpacho with Kim Chi

Course 1: Strawberry Gazpacho

After we ordered the tasting menu and wine pairing, a modest glazed clay bowl garnished with kim chi was brought to the table. The spicy fermented cabbage made a small island in the bowl, upon which the server poured a thick coral colored soup made of strawberries and tomato. The sweetness of the strawberries was meant to counteract the spiciness of the kim chi. Spaniards are particularly reticent towards spicy foods. It was a beautiful pairing. The cold soup refreshing, the sweetness from the strawberry a little overpowering until just the right amount of kim chi found its way into your spoon at which point it was the perfect sweet, sour, acidic, and spicy bite. The meal was off to a good start.

Course 2: Prawn Ceviche

Course 2: Prawn Ceviche

Sean and I shared some of the same quiet concerns about the evening, that our memory of the food might have been colored by the excitement of our engagement and our inexperience with fine dining. However whatever concerns we had were immediately erased by this second dish.

Served with a bright crisp Catalan cava, the prawn ceviche showcased locally caught prawns with a creamy melt in your mouth texture. Sweet, plump and ever slightly translucent, these succulent bites were nestled below thin slices of avocado. Served with a spicy sorbet and a passionfruit gastrique (once again to make the slight heat bearable to the tender local palates). The resulting dish was spectacular. Clearly a showstopper. The balance between flavors was impeccable, each component thoughtful and harmonious. The dish colorful on the place. The spicy sorbet ensuring that each bite was crisp and ice cold like you’d want any good ceviche to me. It was spectacular.

A Different Direction

The owner of the restaurant, an Argentine named Marcos, served many of our dishes. I only found out he was the owner late the same night while researching the restaurant online. As he brought out the second wine, an organic white grenache from the Terra Alta region of Catalonia, he informed us that the first two dishes had been a playful expression by the chef but that the menu would move in a more traditional direction following dish three which was intended to clear the palate and reorient the meal.

Course 3: White Asparagus in Blood Orange Broth

Course 3: White Asparagus in Blood Orange Broth

A spear of white Navarre asparagus gently poached. The plate assembled and the blood orange broth carefully poured tableside. The most curious bites of this dish were the pearls of vermouth. Vermouth is a palate opening aperitif; having it served in such a creative way made me smile. The dish was light and crisp feeling almost like the first course of a different meal.

Course 4: Sea Rice

Course 4: Sea Rice

The Sea Rice proved to be another show-stopping course. A deconstructed paella. Rice slow cooked in a vibrant seafood stock was draped with a veil of pancetta, topped with two perfectly cooked shrimp, and served alongside a dollop of saffron sauce. The pancetta was sliced so thinly, it was translucent and melted over the mound of richly flavored rice. The rice was perfectly cooked to the point that each grain maintained its shape but that the stock which it had soaked up had the velvety texture of a risotto. Each bite was packed with flavor and it was a playful twist on a dish that every tourist trap in Barcelona insists on selling (despite paella being from another region). The dish was paired with a white blend of Macabeo and Grenacha from Acustic Cellars with a unique bouquet and color. The wine was a dark blonde like caramelized pears and it made a smooth beeline along your tongue before opening with a burst of flavor and then rounding along the back of your tongue. The wine was very full bodied for a white and made me think about how to express wines. For me I tend to think of them like a spectrogram (the type of graphs used to show frequency of sounds) that depicts how the flavor feels in your mouth. It was this wine that pushed me to take out pen and paper at the table and record the wines and tasting notes each with graphical representation.

Back of a receipt wine tasting notes

The Main Event(s)

Course 5: Ravioli of duck and pear

Course 5: Duck Pear Ravioli

Rich, savory and decadent. I think it was the only time I thought the portion, a single ravioli, was too big. Granted, it was the size of the size of an espresso saucer. The fresh circlet of pasta was stuffed with confit duck and poached pear. The ravioli was swimming in a thick dark sauce made from the reduction of wine (I want to say port) and the duck’s own juices. The pasta was topped with thin shavings of truffle (my first time eating it in an unaltered form). It was heavenly.

The dish was served with the first of two red wines for the night. A bold light bodied blend made from a rare local grape. The wine, Petit Bernat Negra, from a 1,000 year old winery, Oller del Mas, in the small neighboring hilltop village of Monserrat (most famous for its monastery). Marcos noted that this particular blend is made with a very rare local grape. Finding the wine online later revealed this to include 1% Piquepoul. I would describe this blend reading like a spicy pinot noir. It opens with a burst of big bold flavor that narrows but lingers as it runs along your tongue. A complex wine that likely presents itself differently depending on the accompanying dish.

