TLDR – Another fantastic meal–thanks, Spain! Celler is a special place, the site is beautiful and elegant, the flavors are fresh and produce driven, the wine pairing is… plentiful and great, every dessert was fantastic. What you pay here makes every Michelin spot in the US feel like robbery.
Food – I can't really add anything novel to a restaurant that deservedly won #1 best restaurant a few times before the hall of fame rule. I couldn't upload near the number of pictures to display the menu, but you can see on paper how extensive and creative the food is. Celler really seems to focus on seasonal produce driving the menu–the produce was all incredibly fresh and flavorful. Only two other places we've dined at have delivered such a high level of produce, namely, MIL in Moray and SingleThread in Healdsburg. I apologize for typos, mistakes, autocorrects in the labelling as this was done on a train on iPhone. A few special dishes were:
- Play on Grapefruit with sorbet, zucchini, and parsnip mushroom puree. The two dishes side by side were so well balanced and just tasty.
- Glazed Aubergine – best I've eaten, the dish was perfect and the peanut and tamarind sauce with contrasting textures and flavors was quite special.
- Prawn, almond veloute, almonds and head juice was equisite. Simple, let complex and the contrasting textures put this near the top for me.
- Xuxio of duck stew and cured, smoke duck. The Xuxio was incredible. One of the best bites of the year. Celler made this in a gluten free format for my wife too and she was beyond wowed since she can't get pastries like that usually.
- Desserts–I'm a sucker for dessert (need to get to CODA in Berlin), but these were all incredible. You get Jordi's playful creativity shining through, with tons of mature flavors. The "ball pool" comes off as a children's ball pit, but has such sharp, crisp acidity of different fruits with different herbs, over an amazing creamy contrast. The white asparagus dessert was one of the best I've ever had.
Service, Staff, Wine, Etc. Ambiance is absolutely beautiful. The kitchen was enormous, spotless, and I'm amazed how choreographed the food was… Like some other high-course spots, you do have to let them know if you are heading to the restaurant given how quick the progression can be (if you want and finish quickly). Josep's wine pairing was very special–incredibly reasonable for 20ish glasses, which highlighted a lot of Spanish and local Catalonian wines. The service team was top notch–very fun, incredible group of professionals. I highly suggest doing over lunch, which helped us walk off the food and wine (we could not finish it all), and not sleep on a full stomach.
This is one to prioritize and make the trek to Girona (very beautiful city with a lot of history).
by jackclsf