Queens for the Day

Judy only has three days left in Barcelona before we head down to Valencia for a few days so we lay out a plan to make sure she gets to do everything she wants to do before we leave.  During the planning process one of her top desires is to visit a Spanish yarn shop.  She took up knitting several years ago and it has developed into one of her favorite passions.  She doesn’t necessarily want to buy anything but just wants to see what type of yarns they have and how the shop might be similar or different than the ones she is used to in the States. 

Judy has obtained the names of a couple shops from a blog she found on the internet but it was dated in 2007.  We tried every way we could think of to locate these shops but finally had to give it up and assume they were no longer in business.  Being as creative as possible we used one link to another until we found mention in a knitting newsletter of a shop called ‘All You Knit Is Love’.  I dialed the number listed in the article and handed the phone to Judy.  She was beaming from ear to ear as she chatted away with the shop owner in English.  She looked at me and asked ‘do we know how to find the Picasso Museum?’ I shook my head yes and she jotted down an address.  Judy had found her yarn shop! 

A little more research and we discovered it wasn’t far from the yarn shop to the Chocolate Museum, yet another hit on Judy’s adventure list.  We were on a roll!  As I pinpointed the Chocolate Museum I realized it was located on Carrer Comerc, 36.  Now it was my turn.  Among some of the best restaurants in Barcelona is the well-known Comerc, 24 but never before had I connected that their name might be the address of the restaurant which would put us right in the neighborhood at the Chocolate Museum.  Comerc, 24’s chef/owner is Carles Abellan, yet another Ferran Adria trained chef who worked seven years at El Bulli and by now we all know what that means!!  Judy and I already have reservations this coming Thursday night for Tickets, Ferran Adria’s own new restaurant here in Barcelona but I believe the food at these two restaurants is going to be very different.  I want to go!  ‘It’s going to be expensive I warn Judy but I think it will be a meal and an experience to remember if by any chance we can get in for lunch while we’re in the ‘hood’.  Judy always the gamer says in a chipper voice, ‘You’re going to the yarn shop with me it’s the least I can do.’

Many of the better Barcelona restaurants don’t take reservations by phone but only over the internet so we put in our request knowing we have only one shot at it, lunch on Saturday.  The reply comes back and lucky us we’re in.  I don’t tell Judy much about the restaurant but read her some of the positive reviews on Trip Advisor.  This is Michelin starred restaurant and she has never been to one.  I want to surprise her.

We have a little trouble finding the yarn shop as it is tucked away on a side street but we keep looking Judy is already starting to looking a little disappointed and I can’t let that happen.  After asking several people who assured us they knew of no yarn shops in the area we finally found a darling young customer in a gift shop who not only knew where it was but would show us.  Judy’s smile was back.  The shop was owned by an American woman from San Diego who is married to a Spanish man and has lived in Spain many years.  While the owner sat knitting away she and Judy chatted about everything Judy wanted to know.  Judy didn’t buy anything but she’d been to heaven and back!

The next stop was Comerc, 24 for our lunch reservation at 1:30pm, we were both hungry and I was excited.  This is a beautiful restaurant with a lot of black and bright accents of red and yellow (Spain’s colors).  We were greeted by the hostess with a charming smile, great English and a buzz haircut.  Judy couldn’t take her eyes off of the girl's head!  She led us to a dining room with approximately 16 tables.  Before lunch was over they would all be filled but only once.  This was not a restaurant that was going to rush you through your lunch.  We were given our menus and ordered a glass of cava.  It was expensive and I was a little worried but not Judy.  She proudly announces ‘If we’re going to eat like queens I want to drink like queens…….let’s order a bottle of good cava?’  Our dining event had begun but only just begun.

The waiter encourages us to order the Festival Tasting Menu as a way of getting the full experience that Comerc, 24 has to offer.  We are determined to live large and say go for it.   Instead of the usual bread basket out comes our waiter with a huge wooden plank with three loaves of bread on it.  He explains the various breads and encourages us to have some of each but it is our choice which ones we want.  Next arrives four bottles of olive oils so that we might sample the different oil with the breads.  It’s about right here that Judy realizes just how elaborate this meal is going to be and she loves it.  Next we're offered the largest tray of cheese that a single man could carry.  Just tell him the cheeses you would like to try and he will slice them off for you.  Are we in a dream?

Our first course was a ‘Cauliflower Soup with a Smoked Tea Base’ once you finished your soup you were to eat this one floweret of cauliflower soaked in rice vinegar and ginger.  The bite of cauliflower was amazing even we were surprised.  It was clear that everything about this meal was intended to surprise and amaze us and it did.  The complexity of favors is once again impossible for me to explain this was a meal that has to be experienced to be understood.  Here are some of our additional courses:

·        Beach Shrimp Ceviche

·        Cockles Dashi

·        Galicean Barnacles

·        Forest Rabbit Rice with Espardenyes

·        Veal Cheek Pekin

I thought the Veal Cheek was the most delicious meat I have ever had and Judy’s favorite was the Rabbit Rice, which was for sure also a close second for me.  As if this wasn’t enough then came five desserts.   Some things called an Apple Saffron and a Nougat Twin Cigar were absolutely out of this world. 

Comerc, 24 was not only a culinary wonder but also an incredibly well organized operation.  We had several different people waiting on us and normally I don’t care for that but here it just added to our ‘Queenliness’.  We finished dining at 5pm, three and a half hours after we had started. Unfortunately, by the time we finished lunch neither of us had any interest in the Chocolate Museum, it would just have to wait for another day or in Judy's case another trip.

This had not just been lunch it had been our moment in life as Queen Judy and Queen Dott and we savored every bite of it!!