Lasarte
If you have plans for just one unforgettable splurge in Barcelona, Lasarte might be the one. In the sophisticated setting of the Monument hotel, it’s the Barcelona outpost of the great Basque chef Martín Berasategui, and since 2017 has held three Michelin stars.
Berasategui is renowned for mentoring young chefs, and head chef Paolo Casagrande interprets the master’s classics and adds some of his own. And they are dishes that will form part of your sensory memory bank, the plates against which you will measure all others. Red prawns, for example, come into the restaurant live from the boat. The kitchen prepares them in a sea urchin flan topped with a sheep’s milk “caviar” (thanks to the miracles of spherification) and sends them to the dining room on a wet black slate to evoke the dark ocean where they swam only hours before. Tuna belly might be flash-grilled over charcoal and served with mango and capers in soy sauce and a tiny bowl of raw celery minestrone for an orgy of sweet, salt, and umami.
This is world-class dining, but eye-wateringly expensive. The à la carte menu advises that dishes are best enjoyed in three or four bites, working out at some 20€ a mouthful. The extraordinary Il Milione tasting menu costs nearly 500€ before wine and includes dishes like roast sea bream with cockle and sea snail ragú, velvet crab juice, and pistachio and star anise cream. Reservations are essential, as is smart dress. If that’s all too pricey, consider Berasategui’s more down-to-earth Fonda España
If you have plans for just one unforgettable splurge in Barcelona, Lasarte might be the one. In the sophisticated setting of the Monument hotel, it’s the Barcelona outpost of the great Basque chef Martín Berasategui, and since 2017 has held three Michelin stars.
Berasategui is renowned for mentoring young chefs, and head chef Paolo Casagrande interprets the master’s classics and adds some of his own. And they are dishes that will form part of your sensory memory bank, the plates against which you will measure all others. Red prawns, for example, come into the restaurant live from the boat. The kitchen prepares them in a sea urchin flan topped with a sheep’s milk “caviar” (thanks to the miracles of spherification) and sends them to the dining room on a wet black slate to evoke the dark ocean where they swam only hours before. Tuna belly might be flash-grilled over charcoal and served with mango and capers in soy sauce and a tiny bowl of raw celery minestrone for an orgy of sweet, salt, and umami.
This is world-class dining, but eye-wateringly expensive. The à la carte menu advises that dishes are best enjoyed in three or four bites, working out at some 20€ a mouthful. The extraordinary Il Milione tasting menu costs nearly 500€ before wine and includes dishes like roast sea bream with cockle and sea snail ragú, velvet crab juice, and pistachio and star anise cream. Reservations are essential, as is smart dress. If that’s all too pricey, consider Berasategui’s more down-to-earth Fonda España
Details
Bookstore
Available as paperback
and as e-book.
