Enjoy delicious food that look as good as Gaudi's artwork.
Half way through my 16-course meal at Enoteca Paco Perez in Barcelona, I realise my knife has gone missing. I have crystal-clear memories of using it in one of the first few courses, so what happened? Have I dropped it on the wooden floor? Surely not. You can hear a pin drop at this two-Michelin-starred establishment, where diners talk in hushed tones and suited waiters quietly glide around with the grace of a swan - dropping a hefty knife would certainly not go unnoticed here.
Maybe the waiter forgot to replace the used one? That's impossible, too, for this is a restaurant where - when diners take bathroom breaks - staff remove their used napkins from the table with shiny tongs and greet them upon their return with crisp new ones on a tray. So where's my knife gone?
My waiter soon solves the mystery. "Cutting represents effort," he tells me. "And chef Paco Perez believes food should be so well cooked that it shouldn't require a knife, so most of our courses don't accompany one." And the proof is in the pudding - in this case, the pigeon and mushroom pie in front of me, which is so supple, it falls apart at the mere prod of the fork.
Housed in Barcelona's Hotel Arts, Enoteca Paco Perez is a study in striking design - spotless white walls lined with golden-hued olive oil bottles on one side, statement pendants with oversized globes on the other - and offers panoramic views of the Mediterranean Sea. But tonight all eyes are on Perez's tasting menu, which unfolds like a poem, with courses like "A Memory from Galicia" and "Curry in a Sweet World" - bite-sized serves that look like art on a plate; we're in the city of Gaudi, after all.
The star of the show, however, is the turbot - dry-aged for a week, then basted in butter and served with pickled fennel salad in a squid wrap. Soft and silky, it's a knockout treat for the tastebuds - without a knife in sight. enotecapacoperez.com
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