CincSentits

[Bux]

Our new restaurant isn't open yet, we just started construction after working our way through the thicket of permits (and the complete shutdown of all the government offices for Christmas...) here in Barcelona.

It is a slightly new concept for Barcelona -- a tasting menu only restaurant -- that we hope the local foodies will like.

A few more details available here.

We hope to open in May, keep your fingers crossed! Would love to see you, Bux, and any other eGulleters there!

J.

I see CincSentits has been open for over a month. How is it going? Have any of our members had the opportunity to dine there yet?

[Silly Disciple]

I was looking for a good place to take my wife out to celebrate (I owe her a celebration dinner, but cant remember why :) )... Cinc Sentits might be a good idea.

I plan on going out on Wednesday, will report sometime after that.

Silly.

[Silly Disciple]

I was looking for a good place to take my wife out to celebrate (I owe her a celebration dinner, but cant remember why :) )... Cinc Sentits might be a good idea.

I plan on going out on Wednesday, will report sometime after that.

Silly.

Going tonight at 10pm. Will report asap.

Silly

[Bux]

I wish you luck and I wish Jordi the same.

I was looking for a good place to take my wife out to celebrate (I owe her a celebration dinner, but cant remember why :) )

I've reached the age where I forget things too and my wife has reached the age where it's just as well that I don't remember how old she is.

[pedro]

I was looking for a good place to take my wife out to celebrate (I owe her a celebration dinner, but cant remember why :) )... Cinc Sentits might be a good idea.

I plan on going out on Wednesday, will report sometime after that.

Silly.

Going tonight at 10pm. Will report asap.

Silly

We're all curious about it. Looking forward to your report.

[The Viking]

Havig followed thee progress at www.foodlover.com I'm more than just curious, lay it on us!

[Silly Disciple]

So we went to Cinc Sentits yesterday for a wonderful eating experience, thanks to Jordi and the great staff he has put together.

Both my wife and I took the spring gourmet tasting menu (which will change to a Summer menu in about 2 weeks, Jordi told us) and shared the different options as to try every single dish on it save for one of the desserts.

I got some wine pairing recommedations from Amelia, the maitre, while my wife stayed away from alcohol, which ended up being a good decision since, being San Juan here, we wen't partying till this morning .

My overall impression is that a lot of thought went into each preparation, using 2 or 3 main ingredients at most, combining and complementing for taste, texture and presentation. A clear example was the sabayon of tapioca. The smooth tapioca pearls, contrasted with the salty caviar and the sour reduction just complemented perfectly in every sense.

so, we had:

- 3 layer txupito (shot): unfortunately I didn't write down the ingredients since I was sure I had seen it on the menu... sorry.

-jamón "pincho" with mascarpone cheese, date, pear and fresh mint. As I said before, 3 or 4 ingredients combined perfectly. The fresh pear and the mint were great for a hot Summer night.

I started at this point with a fruity sauvignon blanc... din't get to write down what it was though

-sabayon of pearl tapioca arenque caviar, butter-enriched shellfish (cigalas) reduction. I think this one, along with the foie gras, where my two favorite dishes of the night.

-soft-poached farm-fresh egg panceta foam and toasted panceta (two textures), creamy potato purée.

I switched to a red Ribera del Duero Crianza (Arco del Curiel Crianza 2000). Great for the meat, but I shouldn't have had it with the fish and prawns... just a tad too strong.

-pan-seared monkfish filet wild rice risotto, bacon dust, priorat red wine reduction. This one was cooked perfectly, the wild rice made for a very subtle combination with the fish.

- pan-seared prawn (cigala) brochettes « bomba illa de riu» risotto with caramelised onions, romesco sauce. Jordi later told us that the risotto entailed a quite intensive onion reduction. The dish was delicions, and Jordi mentioned this one being his favorite. I found the rice to be a bit too sweetish for the prawns.