Course 6: Veal Tenderloin with mushrooms and potatoes

Course 6: Veal Steak with Potatoes

Course 6 was a simple classic dish (steak and potatoes) masterfully executed. The sixth course was presented as veal tenderloin but given the vibrant red color of the steak, I assume this a young but not baby cow. Our trip to the Bologna market in Italy during 2017 revealed that other countries have words to describe both the age and gender of a beast. I assume English failing for such granularity forced the term veal. Semantics aside, this was a tender, perfectly cooked steak. It was served alongside local mushrooms and potatoes soaked in red wine. While it could not be billed as innovative, this dish was just damn good.

It was served with a big red blend, Martinet Bru from the Priorat region. This Catalan wine region is in the desert not like our own Yakima valley and remains an underappreciated wine territory. We have found that some of the best Spanish wines for the money come from this region.

On the Sweeter Side

Course 7: Strawberries and Cream

Course 7: Dessert 1

The first dessert a playful take on strawberries and cream sought to serve as both a palate cleanser and something to satisfy a sweet tooth. A whimsical blue glass plate was adorned with a steak of frozen candied balsamic strawberries topped with fennel ice cream, buttressed by sweet crème Catalan and dotted with coins of lemon sauce.  A cool refreshing and zesty dessert. The lemon sauce alone was so good I would have gladly accepted a bucket of that for dessert. Okay not a bucket, a bowl. After all it is course 7.

Somewhere between course 7 and 8, we were treated with a dessert wine, Josefina Pinol Dolc Negra made from Grenache. This sweet dessert wine is made from late harvest Grenache grapes from Terra Alta (we might call this an Ice Wine back home). I had no idea you could make dessert wine with Grenache and this was very good.

Course 8: Poached Pear with Cucumber Sorbet?

Course 8: Dessert 2

Admittedly this dish was not particularly memorable, staring at the image of this course on the train as I write about it 3 days later, I had to lean over to ask Sean what it was. He said it was a pear. That seems right. The only part I remember is the crumble which was like someone had taken a brown sugar cookie and turned it into powder. Not every dish can be the kind that stays with you forever. Reading this blog post you might think I took detailed notes on the meal but the image above with my wine notes written on the back of a receipt was all I had. No menu from the restaurant to refer to. Only the still images of each dish to jog my memory. I would argue a good meal that’s all you need. A hint to be whisked back to that moment. To taste those flavors again in your mind. Indeed writing about each course ensures that for years to come this can serve as the trigger for the memory of each course.

 Course 9: Petit Fours

Course 9: Petit Fours

I would argue that petit fours are not a proper course but since it was presented this way, I shall do the same. Petit fours are a traditional French end to a meal. Four sweet bites to go with your coffee. The selection that evening included an apricot gelee, dark chocolate bonbon with a liqueur center and I honestly don’t remember the other two.  Maybe some kind of shortbread? I had drank like six glasses of wine at this point. The exact bites don’t matter. It is like putting a bow on a Christmas present. It makes the gift look complete, the gift giver thoughtful but it doesn’t really change what was wrapped inside. The meal was start to finish exquisite and the petit fours added a finishing touch like the final bow of an encore.

We found ourselves pleased to find that the restaurant had grown in our absence. The dishes more nuanced and complex than our first visit. Its evolution acknowledged by the Michelin guide rewarding it with a plate. It was a pretty fucking good day and a damn good meal.

Sean outside of Restaurant Montiel June 11, 2018

 
Up next our first meal at a three star Michelin-rated restaurant: Lasarte

Glass Hostaria: Three Hours of Gastronomic Bliss

7 courses plus aperitif and petit fours

After two straight days of walking 9+ miles our legs were sore. Walking on the uneven surface of cobblestone streets is not unlike walking through sand. You use different muscles and even without changes in elevation it feels like more of a workout. With burning calves and lack of motivation we decided to take it easy our fourth day in Rome. We slept in and skipped breakfast. Knowing we had a very large dinner planned, we had a light lunch of panini at a neighborhood cafe called My Ale that specialized in craft Italian beer.

Porter and Triple (Left) and a Pork Sandwich from My Ale

With only one item left on our 'Must see' list not already visited or planned, we headed out to the Galleria Spada at the Palazzo Spada.

Rome, unlike other major cities, does not have a single world renowned art museum where most of its collections lie. Instead much of the famous art is in churches and small museums. Until we got to the Spada we did not realize how infrequently visited this particular art collection appears to be. For much of our visit we were the only patrons. I frequently joked with Sean how romantic it was that he rented out the whole museum for me. The museum is very small. It consists of four rooms and a courtyard with a famous renaissance perspective (a mathematically derived Optical Illusion) which no doubt caught my attention in the DK eyewitness Rome book and put this otherwise obscure attraction on the 'must-see' list.

