Today I can barely wait until we can go eat tapas. Yesterday Hedda and I stumbled across my best tapas experience, yet. Those tasty little bites called tapas or pinchos are served all day, even though traditionally they are supposed to be enjoyed between 7-9PM. The dishes are pre-made and sit along the bar and are meant to be a snack before dinner.

So far among my favorite tapas is the cured ham, especially if it is Iberico ham. I have also enjoyed the meatballs with a zesty tomato sauce, and salted cod with onions, green and red peppers in vinegar & olive oil. Of course the fried potatoes are also good, especially when served with garlic mayonaise.

Just so long as they promise to be tasty, I will go to another tapas bar tonight.

So, we have our first visitor…Hedda, who has tracked us down again. Back in December, she and her husband Michael showed up in Krabi, Thailand and followed us to Bangkok to take a cooking class. Now, she’s here in Barcelona. We’ve shared tapas with her, many bottles of wine and cheese, gone to La Sagrada Familia, Fundacio Joan Miro, and there’s even more to do in the next few days with her. She’s our first visitor and we’re excited to have her here to share in our travels. I wonder where we’ll meet up with next!
And, the question also remains which one of you will we see next??

The month of July has been filled with amazing foods, not only because we are in Spain experiencing different foods but that we have had the chance of a lifetime– twice this month. Earlier this month Mike and I went to Per Se restaurant in NYC. We indulged in an amazing 9 course tasting menu by Chef Thomas Keller. We had a 10pm reservation, and didn’t finish eating until after 1am. We also had the opportunity to go to Sant Celoni to Santi Santamaria’s (pictured above on the right) restaurant El Raco Can de Fabes, to try the 12 course tasting menu. Both of these restaurants are rated as one of the top restaurants in the world.

If you’ve ever ordered a tasting menu, you know that you will be completely stuffed by the time all of the courses are served. The trick to a tasting menu is to pace yourself, only finishing the plates that are completely amazing, and tasting a few bites of those courses that are good, but do not blow you away. Otherwise, by the last course you will feel uncomfortably full. Unfortunately willpower and eating for me do not go hand in hand…it doesn’t have to be amazing for me to finish my plate. So what happens when I order a 9 course tasting menu or 12 course tasting menu, for that matter??

My top picks from Per Se; Berkshire pork belly, beets and leeks butter poached lobster, peach melba foie gras, and the brownie desert. My top picks from Can Fabes; langostino grilled in herbs, fresh cheese with anchovies, the cheese selection was delicious, and the melon and strawberry sorbet.

I thoroughly enjoyed myself at both of these restaurants, and feel very fortunate I was able to try the best that the culinary world has to offer. If given another chance to go back, I’ll take it. In the future though, I might have to order a la carte, rather than the tasting menu so I can walk out of the restaurant, and not be rolled out!

Finally doing our first bit of real siteseeing today. We’re waiting in line to see gaudi’s la pedrera.