-pan seared foie-gras terrine , maracuja (passion fruit?) foam, moscatel syrup, alea salt from Hawaii. This one was just perfect. The foie gras, which Jordi gets from a small farm in France, was extremely fresh and tasty. The maracuja foam was also great, although a bit to acid I thought. The detail of having the salt next to the Foie, since it was cooked unsalted, was great.

-filet mignon sauteed asparagus, caramelized leek purée. My wife had most of this one, so I can't comment much.

-dried porcini-encrusted rack of lamb, sweet ñora pepper infusion. This was another plate that surprised me for it's subtlety and how well ingrediented complemented each other. The dried porcini "dust" made a perfect combination with the lamb for texture and flavor, and the sweet pepper, presented as a sort of creamy puree finished the whole thing perfectly. Both my wife and I loved it.

- We had a second txupito here: Ruibarb, strawberry, creme fraich and mint oil.

I also switched again to a Schmitges 2003 Riesling.

-vanilla bean panna cotta sparkling wine « mirror », maresme strawberry sorbet. Just wonderful.

-peasant-bread pudding almond pastry cream, coffee and rum semifreddo. Also great. My wife found the coffe ice cream a bit too strong.

I order some scotch here, and we were invited with Cava and San Juan "Coca", a traditional pastry, to celebrate the evening.

I think Jordi will quickly join the troupe of great chefs here in Barcelona. the overall experience was wonderful, and things ran smoothly, especially considering he opened about three weeks ago. The one (minor) problem I found was that waiting times between dishes was uneven, but we later found out that a waiter was missing. As I said, just a minor detail, considering they just started. Jordi is planning on having a more formal wine pairing menu, and a "chef table" as well, and since he's only 7 blocks from my place, I'm pretty sure I'll quickly become a regular.

Thanks, Jordi, for a wonderful dinner.

Silly.

Cinc Sentits

Aribau 58 - Barcelona - +34 93 323 94 90

http://www.cincsentits.com/

[Silly Disciple]

A friend of mine from Argentina and his wife came to visit by surprise yesterday. We had already eaten, and they were looking for "an interesting culinary experience", so I sent them Jordi's way.

This morning they were all compliments.

Keep up the good work, Jordi !

Silly.

[bcnchef]

A friend of mine from Argentina and his wife came to visit by surprise yesterday. We had already eaten, and they were looking for "an interesting culinary experience", so I sent them Jordi's way.

This morning they were all compliments.

Thanks for the positive comments Mariano!

We're happy that you enjoyed the restaurant, it makes all our efforts worthwhile when we hear that people had a good time.

Summer menu coming in about 2-3 weeks, once our farmer in Lleida delivers his first batch of perfect, juicy red tomatoes and cherries are at their peak!

J.

[docsconz]

I had the pleasure of visiting Jordi at his restaurant in Barcelona on my recent trip, although in my sated state I couldn't really do the restaurant justice. I had come from an extensive and fabulous lunch at Sant Pau earlier in the day and directly from a chocolate demonstration and tasting at Cacao Sampaka a few blocks away. Unfortunately, this would be my only chance to dine at Cinc Sentits on this trip. Others such as my wife who would have accompanied me simply couldn't. To be honest if it was another restaurant I would have passed as well. Instead I went by myself and explained my predicament to Jordi and his charming sister Amelia. I left my fate in their hands. They came up with an abbreviated omakase for me - five light courses

The restaurant has clean modern lines. It is very comfortable and the night I was there quite busy.

I was started with Jordi's signature "shot" of maple syrup with cream, cava sabayon and maldon rock salt. This is a superb dish. The marriage of the salt with the sweet syrup and rich creams is superb. The presence of this at the beginning of the meal was not ideal in my already full state, however. I would have preferred it as a pre-dessert. Nevertheless I watched the reactions of other diners to whom this was served. They looked uniformly positive.

This was followed by a very well prepared foie gras torchon with crushed carquinyoli cookies (a Catalan cookie) and violet marmalade served in a chinese spoon.

