Cellar Tours

Hi there. A good mag available in Catalunya is "Cuina". Then you have the Peñín magazine, Vinos de España, Vinos & Restaurantes sometimes features interesting lesser-known restaurants, etc.Good websites for foodies:www.afuegolento.comhttp://www.verema.com/enjoy!

Hi all, I just wanted to let everyone know that La Casa del Temple has closed, as the chef Angel Leon has left. It is no longer a restaurant, which is a huge pity as it had become our favorite gourmet haunt in Toledo.

I have to share with you all of you gourmet gulleteers a really great place a friend of ours took us to last week: Taberneros on the Calle Santiago n. 9 in the Opera neighborhood (kind of hard to find). The wine list is out of this world, our waiter (not even an "official" sommelier) was highly knowledgable about both Spanish wine and Californian wine, and very friendly. The head chef at this stylish place is Japanese and the tapas, while quite Spanish and Mediterranean, are much more creative and imaginative than your average tapas joint. The ingredients and presentation are exquisite. The only negative point is that the seats are uncomfortable (with no back), but for a night out for fantastic food and wine, competitively priced and in a pretty venue (lots of candlelight and exotic flowers), I highly highly recommend Taberneros. Tel: 91 542 2160

Hotel Tips- A great value 4 star is the Palacio San Martin, located right next to the Monastery downtown in a quiet square. Bauza is very trendy and good value for money, too, in the Goya neighborhood. The Habitat Hotel group have just opened up a new hotel here in Madrid (same group as the Neri in Barcelona), called Hotel de las Letras, I think, haven't been there yet, but love the Neri. I particularly dislike the Tryp Victoria in the Plaza Santa Ana, very gloomy bedrooms, beware. If you want to splash out one night, our favorite 5* is the pretty Santo Mauro, with a great restaurant and excellent sommelier. I prefer Santo Mauro to the Palace and the Ritz personally. The Orfila is pretty, although on the expensive side. Be careful if you stay at a hotel on or around the Gran Via to specifically ask for a quiet room as traffic is VERY loud, lots of honkers here. Restaurant Tips- Cheap- a boistrous, lively Galician well worth a visit is "Maceira" on the Calle Huertas. (There is also aa sister restaurant on the Calle Jesus, around the corner). The octopus (pulpo), spicy peppers (Piminetos de Padron) and Calamares are divine. They also have very well-price Albarinos on the menu. Hard to spend 25 euros per head here, with plenty of wine. Also great are many of the trad, local restaurants in the Chueca neighborhood, like Bocaito. In La Latina, you have many trendy, cheapish tapas bars and restaurants like the Musa Latina (although it was closed a few weeks ago when we treid to go), Juan la Loca, and all the hip places around the Plaza de la Paja. Tapas- Casa Lucas on the Cava Baja is our favorite tapas bar, making creative, "muy elaborado" tapas, and they have a great wine list. They have the Roda II on the list at a killer price. Mid-range- Tete on c/ Andres Borrego, and Genoveva de Barri in the Opera quarter are 2 of our favorite places at the moment, with talented creative young chefs at accessable prices. Top Class dining- you have plenty of suggestions on this forum of all the most exclusive restaurants in Madrid. Wine Shops- the best of the lot in our book are Reserva Y Cata and Lavinia, although the Club de Gourmets in Corte Ingles is not bad either. Day trips- Aranjuez is one of our favorite day trips, it's an hour from Madrid and full of marvellous gardens. There's a great restaurant called the "Castillo", reservations essential. Toledo and Segovia are both beautiful, but chocker blocked with tourists. Avila is a lovely walled city, even nicer to stay a night there. Salamanca is not a day trip, (3 hour commute each way), but it's just gorgeous, worth an overnight visit if you can sneak it in. Enjoy your time in Madrid!

There is a great book on Portuguese cooking called "Gastronomia e Vinho Verde" by Helio Loureiro, a famous chef based in Porto. (in Portuguese) Also, the new Arzak book (I have lonly leafed through it at the book shop, but it looks great). (in Spanish, but if it's not available in English now I am sure it will be soon) There is a book in English, by no means "cutting edge", called "Cooking in Spain" by Janet Mendel. I like it a sit has a good Spanish-English food glossary and plenty of traditional recipes with a bit of history behind them. A good starter book on simple, solid dishes.

I love Salmorejo from Spain and Sopa Fria de Melão (Cold Melon Soup) from Portugal, particularly nice with smoked bacon (bacon fumado). Salmorejo is similar enough to Gazpacho, the other famous cold Andalusian cold soup. However, the Salmorejo (which hails from the beautiful Moorish town of Cordoba) does not contain cucumber or peppers, and it has the additional ham and egg, which Gazpacho does not. The cold melon soup, though, has got to be my number one!

Hi There! I can make a few comments on: - Jean Luc Figueras - very classic, a bit boring in my view. Nothing like El Bulli in terms of creativity - Alkemia- (Alkimia)- very hot right now. Friends of ours were there recently and were delighted by Jordi's flare and modesty. He has the talent of a genius, but not the arrogance. Good choice. - Moo- a friend dined there last week, loved it. Very trendy. - Gaig- haven't been there - Abac- in the catty culinary scene, some have said that Abac has fallen out of favor, but then again I have heard wonderful things from winemaker friends of ours. I would say that it is a fairly solid choice, - Commerc 24- Carles Abellan is great, and as you know he studied under Ferran, but the last time I ate there in January I didn't fin the tapas tasting menu to be very cohesive. Perhaps we ate there on an off night, but I left there a bit underwhelmed. - Drolma - Fermi Puig is a real character! This place is very elegant, the only problem is that since it is in a hotel, I find that it is not the most intimate place, and it has a kind of corporate feel. Excellent quality though. Price range approx 100-120 euros, depending on wine cof course. - Cinc Sentits- supposed to be fab. This is definitely the buzz restaurant on evrybody's lips now. Also, for something really close to the geniu of Ferran, I agree with the other members that El Raco d'en Freixa is an excellent choice. We had an amazing taster menu for 115 euros, including chocolate dipped in bronze, weird and fantastic. El Raco is very small, and with a family ambience as Ramon Freixa works there along with his parents (his dad got the original Michelin star). I highly recommend El Raco.

Would anyone like to contribute recipes of typical Argentine dishes for a new food and wine events website? We have launched a website called www.cellartastings.com which is an online gourmet calendar of events worldwide. We are creating new sections for food by country and would love if we could include recipes for Argentina. Email gen@cellartastings.com if you would like to contribute your recipes for Argentine food, thanks!

There is a great Asturian Ciderhouse in our neighborhood of Madrid called "Casa Mingo". The only thing they serve there is roast chicken (they have a huge spit) and their bottled cider. They don't do wine or coffee, you go for chicken and cider y ya esta. It's a great place with old time waiters, big Cider barrels inside, and tables outside to enjoy the warm summer nights. The closest metro is Principoe Pio, and it is on the Paseo de la Florida street, a 15 minute walk downhill form the Royal Palace. All taxi drivers in Madrid know Casa Mingo, fabulous place.

We are researching new wine routes to include in our wine tours portfolio, and recently visited the Priorat region of Spain. We met a lot of interesting visionaries in the area including Rene Barbier of Clos Mogador, Carles Pastrana of Clos de l'Obac and the director of Boix. We are creating new routes to the Priorat and would be interested to know which Priorat wines are popular and which wineries would be appealing for people to visit. Thanks for all of your comments, Genevieve McCarthy, Cellar Tours www.cellartours.com