Restaurantes de Barcelona

LA ESQUINA, ARTESANÍA GASTRONÓMICA EN UN ESPACIO CON ALMA

El chef Alan Stewart en La Esquina
El chef Alan Stewart en La Esquina

La Esquina. Calle Bergara 2, Barcelona. T 93 768 72 42. Menú combi de mediodía: 15 euros. Servicio de Take Away.

La Esquina es un lugar singular y con encanto, un restaurante donde se aprecia que cada detalle está hecho con cariño. Un lugar que eleva la categoría de nuestra ciudad, tanto por el cuidado con el que se han hecho las cosas, como por el equipo de profesionales que han trabajado y trabajan en el proyecto y por la oferta gastronómica de calidad que ofrecen.

La Esquina es iniciativa de Luis Roig (Hotel Regina y Hotel Pulitzer) y está ubicado, como su nombre indica, en una de las esquinas que se forman en uno de los triángulso más céntricos de la ciudad: la esquina de la intersección de la calle Bergara, Pelayo y Balmes.

La fachada de La Esquina
La fachada de La Esquina
El comedor de La Esquina
El comedor de La Esquina

La Esquina es un local multidisciplinar con cocina ininterrumpida de mercado de temporada que además, cuenta con otros atractivos, como la cafetería o sus cócteles. La oferta cafetera la lidera el barista inglés Louis, que porpone una carta de catas que cambia habitualmente, donde la importancia de la selección radica principalmente en el origen (cuando voy, el café es de Nicaragua del Nomad).  En el caso de los cócteles, es Merlin el responsable, también procedente de UK, quien maridará los platos con sus creaciones. Y como pata principal, encontramos la oferta gastronómica saludable y creativa del chef Alan Stewart, joven y lleno de sorpresas, que reivindica una cocina contemporánea que reclama la vuelta al origen. En la atractiva oferta gastronómica,  hallamos menos proteína y más legumbre y verdura. El pan, otro elemento de calidad imprescindible, proviene de Cloud Street Bakery.

La bonita cafetera Marzocco
La bonita cafetera Marzocco
El tablón de ofertas de cafés
El tablón de ofertas de cafés
Los rincones de La Esquina
Los rincones de La Esquina

El interior es ámplio, cálido, luminoso y con muebles y materiales nobles, fruto de la colaboración entre la fotógrafa Elena López Lamadrid y Emilio Lekuona de Lekuona Studio. Una maravilla. Cada rincón es único e íntimo e invita a quedarse a disfrutar de una buena comida en un entorno tranquilo y armónico en el centro de la ciudad.

Los menús de La Esquina
Los menús de La Esquina

In the Mood for Food hace unas preguntas al chef Alan Stewart, que contesta en su lengua nativa.

¿CÓMO Y DÓNDE TE HAS FORMADO COMO CHEF?

Food has always been a huge part of my life, both my parents are passionate cooks and some of my earliest memories are baking with my mum. I spent 15 years working in hotels and restaurants in the United Kingdom before I moved to Barcelona. I would say that two restaurants in particular shaped the chef I am today, Chez Bruce and Launceston Place two great London restaurants where I developed my craft and love of ingredient focused food.

¿CUÁL ES LA FILOSOFÍA DETRÁS DE LA CARTA DE LA ESQUINA?

I believe that food should’t be complicated, it should be lovingly crafted from the best possible ingredients you can find, this means working with the seasons and using produce when it is at its best. We strive to create delicious food that is interesting but not intimidating. We want to showcase and use less trendy ingredients in an interesting way, the food has been described as contemporary granma and I think this describes our use of humble ingredients very well.  

HÁBLAME DEL MENÚ COMBI DEL MEDIODIA Y DE LA OFERTA DE LAS CENAS

The menú “combi del mediodía” is designed to be a daily changing menú of healthy interesting food, it is a large plate with your three selections (1 soup or salad, 1 meat of fish and 1 pasta or other pulse) we change this menú everyday. Everything is made fresh by us in the morning, it is interesting but uncomplicated food, offering a wide selection of salads and vegetables that I just don’t think you see on many menus in Barcelona.

For dinner we get a little more elaborate in the kitchen, the food is very ingredient focused and the menu is designed to be eaten how you want to eat it, you can either eat in the traditional way of starter, main, dessert or you can order lots of different plates to share between the table. I love that food is a social facilitator and encourages interaction and sharing dining is a social occasion and that is what we aim to encourage at La Esquina. The food is different but accessible for example we have a risotto on the menu, but it is a risotto of cauliflower with almonds and sage, we use the whole cauliflower in different ways to make an interesting delicious plate of food.

Un ejemplo de menú combi. Foto por Celia Díaz Betz
Un ejemplo de menú combi. Foto por Celia Díaz Betz

¿QUÉ PRODUCTOS SE ELABORAN ARTESANALMENTE EN LA COCINA DE LA ESQUINA Y NO NOS PODEMOS PERDER?

We try to make as much as we can ourselves at La Esquina, sometimes we are restricted by space but our philosophy is to make everything we can with our hands and our love. We make all our pickles, smoke all our fish and other smoked products, we make some of the bread, we really go to a huge effort to make everything from scratch by ourselves. The one dish that really shows off this is our smoked salmon, we smoke the salmon ourselves, make the pickles and dill oil that top it ourselves and make the butter that we serve with it ourselves. Anything we can do at La esquina we do.

¿QUÉ ENCONTRAMOS EN EL BRUNCH DE LOS SÁBADOS Y DOMINGOS?

Brunch is one of the things that at La Esquina has so far been a great success. The menu is a mix of classic dishes and some things that people in Barcelona might not have seen before. For example we have eggs benedict and eggs royal (again everything including the muffins for these is made from scatch by us) but we also have things like kedgeree, pancakes with apple and caramel sauce, and our sandwiches such as the spiced meatball with provolone cheese or the buttermilk fried chicken with apple coleslaw and pickled chilies the food is simple and tasty and has something for everyone, brunch Is a really lively time in the restaurant, and our bloody marys and mimosas are a real hit.

¿QUÉ ES EL KEDGEREE?

Kedgeree is originally an Indian dish that was adapted by the British in the 1800’s and turned into a breakfast dish, it is rice based dish with curry powder, milk boiled eggs, parsley and smoked fish (we use mackerel) there are many different versions we put a little pickled celery, tomato and apple in ours, it is something a bit different and definitely worth trying!  

Los rincones de La Esquina
Los rincones de La Esquina

In the Mood for Food les desea muchísima suerte al equipo de La Esquina.