Next came the one dish that I thought was overworked. It was perfectly cooked, sweet langoustine with chilled ajoblanco soup along with cubed melon and slivered marcona almonds. If this dish had been left without the soup it would have been perfect. The soup by itself would have been tasty, although sweet. At this point for me, this dish was simply too sweet. Even so, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more in a different physiological state.

This was followed by a truly fantastic dish that actually left me wanting more (no mean feat at this point in the evening for me). It was the porcini-cruste lamb chops with caramelized leek puree and demi-glace. The meat was cooked to a perfect medium rare and had real porcini flavor. This was awesome.

My dessert was superb and light. It was meant as a pre-dessert in the tasting menu, but was perfect for me. It was "textures of Royal Gala apples" with apple granite, cubed fresh apple, sauternes gelee with marialuisa infusion served in a martini glass. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of it.

Jordi is a remarkable fellow. He came from another life and as a largely self-taught chef followed his dream and opened a superb restaurant that appears to be flourishing in a City with no shortage of excellent cooking. Jordi, I wish you and your family the best of luck and look forward to returning when I have a better appetite.

[tan319]

Once again, superb photos and a great report!

I love how Jordi's food is presented, the little plates, etc.

On another note, Doc:

Any chance of a report on the Cacoa Sampaka isit?

Would love to hear about that.

[Bux]

As are many of us Doc, I'm following your reports with interest and from time to time a comment or two brings a particular smile to my face, with a sense of having been there done that.

I had come from an extensive and fabulous lunch at Sant Pau earlier in the day and directly from a chocolate demonstration and tasting at Cacao Sampaka a few blocks away. Unfortunately, this would be my only chance to dine at Cinc Sentits on this trip. Others such as my wife who would have accompanied me simply couldn't.

While I did not go from Sant Pau to Cacao Sampaka and on to Cinc Sentits alone, I was forced to choose between joining my wife in early retirement and traipsing through the tapas bars in San Sebastian alone in the evening after large midday meals. It's hard work and someone has to do it. We should get medals, but instead it's crise de foie.

At this point for me, this dish was simply too sweet.

If there's one thing consistent thread that's run though some of the most modern food I've had from Blumenthal in the UK, Adria and a number of others in Spain, that didn't thoroughly please me, it's sweetness in a savory course. I've actually run across this in France once as well where I found it most off putting.

[docsconz]

On another note, Doc:

Any chance of a report on the Cacoa Sampaka isit?

Would love to hear about that.

←

Thanks, Ted.

It's coming

I still need to do reports on Can Fabes, Abac, the Priorato, The Boqueria, La Brecha and the market in Bilbao as well as Pica No Chao in adddition to Cacao Sampaka. Uploading the photos takes a lot of time.

[robert brown]

Bux, what about New York? Sweetness in savory dishes has reached sizeable proportions, so much so that I now ask the order taker to tell me which dishes aren't sweet. (Except at steakhouses, of course).

John, you don't look too bad after all the eating you did. Thanks again for the great reportage. What did Jordi do before becoming a chef-restaurateur?

[docsconz]

Robert,

I'll leave that to Jordi to discuss. Suffice to say that it was not the food industry.

As far as the sweetness issue, I believe we have seen a generalized blurring of savory and sweet in many circles of haute cuisine. While I often enjoy the inroads of savory into dessert , I appreciate the foray of sweet into savory less. I find as I am getting older my tolerance for sweetness getting less. I can't eat Twinkies anymore. I need more balance to my sugar at whatever point in the meal it is served. This is particularly true with seet wines. I can't stand a wine that is only built around sugar. The sweetness is important, but must be braced with enough acidity to give it backbone. While not acid, it was the salt with Jordi's maple syrup that made that interesting and acceptable at the start of the meal, although I would still have preferred it later.

[Bux]

Bux, what about New York? Sweetness in sqvory dishes has reached sizeable proportions, so much so that I now ask the order taker to tell me which dishes aren't sweet. (Except at steakhouses, of course).