Top Left: Sean in Gallery 1 with the printed guide to each and every painting
Top Right: Famous Perspective by Borromini
Bottom Left: Raphael 'sketch' of a vaulted ceiling piece from a church.
Bottom Middle: "Allegory of Astronomy"
Bottom Right: Globe drawn in 1619

For being a small museum without any famous pieces, the collection was quite cool. The four rooms contain the same art collection that was first acquired by the two Cardinals who lived there and displayed in the same traditional picture gallery arrangement that was popular at the time. This involves very high ceilings with an overwhelming number of pieces tetrised (not a real verb) into the space so that nearly every inch of the wall is covered with a framed picture. The gallery provided printed booklets with a description of each piece. Both Sean and I have a deep appreciation for maps and found the two antique globes from the 1600s particularly fascinating.

The perspective was an optical illusion designed to make a 27 foot long corridor appear 90 feet long and a very tiny statue (less than 2 feet tall) appear life-size. The optical illusion certainly tricked us but probably not to the intended proportions. The statue to me appeared about 5 feet and the corridor appeared maybe 50. However this is likely due to the fact the intended viewing location which is elevated and behind a large glass window was off limits to the public during our visit. None the less it was still quite cool.

The meal...We arrived in Italy with 4 guide books, an ever growing list of 'must-see' activities  and our lodging booked. We didn't plan out every moment. Our only two reservations before arriving in Italy was a car rental and an 8:30pm dinner reservation for Glass Hosteria in Rome.  Needless to say we had been looking forward to this meal all week. When Thursday night rolled around we both dressed in our finest. Sean in his dark blue suit, white dress shirt and tie while I wore a newly acquired black and white striped structured A-line dress.



We walked across the bridge from our quiet established Italian neighborhood to the vibrant up and coming Trastevere district. This former working class neighborhood has undergone an urban revival into a funky young happening scene. Often in our travels we enjoy staying in these parts of cities but I think we both appreciated staying in a more central area that did not require earplugs. The footbridge lined with groups of teenagers talking, laughing and listening to the various street musicians play. The our path took us through well lit cobblestone streets packed with outdoor tables filled with patrons. The sounds of boisterous conversation echoed upward along the buildings. Glass was located at the angular point of a building jetting into a four way intersection like a broken shard.

The restaurant offers a full a la carte menu as well as three tasting menus. A contemporary vision of traditional Roman cuisine in 7 courses that changes seasonally (as well as a vegetarian version) and a more cosmopolitan menu with 9 courses that changes more frequently.

We opted for the traditional 7 course summer tasting menu with wine pairing (4 glasses: 1 white, 2 reds and a dessert wine). The wines paired well with the courses but only one was truly memorable (enough for me to jot down the type of wine). Barbaresco, it is from NW Italy Piedmont and is made with Nebbiolo. It is similar to a Barolo but aged one year less. Will certainly keep my eye out for this style as we travel North.

Aperitif:

 After placing our order and sipping ice cold pelligrino we were offered a lavishly displayed pairing of aperitifs. A delicate sphere containing a pisco sour (cocktail made with a Peruvian liqueur) and a tea sandwich with a masa bread and herbed cheese filling. The hard candy shell of the sphere ruptured in your mouth and the chilled floral liquid interior splashed across your tongue. The presentation was most impressive. [The tea sandwich tasted like Jiffy corn bread stuffed with cream cheese. -Ed.]



Course 1: Gazpacho


The meal started with a round loaf of crusty bread cut with a cross along the top to divide it into four even chunks. A small bowl of olive oil mousse sprinkled with black salt to spread over it. A creamy dense orange sherbet colored chilled soup thickened with almonds and richened with decadent foie gras was brought out in a shallow bowl. Garnished with cheese and microgreens. Each silky spoonful the perfect balance of bright acidity and rich creamy texture.

Course 2: Beef Tartare



Beef tartare is one of my favorite dishes. Since I went back to eating red meat in 2009, I have ordered this raw chilled beef dish countless times in many major cities and several countries. This was by far the best beef tartare I have ever eaten. What really set this beef tartare apart was a very soft slow poached egg with a blood orange yolk. The whites of the egg barely cooked to a creamy but quivering texture while the yolk, when broken, still ran. When I broke the yolk with my spoon (the cutlery was cleared between each course and just a single spoon offered for this dish) the thick orange center oozed like magma through the plateau of chopped raw beef. The dish was garnished with microgreens and fried breadcrumbs. There was a faint note of citrus that made me question whether the color of the yolk was due to it being injected with orange juice or whether my mind was playing tricks on me. Either way it was heaven and for me, the star dish of the meal.

