El Celler de Can Roca

[pedro]

If you're specially interestend in pastry and desserts, I would say that Jordi Roca at Can Roca is perhaps the most creative in that area.

Not the chef of Espaisucre?

It's certainly possible, I confess that I've never been to Espai Sucre (Espai Sucre), so I can't compare Jordi Butron's dishes with the creations of Jordi Roca.

Robert qualified his dinner there as "one of the worst in memory", but I believe you enjoyed your dinner. Any others?

[paulbrussel]

but I believe you enjoyed your dinner.

Well, I must admit that I wasn't very convinced of Espaisucre - but I also must admit that I am not a dessert lover. That's why I was in a way determined to be able to be convinced, since many people say he is the best dessert chef in the world... It didn't happen. Perhaps I am not the right guy to give opinions on this restaurant.

(Nevetheless, the wine was not that good either - and I do love wine! )

I am very curious for Can Roca, since I will be there in a couple of weeks and then I will certainly give attention to the desserts!

[pedro]

I am very curious for Can Roca, since I will be there in a couple of weeks and then I will certainly give attention to the desserts!

The dessert that surprised me the most, wasn't the recreations of different perfumes (Polo from Ralph Laurent, ...), it was one called "Anarchy". Make sure you'll taste this one.

If you love wine, you'll love Can Roca. Ask for Josep Roca and his advice.

[paulbrussel]

The dessert that surprised me the most, wasn't the recreations of different perfumes (Polo from Ralph Laurent, ...), it was one called "Anarchy". Make sure you'll taste this one.

If you love wine, you'll love Can Roca. Ask for Josep Roca and his advice.

Then I will ask for "Anarchy"

Of course I will take the degustation menu as well, but since I will be there for lunch as well as for dinner, I will take perhaps à la carte for lunch, and with a friend from BCN for dinner the menu.

(By the way - do you know the best wine shop in Girona? - Otherwise I will ask the friend from BCN to bring some wine, e.g. one of the best I drank lately was the El Dorade de Murrieta – Rioja Blanc – 1998 which was recommended in Can Fabes last month and which I bought the follwoing day in BCN.)

[pedro]

(By the way - do you know the best wine shop in Girona? - Otherwise I will ask the friend from BCN to bring some wine, e.g. one of the best I drank lately was the El Dorade de Murrieta – Rioja Blanc – 1998 which was recommended in Can Fabes last month and which I bought the follwoing day in BCN.)

There's a quite impressive wine shop in Palafrugell, Vins Grau, that's probably worth the visit. The caveat is that Palafrugell is about a 30'-45' drive from Girona. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe they have another shop in Girona.

[paulbrussel]

The cave at is that Palafrugell is about a 30'-45' drive from Girona. I'm not 100% sure, but I believe they have another shop in Girona.

Thanks! I just heard from a colleague from Catalunya that it is indeed a great store, but as it seems not for individuals. And they do not seem to have a shop in Girona

[pedro]

Paul, I visited the Palafrugell shop this summer, and they sell to individuals. In fact, while I was there, the customers looked like end-customers shopping for their own consume.

[tan319]

I am very curious for Can Roca, since I will be there in a couple of weeks and then I will certainly give attention to the desserts!

The dessert that surprised me the most, wasn't the recreations of different perfumes (Polo from Ralph Laurent, ...), it was one called "Anarchy". Make sure you'll taste this one.

If you love wine, you'll love Can Roca. Ask for Josep Roca and his advice.

Hi, Pedro.

If you get a chance, could you elaborate on the desserts at Can Roca?

I'm very curious about his work there.

Much appreciated, thanks!

[Bux]

El Celler de Can Roca Anarchy Photograph: Marina Chang

[tan319]

El Celler de Can Roca Anarchy  Photograph: Marina Chang

THAT is a BEAUTIFUL dish!!!

Please explain 'Anarchy' to us!

Much appreciated

[pedro]

Tan, I've been searching my menu with the dishes I had this summer at Can Roca, which led to a Sunday clean up/reorganization of foodie's items (business cards, menus, magazines). Unfortunately, I haven't found that menu.