←

I would discuss that in the NY forum, but we've been eating out less often, or at least less often at the formal or creative end in NY. I have been experiencing fruit with fish for a long time and have gotten used to that to some extent. Pedro even remarked that he experienced the use of citrus fruit with seafood in NYC before he did in Madrid. I have also noticed an increasing appearance of tropical fruit in Chinese dishes that seem very much influenced by some pan Asian trends, although both Chinese and Japanese food incorporate sugar far in excess of that used in European savory dishes.

[docsconz]

I have no problem with fruit in many savory dishes so long as the sweetness is adequately balanced either by spiciness, salt, bitterness or richness. The first time I had seared tuna with mango salsa at The Coyote Cafe in the mid-80's was a revelation. Of course that had a little heat to go with the fruit.

[nerdgirl]

I have also had the pleasure of dining at Cincsentits on several occasions now. Count that as three to be precise. I recently made it just in time to try to the summer menu - almost missed it! I have promised my full report for some time, but the summer in Barcelona has been so busy that I haven't actually gotten around to it.

I will give a brief and very enthusiastic thumbs up to Jordi, Amelia and Mom! The food has been continually excellent - creative, wonderfully presented and exquisitely tastey! Sadly, my last trip was taken with non-adventerous people who enjoyed the food, but didn't fully appreciate the complexity of it - which ended up making me feel deflated and annoyed (with them). Next trip has to be taken with an appreciative crowd so I can try the omakase menu!

Also, I'm glad to see that other people take photos of their food. I have this habit of pulling out the camera and shooting my plates and most of my friends find it at best weird and at worst annoying.

[docsconz]

Because it can be annoying I only do it if I'm with people of a similar mindset such as I was with on my trip or if I'm by myself (fortunately, not too often). In any case I try to be as unobtrusive as possible, hence the lack of flash.

What have been some of your favorite dishes there? Any that haven't worked for you?

[vserna]

El Mundo's restaurant critic in Barcelona, Xavier Agulló, reviewed Cinc Sentits this week in the newspaper's Metrópoli supplement. Since only the local Madrid pages are for now available on line, I'll translate his report:

"Jordi Artal used to work in marketing and IT in Silicon Valley, California. But his real passion was in the kitchen. So, with his mother and sister, he returned to Barcelona. They opened Cinq Sentits, an experiment which aims to offer a global taste experience, with the inestimable help of chef Jordi Anglí. Artal, who is the executive chef, is responsible for the restaurant's gastronomic design with Anglí. Roser, his mother, and young Amèlia, his sister, receive clients in the dining room. Although they have been open for just a few weeks, we can already see what direction they are taking. Very modern cuisine, high-quality ingredients (no farmed fish are used), a somewhat informal atmosphere, controlled prices and a perhaps excessive taste for the world of the sweet-and-savory. Cooking precision is excellent, for example, in a dish of 'foie gras' on a mille-feuille 'coca' with leeks, balsamic vinegar and caramelised sugar. But everything is too sweet. In other cases one yearns for more imagination, not for more technical perfection; for instance, in the beef filet with asparagus or in an already much-seen poached egg on a sauce of 'txistorra' hot sausage. The cream of asparagus with a sea water jelly is fantastic, as is the surprising monkfish with a 'pasta risotto' and crayfish essence. This is a newcomer which deserves a visit and promises much more to come."

Agulló rated the restaurant 13/20. Other restaurants in this week's national edition of Metrópoli: Bens d'Avall, in Deià on Majorca Island (16/20), El Perro que Fuma in Gijón, Asturias (15/20) and A Estación in Cambre, Galicia (14/20).

Edited October 12, 2004 by vserna (log)

[bcnchef]

The sweet-savoury discussion is one that I am following with interest -- docsconz, it might even merit a thread on its own as it seems to be a trend that both bux and robert brown commented on in their dining travels.

