Cocina Hermanos Torres (*) – Barcelona, Spain

My second meal in Barcelona and the best overall, my visit to Cocina Hermanos Torres was exemplary from start to finish. Situated in a building that resembles a hangar, tables are placed in the shape of a square, in the centre of which lie three kitchen stations: meat, fish, and a central plating station. The open kitchen brings all guests that little bit closer to the action (chefs are mic'ed up, sharing a radio system so as to keep noise levels at a minimum), while vegetables, pastry, and a prep room lie outside of the dining area, in their own glassed off sections.

Cocina Hermanos Torres is a restaurant by brothers Javier and Sergio, Javier having worked as a chef at several two and three Michelin star restaurants in Alicante and Barcelona, while Sergio has cooked at several other restaurants in Barcelona, San Sebastián (Akelarre) and Paris (including Alain Ducasse). With that experience, the brothers opened Cocina Hermanos Torres in 2018, and were awarded three Michelin stars in the 2023 guide.

The first appetizer to quickly appear was the vegetable sriracha cocktail, that is mixed in front of guests, accompanied by the crispy coca (a Catalonian pastry) with Iberian pancetta and payoyo cheese. A lively start, the spice from the cocktail awakens the taste buds, and equally works well with the delicious bite of pancetta. The anchovy bonbon that followed was bursting with that self-same flavour (quite literally), while the tuna, daikon and herb cream appetizer was as herbaceous as the anchovy was briny. The ham rounded off the appetizers – an excellent start to the meal.

These five initial bites were a portent of things to come. The cured squid with caviar in chicken consommé was a thing of beauty. The chicken consommé was so light and subtle, adding just a hint of meatiness to the creamy squid. I run the risk of waxing lyrical, but please permit me; it had all the regality that I imagine dining in the Palace of Versailles in an age gone by felt like (if not tasted like; I suppose food flavour profiles were different when people didn't clean their teeth as much).

The mackerel and cockle fish that followed was wonderfully balanced with a nice hint of spice, while the Iberian pork that succeeded this was melt-in-the-mouth excellent. I could go on, speaking of the delicious skin of the red mullet, the warming quality of the lamb taco or the way the fat cosseted the tender meat of the suckling lamb. All of this ad nauseaum, but suffice it to say that every savoury dish was not only beautifully plated, but flavoursome, balanced, and contributed something new to the menu as a whole.

The desserts were no less pretty, though I don't think it was necessary to have both the palate cleanser of seasonal citrus and the peach dish that followed. Neither of these really hit home, though the chocolate dessert (while probably being the ugly duckling of the menu) was perhaps the best chocolate dessert I've had. Decadent in just the way a chocolate dessert should be.

The best meal I've had so far this year, Cocina Hermanos Torres is a study in balance and light yet still flavourful and complex saucing. Well worth a visit, and thoroughly deserving of three stars.

Courses:

1. Homemade vegetable sriracha cocktail
2. Crispy 'Coca' with Iberian pancetta and payoyo cheese
3. 'Piparras' and smoked anchovy bonbon
4. Mediterranean tuna, herb cream, sprouts, and daikon
5. Pickled bread with tomato and fisan acorn-fed ham.
6. Cured squid, poultry consome and caviar
7. Bread and oil
8. Marinated mackerel, cockles, razor clams, seaweed, dendê gazpachuelo, and kalix caviar
9. 'Trinxat' of house-aged Iberian pork chop, cabbage jus and crispy root
10. Langoustine, bone marrow sauce, fermented lemon and charred seaweed
11. Aged 'Rubia Gallega' eggplant and escalivada broth
12. Red mullet aged in seaweed, watercress, and Buddha's hand (pictured first)
13. Aged suckling lamb with spices and herbs, wild greens and mint
14. White vermouth and fresh seasonal citrus
15. Calanda peach, tarragon, cardamom and ginger
16. The cocoa age
17. The jewel
18. Orange flower
19. Petit fours: Rosemary ice cream sandwich; Catalan cream; black sesame ice pearl; Sergio's Cara crakine & Javier's yoghurt and almond