Nevertheless, I'll try to elaborate on Can Roca, and Roca's desserts specifically.

In my visit, I'd the opportunity to exchange some words with Josep Roca, whom takes care of the dining room and the wine.

He told me about the origins of the restaurant. One of the things that suprises you about Can Roca is that's not located in "downtown" Girona, but in the outskirts of this small town. Well, the reason for that, according to Josep, lies in the background of the restaurant. The parents of the Roca's brothers, moved to Girona and founded a modest "casa de comidas", now next to Can Roca. This kind of restaurant pertains to a well stablished category in Spain, which starts serving breakfast around six a.m. to workers who are leaving to their factories, serving fixed price menu to them for lunch, and some tapas and beer in the evening for the neighbours. Very hard work, if you ask. This restaurant still operates, and in fact you can find Josep Roca himself there early in the morning when his parents are on holidays.

Always interested in the business, around 15 years ago, Joan Roca, the elder brother, decided to stablish by himself, founding Celler de Can Roca. Josep joined El Celler some time later, and so did the youngest brother, Jordi, who has taken charge of the pastry and desserts made at Can Roca.

El Celler is a small restaurant, with a capacity of about 40 guests. They have a fairly good occupation level, even in winter, because they've not turned down local clientele raising prices unconsciously. Of course, since they achieved their first star (1999), and furthermore the second one, they attract a large number of foodies from every place. They have started a new business to take care of weddings and the alike (la Torre de Can Roca, if I remember well), which helps them in the investments they make in el Celler.

For those who love wine, Can Roca's wine list is a temptation, and Josep Roca, a very knowledgeable person.

What I recall about the food, is a very well executed technique, with an interesting use of fruits in many dishes (sorry, but I'd need the menu to elaborate more on that).

And now, the desserts. Some of them have gained lots of appreciation here in Spain. One is the "Trip to Havana", which I haven't tasted, but I understand that is made of chocolate and a cigar plays some part in it, being even recreated in shape.

Another whole dessert category, is based on decomposing the flavours of perfumes, and reconstructing them using, well, food. Trésor and Miracle from Lancôme, Eternity from Calvin Klein, Polo from Laurent, ... . They give you a small sample of the perfume to compare and play with the dish. The result, from a reproduction perspective, is amazing. Not being a fan of perfumes myself, I wasn't fully convinced of the results from the tasting point of view.

And, one of the desserts that has amazed me the most, anarchy. Here, Jordi takes the usual elements of desserts (creams, vanilla and other spices, fruits), other not so usual (herbs and spices not always used in desserts) and combines them with every technique imaginable in small portions, that you see in the picture. Those portions, by themselves, will surprise you. But the idea is that as you eat them, there's no way to avoid being mixed among themselves, resulting in new combinations, almost unique to every person since they depend on the order you chose to start eating.

And that was it. Well, at least, by now.

[Marina Chang]

Hopefully the food and dessert descriptions about my experience at El Celler de Can Roca will help give you a better idea of the experience that awaits you. I cut and pasted some of it from another string and my Q&As.

“We found Can Roca to be just the right balance of lucious comfort food and culinary experimentation. We ordered the chef's choice tasting menu, which included the most incredibly lucious, tender, succulent, lechal or spring lamb that I have ever tasted, accompanied by an espuma of its own broth, and a fresh, sweet, sheep's milk espuma, along with a spot of prune puree. We also experienced his newest dessert entitled, Anarchy - tiny jewels, cubes or dots, of different flavors and textures (basil, honey, almond, passion fruit, mint, lemon, tarragon, honey, bourbon, cardomom, orange peel, anis, pumpkin seed, ginger, violet, cloves, coconut, vanilla, coffee, etc.) - 49 ingredients in all, accompanied by a parchment scroll listing all the taste sensations. A free spirited work of culinary abstract art, and the closest we will come to tasting Harry Potter's Every Flavor Beans.”