In our own case, we made a conscious decision when working on the summer menu to highlight sweet-savoury combinations in several dishes, particularly with fruit, which is something I feel works well during that season. The classic combination of melon and proscuitto comes to mind.

For example, the langoustine tail with melon “ajoblanco” that we served in summer has no added sugar, just the natural sweetness of the melon to play off the inherent “sweetness” of the langoustine tail. That particular dish is very refreshing in summer, but just would not work in fall or winter.

Now that we are into the fall menu, our focus has turned from sweet to “umami”. Warm, savoury dishes featuring wild mushrooms, braised and shredded oxtails, crisp quail breasts, creamy lentils and braised and pan-seared pork belly...

J.

[vserna]

the langoustine tail with melon “ajoblanco” that we served in summer has no added sugar, just the natural sweetness of the melon to play off the inherent “sweetness” of the langoustine tail.

←

Allow me one observation. I think that sweet langoustine and sweet melon don't play off each other well, but rather assemble two kinds of sweetness that might offset one another. I personally would prefer working on a traditional ajo blanco made with almonds and garlic, or even a more bitter, more pungent one made with fresh pistachios and garlic, to really create a gustatory contrast with the sweet soft crayfish and start the juices flowing in the diner's mouth... Serrano ham and melon is an entirely different harmony, since these two are really taste and textural opposites.

[robert brown]

Jordi BCN, it would make a nice discussion. I'm neither a cook nor a food historian, yet my academic training sniffs a good contemporary and cross-cultural matter worth sinking one's teeth into. Off the top of my head, there seems to be three factors contributing to the sweetness-in-savory issue. One is the early, classic dishes that are germane to a cuisine that entail both the sweet and the savory; i.e duck a l'orange, with peaches, etc.; mint jelly with roast beef, cranberries with turkey; and recent haute cuisine inventions such as Lobster with Sauternes or vin jaune. Second (and often part and parcel with the preceeding) the influences of ethnic cuisines (MIddle Eastern, North African, etc.) on American, French, Italian, British cooking; and third, the contemporary, conscious making of sweet savory dishes that go beyond the naturally sweet through the use of sugar that represents an appeal to the modern palate's love or craving for it. I think it's this third aspect that people such as myself find bothersome. Usually I find it a distraction which brings out in me a longing for the separation of sweet and savory that best works when one gets to the dessert course where the clear transition can make the sudden, blatant, intentional sweetness a delightful encounter. Now I'm beginning to think that was the primary reason I had such a tough time at Espai Sucre

[Bux]

I think it's this third aspect that people such as myself find bothersome.

←

The new is always more bothersome to a greater number than the traditional. We come to the table with preconceptions. Thus we, as European diners, allow a greater sweetness in Asian cuisines, because we approach them as foreign from the start. A lot of this is in how the diner is approached. Even Victor's remarks about balance, which I think are on the money, are culturally based. Shocking the palate is easy. The difficult thing is to shock it and leave the diner favorably impressed

I think we can differentiate between the different ways sugars and sweet fruits have been used in classic dishes. The nuts and fruits of the middle east have survived in Spain and Southern Italy and Siciliy. The sweet and sour dishes from Alsace of Jewish origin have a long tradition that lives in the recently popular agridouce dishes of many chefs. It's not ancient history but in the late sixties I remember an outstanding chicken (capon I think) in a cream sauce with vin jaune and morels in the Jura. I assume it was a traditional dish, but maybe not. Roast duck à l'orange never appealed to me as much as braised duck served with peas. All of these don't necessarily appeal to the same diners, although they each have enough support to be considered classic.

[tanabutler]

Found on another food board: Jordi's FoodLover.com. It is a beautiful, beautiful web site.

(Jordi, your link to the Rioja vineyards is broken, causing much (temporary) disappointment for me. And I hope to meet you next time you come to San Francisco. I see you've been to Swanton Berry Farm. Me, too.)

Cheers.