By Adam Halberg
Our nine Barcelona chefs bring a flowing tally of innovative and traditional dishes to their menus – and when they do, we grab the best and spread the recipes out to all of the restaurants. The diverse culinary backgrounds of these chefs helps them teach and inspire each other.
Still, a little R&D, a little peak outside of Barcelona-world helps to invigorate the creative juices.
Sometimes that means Gretchen and I swooping Chefs and Managers off on grand whirlwind tours of Spain – Madrid! Mallorca! Sevilla! and … what’s the capital of Catalunya again?
Sometimes, trips to find new ideas don’t need quite the hassle and grandeur of planes, trains, automobiles and vineyard tours. We pick a cold, quiet winter night and sneak a few chefs out of the kitchens, leaving our talented and faithful sous chefs to man the stoves, season the stews and roast the fish and pigs.
Recently, I pulled such a group out of work. We climbed through the snow aboard a train and headed south to NYC.
We found Larry Baldwin – our opening chef at Barcelona Stamford 5 years back – and his coolly Iberian spot off of Bowery – CATA – and he even had Norberto “Chino” Campos, his old Barcelona sous still with him. Warm at his bar, we chowed on crisp tiny shrimp from Cadiz, anchovy-and-radish crostini and deviled eggs topped with fried oysters. Our chefs noted their favorites – what flavors rang true, what textures enhanced – scribbling notes and taking photos and fighting over the last sliver of cured duck with pickled mustard seed.
From there – a full meal down – we headed to Tertulia, where Seamus Mullen has made a name for himself as a reigning prince of Manhattan Spanish restaurants. Yes, we ate dinner twice. We’re chefs – what do you want? There we tucked into escarole grilled over hardwoods with a hit of sweet vinegar – and we spent the train-ride home debating how Mullen’s crew accomplished his signature rice a la plancha dish, a roll of crisp soccarat with a warm center overflowing with snails, mushrooms and green onions.
The chefs slipped back into their kitchens, checked in with their crews to make sure the night had gone well. Orders were placed for the next days’ menus where inspiration would land. Variations on each of the chef’s favorite dishes have been popping up in Fairfield, in New Haven, in Hartford lately. Not quite copies, but personalized memories transformed into tasty plates once more.