During coursed meals in France the length between each course is long, an intermission so to speak where the whole restaurant gets up and goes out for a smoke. We had found ourselves alone in many restaurants in Paris between the second and third course. We were prepared for the same experience in Rome only to find that in Italy the only break between courses is bread. The moment the empty plate from the second course was whisked away a basket with 5 types of bread was ushered out. The space between courses filled with what else but more food. We found this true across Rome and Southern Tuscany that the time between courses is short almost non-existent and anything longer than a few minutes is filled with bread.

Course 3: Veal Tongue Pastrami


Many years ago for my birthday Sean wanted to make me Osso Buco (An Italian preparation of veal shank braised low and slow) because it was a fancy meal and veal is not a common meat in the United States, he called an expensive local artisan butcher shop in Seattle. The exchange involved a mortified butcher shop employee exclaiming indignantly that they don’t sell veal and then promptly hanging up. Veal like so many other delicacies comes with a side of guilt. It was during this course that I realized why exactly there are so many churches in Italy. After this meal I was going to need to find a priest and confess.

Guilt aside, the third course was a creative and playful take on a Jewish classic. This deconstructed sandwich included yet another type of bread (soft and chewy) served alongside thin slices of cured white veal. Delicate texture, a subtle sweetness from the veal and the distinct spice blend typical of pastrami made the meat a true delight. What is a pastrami sandwich without mustard? The thin slices of meat topped with a mustard ice cream providing a cold refreshing creamy element that nodded to the traditional sandwich. Pickled vegetables provided acidity and coated the greens that topped the dish in an almost light vinaigrette.


Course 4: Lamb Chops


The meat course was a rack of lamb with three chops seasoned with an herbaceous mix of spices most notably sumac. It was served on a wide stone plate atop a brightly colored gastrique with assorted root vegetables. It is mushroom season now in Italy and tender morsel added an earthy umami bite to the mix. The lamb was perfectly cooked medium rare and probably one of the most flavorful bites of roasted meat I have had in a long time.

Course 5: Ravioli

 
 Each region of Italy has its own pasta dishes (specific shapes and sauces). The traditional Roman pasta is a carbonara which is with egg, hard cheese and pancetta. This was a truly clever dish. Essentially the stuffed pasta was an inside out carbonara. The pasta was stuffed with a light tomato sauce and salty cheese. Then brushed on the outside with an eggy mixture and topped with crispy fried guanciale (similar to pancetta but made with the jowl meat). It was another show stopper dish.

Course 6: Sweet Breads

 
 Towards the end of the pasta course I found myself trying to figure out what came next. I knew there was one dish between pasta and dessert but could not for the life of me remember what it was. Perhaps I had counted the courses wrong. The plate came out with three small morsels that the waiter explained in English was sweet breads with foie gras, pistachio and sour cherries. Sean and I both looked at each other. Clearly we had read that on the tasting menu and just blocked out that it was on there. Neither of us had ever had sweet breads and we knew it was some organ meat but which one… Desperate research subsequent to the meal has narrowed it down to either the thymus gland or the pancreas of veal but I can’t be sure which one. Either way we were not won over by this organ. The texture is overly chewy and the flavor was completely masked by the pairing of foie gras which dominated the palate, pistachio and the liquor soaked sour cherry.

Course 7: Bailey’s Gelato in condensed cream


Dessert was a large bowl of thick sweet condensed cream where a sphere of Bailey’s flavored gelato floated. The dish was a bit one note, sweet. Dolce, as the Italians put it and heavy. There was espresso in gel form and I assume it was intended to be a take on an after dinner cocktail. It paired well with the madeira dessert wine. It was tasty but certainly not awe inspiring. Not surprising as having exquisite dessert often requires having a pastry chef on hand.

Petit Fours

 
 Dessert was followed up by a selection of petit fours. A sphere of chocolate with a creamy ganache rolled in pistachios, grape jelly, miniature profiteroles (cream puffs) and little macaroon style cookies.

All in all the meal was spectacular! Towards the end of the night a middle-aged woman in a white chef’s jacket with magenta pink hair strolled in. She made her way around the tables talking to various guests and eventually stopped to chat with us. It was very exciting to get to meet the chef. I knew the chef was a woman (which is already really cool and impressive not only to have a restaurant worthy of a Michelin star but also to achieve such a high honor in a male dominated field like fine dining) but it was really nice to have that personal interaction. We praised the menu and talked about the food scene in Seattle. We have been to several Michelin star restaurants over the last few years but this was the first time we got to meet the chef in person. It really added to the experience and made it a night to remember.