There are restaurants where, for reasons that aren’t always easy to explain, you get the feeling that something isn’t quite right. You sense a certain tension in the air, moments of uncertainty in the service, rehearsed smiles, dishes with overly contrived creativity, and staff who don’t seem very happy.
Then there are others where everything simply seems to flow, where the drinks, the dishes and the conversations slot together in a natural succession, like scattered pieces coming together in this complex jigsaw that is the art of hospitality.
And perhaps that is why starters such as the shrimp vol-au-vent with garlic sauce and tosazu strike us as superb. And the octagonal plates on which they are presented look beautiful.
And a dish such as ‘Iberian ham, roasted melon consommé and lardo’, in which the ham is a jelly made from its own consommé, cut into noodle-like strands, served with lardo and crispy pieces of chicharrón in a cold broth seasoned with rice vinegar and basil, takes us by surprise.
And there’s a real pleasure in discovering more about Spanish wines, such as that Chupadero Listán Blanco from Lanzarote. And time to delve into the richness of traditional surf and turf dishes, such as ‘Pintada amb gambes’, which Fran Agudo reinterprets and perfects in his commitment to ‘haute cuisine at the bar’. And there’s pure joy in spreading the smoked tuna belly with pine nut emulsion over a slice of toasted bread.
And there’s room to finish with the dessert of coffee, mucilage and umeboshi. And to reflect on what Iván Castro told us when I asked him about the team: “I look for good people; it doesn’t just matter that they’re very good at this or that, I want good people”.
Fran Agudo was a regular at this bar. When Tickets closed, Iván challenged him to come here. In a few years, they earned two Michelin stars. Both thought first about ‘who’, then ‘what’.
It’s always the people (who, as I understand it, all have three days off a week here) who make the difference.
And with the right people, you can go anywhere. Less