“My personal vote goes to El Celler de Can Roca as the restaurant that displayed the most creative artistry, and impish humor in its dishes, primarily desserts. Other than the every-flavor Anarchy (Anarquia) dessert, which I mentioned in a Spain thread on El Bulli, Chef Joan Roca and Pastry Chef Jordi Roca have created several other highly whimsical desserts. Their adaptation of the Lancôme perfume “Miracle” consisted of a peach purée sorbet, sprinkled with tiny gelatin cubes concentrated with the flavors of roses, lychee, and honey, and surrounded by a sauce of apricots, violets, loquats, and ginger. Startlingly aromatic and ambrosial. As a testament to their confidence at having created an edible perfume “Miracle,” a strip of paper scented with the actual Lancôme perfume accompanied the dessert in a separate cup. We did not taste their “Perfume Angel” adaptation of a Thierry Mugler scent. The most humorous dessert on the menu was the “Havana Trip.” It was served on a large crystal ashtray, and consisted of a chocolate “Partagas cigar” filled with ice cream, with one end covered in gray powdered sugar “ashes;” and accompanied by a Mojito sorbet.”

For lunch we ordered the Special or “Surprise” Tasting Menu for 69 Euros per person. We started with the The dishes selected for us that day included --

Gratis appetizers:

Glass of cava

Caramel encrusted black olives, with an olive purée center

Peanut muffins studded with sea salt crystals

Buttery sesame seed caramel lace sprinkled with salt crystals

The dishes selected for us that day were --

Appetizers:

Buttery asparagus cream ‘espuma’ atop trout eggs

Raw cockles with orange sauce and tarragon purée

Avocado with a blue cheese (variety unknown) mousse topped with Serrano ham

Savory seawater ‘veloute’ with egg yolk and truffles and purées of dill, fennel, and parsley

Main dishes:

Artichoke hearts with foie gras filled centers, topped with orange sauce and truffle essence

Raw clams covered with creamy clam ‘espuma,’ sprinkled with orange zest, atop tender broad beans and ‘Bergamot’(type of pear)

Seared scallop in pumpkin cream sauce with green tea gelatin, pumpkin seeds encrusted with passion fruit sugar, and a shaving of wilted shallot

‘Fideua’ made of agar noodles in consommé broth, with shrimp and young garlic ‘espuma’

Skate or ray (rare) with pineapple purée, sea water, and topped with olive oil, fresh fennel and dill

Lechal (milk fed lamb), with ‘espuma’ of lamb broth and espuma’ of fresh sweet sheep milk, with a potato crisp, and dollop of prune purée

All followed by the desserts described above.

You may also be interested in these comments from locals we met while lunching at El Celler de Can Roca.

“...we met a group of physicians from Tarragona who agreed that Can Roca was the best deal in Spanish Catalonia for both the dining experience and the price. They believed that the dining experience at El Bulli and Can Fabes were not very much better than Can Roca to merit the menu prices charged. They were horrified by the cost to eat at Can Fabes.”

Lastly, we accompanied our meal with the Clos Mogador from the Priorat area, one of several outstanding red wines of the region.

Enjoy.

[pedro]

A free spirited work of culinary abstract art, and the closest we will come to tasting Harry Potter's Every Flavor Beans

I knew I read that somewhere. Nice analogy.

They were horrified by the cost to eat at Can Fabes.

Yes, I'd say Can Fabes is the most expensive restaurant I know of in Spain. But it's worth every euro cent you pay.

[tan319]

Hopefully the food and dessert descriptions about my experience at El Celler de Can Roca will help give you a better idea of the experience that awaits you.  I cut and pasted some of it from another string and my Q&As.

