Italy 2007

Perhaps one of my least favorites trips, with very few memories and not so good one's. However, during this bad journey we had our first two star experience.

We started from Rome, a total disappointment, since I expected more than I found... a dirty and neglected city. In fact, few things have pleased me in Rome and I'm a huge fan of history. Maybe next time.

I strongly recommend Gelateria San Crispino (http://www.ilgelatodisancrispino.it/) that has a delicious ice cream.

How you can tell, we returned to the shop after less than a hour, and we made a bigger order than the first one. This really worth it.

Another good thing to do in Rome is the restaurant Il Pagliaccio (http://www.ristoranteilpagliaccio.com/), where we ate the best pasta ever... the quintessence of simplicity, but perfectly executed. Very nice service, but italian speaker only.

A little hint about Italy... possibly this trip is not among my favorites because we didn't speak italian at the time, cause recently we returned, with a bit notion of the language and the impression was completely different, although we visited other region. Therefore, a little practise before take off is probably jack pot!

Today, the restaurant has two stars and keeps the reasonable prices for the lunch menu, however, in 2007 the restaurant had one star added up!

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The "Costa Brava"... and the Can Simon

We moved on and heading to Costa Brava we passed through Valencia. In the city of the arts and the sciences (www.cac.es) we were introduced to our first starred tasting menu. We've learned that it's something that requires some additional time, but, on the other hand we enjoyed an inventive and creative meal, with some carpaccio de gambas. I've found out that tasting menus are a great opportunity to leave behind all kinds of narrow-minded ideas about food, since you can't order whatever you want and you are in the chef's hands. That happened at the Alejandro restaurant (www.restaurantealejandrodeltoro.com) that by my personal research, still has its star, although not currently listed at www.viamichelin.com.

If Alejandro's tasting menu held back our plan to better know the city of Valencia, it could also be a good reason for a future return when we will be able to know other starred restaurants in the city.

We'd moved on by the seaside till Cambrilis, a nice small town where we ate the best "paella" ever at Rincón de Diego (www.rincondediego.com) BTW an excellent cost-benefit, since the "paella" is more than enough for two!! The chef, in person, came to our table to know if everything was good... score to service. Anyhow, checking the restaurant web site, I can tell that today the place is way more sophisticated that it was when we visited and perhaps the personal service is not the same anymore. 

Anyway, the Red Guide still grades Rincón de Diego as two forks, and the prices, as before, are good deals... Great suggestion!!

Dessert - Rincón de Diego

 Upcoming next, our best gastronomic experience in Spain, till now, that deserves another chapter.

Where we've started... Spain 2006

Our first trip with Michelin starred restaurants was to Spain, maybe because of El Bulli that at the time was "the best restaurant in the world", unfortunately we didn't have a reservation, which was almost impossible... however, we made a stopover there.

El Bulli - Roses

 The trip continued through Barcelona, Avila, Burgos, and others cities... nevertheless, I'm here to talk about food and we've reached our first star at Victor Gutiérrez restaurant in Salamanca (http://restaurantevictorgutierrez.com/) that keeps its star till today. This restaurant has an excellent rice with black truffles and a personalized service by the chef's wife!! Still in Salamanca, we ate at a restaurant that, in 2006, had a Michelin Star... Chez Victor, it has an outstanding black truffles pie. According to hosteleria Salamanca (www.hosteleriasalamanca.es/restaurantes/cocina-internacional/restaurante-chez-victor.php) the restaurant lost its star in 2007, and, in 2010 closed the doors after the chef's retirement.