
Michelin chefs, beach rice dishes. That is the idea of Eldelmar, the new restaurant of the chefs Sergio and Javier Torres have opened in the Balcó Gastronòmic of the renovated Port Olímpic.
From Gràcia, where the two chefs were born, to Les Corts, where they have built their three-star restaurant on the beach of the Vila Olímpica, the beach that for them, as for so many Barcelonians, was a place to escape to on childhood weekends, and now will be the place to eat seafood as so many of us ate it on summer Sundays on the beach.
Star dishes, tables on the sea
The views of the place are one of its best attractions. The whole restaurant overlooks the beach, and depending on the perspective, the tables on the terrace seem to float on the water. On the menu, traditional dishes “with the Torres touch”, as the chefs say, which means applying haute cuisine techniques to common recipes. The ham croquette, creamy in the Madrilenian style, is made with a béchamel sauce from a ham bone broth. The ensaladilla rusa (up in price, 18€), with pickled vegetables that add that extra flavor.
The renovated versions of traditional tapas precede the rice dishes, with prices well within the average, which can allow those who look at their pockets to indulge in a small tribute of Michelin rice dishes on the sea without going broke. A rossejat or rice according to season (the restaurant gives the option to order it to taste the fish or seafood that day in the fish market) for less than 30 euros is an honest price for those looking to raise the experience of going to fer an arroset on the beach on a Sunday.
In the seconds, the starry hand of the chefs is more noticeable. Lomo de bacalao en u pil pil or a quite spectacular roast rack of lamb are dishes that show where the recipes come from, with prices that also tell us that this is not just any beach bar (although, admittedly, neither is it a luxury fine dinning ).
Among the wines, 450 references chosen by Xavi Nolla, author, among others, of Vinos de la Memoria (Wines of Memory), wines made in lands linked to Civil War battles. A sort of wine poet who has made a wide choice with wines from a good part of the world to please the international palates that, presumably, will fill this large place in so many days where the people of Barcelona will be working.
In short, a good restaurant, Eldelmar, where to indulge in a Michelin whim in which the stars are replaced by the sea. The place where we would like to go to celebrate a family birthday. The place to treat yourself on a Sunday, with rice and waves in the background, as so many Barcelonians have done on so many Sundays in the history of the city.