“We found Can Roca to be just the right balance of lucious comfort food and culinary experimentation. We ordered the chef's choice tasting menu, which included the most incredibly lucious, tender, succulent, lechal or spring lamb that I have ever tasted, accompanied by an espuma of its own broth, and a fresh, sweet, sheep's milk espuma, along with a spot of prune puree.  We also experienced his newest dessert entitled, Anarchy - tiny jewels, cubes or dots, of different flavors and textures (basil, honey, almond, passion fruit, mint, lemon, tarragon, honey, bourbon, cardomom, orange peel, anis, pumpkin seed, ginger, violet, cloves, coconut, vanilla, coffee, etc.) - 49 ingredients in all, accompanied by a parchment scroll listing all the taste sensations. A free spirited work of culinary abstract art, and the closest we will come to tasting Harry Potter's Every Flavor Beans.”

“My personal vote goes to El Celler de Can Roca as the restaurant that displayed the most creative artistry, and impish humor in its dishes, primarily desserts.  Other than the every-flavor Anarchy (Anarquia) dessert, which I mentioned in a Spain thread on El Bulli, Chef Joan Roca and Pastry Chef Jordi Roca have created several other highly whimsical desserts.  Their adaptation of the Lancôme perfume “Miracle” consisted of a peach purée sorbet, sprinkled with tiny gelatin cubes concentrated with the flavors of roses, lychee, and honey, and surrounded by a sauce of apricots, violets, loquats, and ginger.  Startlingly aromatic and ambrosial.  As a testament to their confidence at having created an edible perfume “Miracle,” a strip of paper scented with the actual Lancôme perfume accompanied the dessert in a separate cup.  We did not taste their “Perfume Angel” adaptation of a Thierry Mugler scent.  The most humorous dessert on the menu was the “Havana Trip.”  It was served on a large crystal ashtray, and consisted of a chocolate “Partagas cigar” filled with ice cream, with one end covered in gray powdered sugar “ashes;” and accompanied by a Mojito sorbet.”

For lunch we ordered the Special or “Surprise” Tasting Menu for 69 Euros per person.  We started with the The dishes selected for us that day included --

Gratis appetizers: 

Glass of cava

Caramel encrusted black olives, with an olive purée center

Peanut muffins studded with sea salt crystals

Buttery sesame seed caramel lace sprinkled with salt crystals

The dishes selected for us that day were --

Appetizers: 

Buttery asparagus cream ‘espuma’ atop trout eggs

Raw cockles with orange sauce and tarragon purée

Avocado with a blue cheese (variety unknown) mousse topped with Serrano ham

Savory seawater ‘veloute’ with egg yolk and truffles and purées of dill, fennel, and parsley

Main dishes:

Artichoke hearts with foie gras filled centers, topped with orange sauce and truffle essence

Raw clams covered with creamy clam ‘espuma,’ sprinkled with orange zest, atop tender broad beans and ‘Bergamot’(type of pear)

Seared scallop in pumpkin cream sauce with green tea gelatin, pumpkin seeds encrusted with passion fruit sugar, and a shaving of wilted shallot

‘Fideua’ made of agar noodles in consommé broth, with shrimp and young garlic ‘espuma’

Skate or ray (rare) with pineapple purée, sea water, and topped with olive oil, fresh fennel and dill

Lechal (milk fed lamb), with ‘espuma’ of lamb broth and espuma’ of fresh sweet sheep milk, with a potato crisp, and dollop of prune purée

All followed by the desserts described above.

You may also be interested in these comments from locals we met while lunching at El Celler de Can Roca.

“...we met a group of  physicians from Tarragona who agreed that Can Roca was the best deal in Spanish Catalonia for both the dining experience and the price.  They believed that the dining experience at El Bulli and Can Fabes were not very much better than Can Roca to merit the menu prices charged.  They were horrified by the cost to eat at Can Fabes.”

Lastly, we accompanied our meal with the Clos Mogador from the Priorat area, one of several outstanding red wines of the region.

Enjoy.

This restaurant sounds soooooo good!!!

Have you worked in the kitchen there, ie., pastry?

Anarchy sounds incredible. I've seen the 'perfume' desserts, indeed, the recipes for them, on Apicius.com

http://www.apicius.es/index.html

recipes here.

http://www.apicius.es/recetas/miracle/index.html

http://www.apicius.es/recetas/eternity/index.html

http://www.apicius.es/recetas/lancome/index.html

Cool stuff.

The savoury sounds outstanding as well!

Thanks again.

Edited November 4, 2003 by tan319 (log)

[Michael Laiskonis]

Ted, the description and concept of Jordi Roca's 'Anarchy' is very much in line with what Conticini has been doing with his 'plated desserts' at Petrossian for years. Philippe's desserts, of course, are carefully layered into glasses and bowls. Sure, the motivation and execution may differ, but the elements of chance, surprise, and the diner's own intent play equally well.

[Marina Chang]

"This restaurant sounds soooooo good!!!

Have you worked in the kitchen there, ie., pastry?"

No, I wish. I am merely an enthusiastic fan of that kitchen.

The day after our lunch at Can Roca, we ate at Can Fabes. The dreamy meal at Can Roca, somehow took the magic away from this next dining experience. I'm not saying Can Fabes was unexciting or less than a wonderful meal, but it didn't reach the same dizzying heights we experienced a year before. The fact that they ran out of or for some other reason were unable to prepare the duck could have been partially to blame. During our prior visit, the Can Fabes kitchen produced the most delicious duck I have ever eaten. We were even offered and accepted seconds on the duck.

Edited November 6, 2003 by Marina Chang (log)

[koen philips]

hi there. I heard about a restaurant in Girona called el cellar de can roca. I've been told its probably the best in the world at this time. has anyone been there. I'd love to find out more about it

[Luis Gutiérrez]

hi there. I heard about a restaurant in Girona called el cellar de can roca. I've been told its probably the best in the world at this time. has anyone been there. I'd love to find out more about it

←

I don't know about being the best in the world, but it's certainly one of the best, or at least one of my favourites, in Spain. Take a look at the nice site they have here. Enjoy,

Luis

[pedro]

Hi, Koen, welcome to the site. There's plenty of references to El Celler de Can Roca in this forum, some of them with quite detailed descriptions. Among the results you can find using the Search capability, you'll get:

Can Roca -- desserts, wine, Girona

Restaurants in Catalonia

Best restaurant in the world? I don't know, but last summer I had there the best meal of all that I had in the area, meals that include the two three stars restaurants of Catalonia, Can Fabes and elBulli. Those were fabulous, each one in its own and different style, but I think that the whole tasting menu at Can Roca was particularly balanced, achieving the not so common state (actually quite rare) where the menu ends up being more than the combination of the individuals dishes.

[bcnchef]

A little out of the way, but *highly* recommended.

In my opinion, the Roca brothers are some of the most talented chefs in Spain.

J.

[tan319]

Luis,

Thanks for posting that link to their site.

Really outstanding.

It's been awhile since I've thought of them.

Tremendous!

[docsconz]

I do regret missing my planned meal there last fall and especially a sous vide cooking demonstration by Joan Roca because I was sick. Interestingly enough, though the restaurant was relatively poo-poo'ed by those of my group who did manage to go. Maybe they just wanted me to not feel so bad.

[Bux]

Let me add my voice to say the same thing. We ate there a few years ago. It was at a time when I was learning just exactly how Spanish food is changing. I was shocked to find such a modern and sophisticated restaurant in this location. Not only was the food among the best I've had, but the level of service across the board was as good as I'd expect in Paris or NY. Still, I don't know if I could single it out as being better than Arpège, Bras or Martin Berasategui. Let's just say that having made our trip to eat there, I didn't find it out of the way. If Girona had nothing else going for it, El Celler de Can Roca would be enough to put it on the map.

[chapeaulong]

While staging at el Bulli, anytime someone would ask the chef de cocina, chef de cuisine, or any of the other veterans for a dining recommendation, Can Roca was always the first suggestion. That, to me is the ultimate compliment. It was obvious that everyone at el Bulli has the highest respect for Can Roca. Several stagers I worked with went straight to Can Roca at the end of the el Bulli season.

[koen philips]

oh my god. the site realy blew me away. My mind is made up I'm going! are there any other restaurants worth visiting in the area? hotel suggestions maybe?