Fogón, Paris, France

Restaurant Fogón is the only Spanish Michelin starred restaurant in Paris, located on the left-bank in 6ème Arrondissement. Chef Alberto Herráiz moved from La Mancha in Spain to Paris in 1997 and has specialised since then in what he does best: rice.

We went for the rice menu, which includes two appetizers, three tapas, one large rice dish to share and dessert. For those who do not like rice there is a tapas menu (twelve tapas), but I have to say rice should be the main reason to go to Fogón.

Surprise from the chef: cutlery is hidden in the table's drawer.

Cockle gratin in the shell

Do you remember having fish gratin in scallop shell in your school canteen? These cockles are exactly like that, but a thousand times better and with a Spanish twist.

Beef pastrami with rocket and horseradish

It's a classic combination and these ingredients usually go well together. The dish we had was served as a pretty pincho but had nothing particularly exciting. It reminded us more of Britain than of Spain.

Deep-fried calamari and artichoke salad

Mackerel pincho with pepper

Crispy sea bream on roasted vegetables

This tapas selection was excellent and made of fresh ingredients. The mackerel was particularly tender and perfectly seasoned. After this sample we wanted more! Unfortunately there was no more, but we have now a serious reason to go back to Fogón and have the tapas menu. These little dishes should really be served by dozens.

Arroz a banda sin banda
(rice cooked in fish stock)

with saffron and calamari

Delicious, gorgeous, fragrant, firm, tender, to die-for rice. I have never had such a good rice before, even though I have eaten tons of rice in my life. I could kill for the recipe of the fish stock used to cook this one but as I doubt I would have large enough a pan to prepare my paella in prison, I ordered Alberto Herráiz' s book: Le riz en paëlla : Dix façons de le préparer.

Before

After

Catalan cream with pineapple

This Spanish crème brulée was good, with a nice crispy caramel. It was still pretty classic I have to say.

Bloody Mary sorbet

This summer sorbet was the most original dish we had at Fogón. It was a tomato sorbet with vodka jelly cubes. It had all the tastes of a Bloody Mary, but in a sorbet . Fresh and innovative, but I am not sure this dessert would suit the taste of everyone.

I will receive Alberto Herráiz's cookbook tomorrow and I am dying to try my own paella. As I doubt the Master of Rice could be matched, I will have no other choice than to go to Fogón again and again until I have tried all their rices.

Cost: 44 EUR for the Rice Menu, 48 EUR for the Tapas Menu

Rice dish: 22EUR to 30 EUR

A sample of the menu:

Chef Alberto Herráiz at work

Parador de Granada, Granada, Spain

Like most people who tour Andalusia, we saved a day to go and see l'Alhambra in Granada. In order to get some strength before the visit of that magnificent Moorish palace, we indulged ourselves with some "nibbles" at the bar of the restaurant of Parador de Granada.
The latter, also name Hotel San Franciso is Spain's most popular parador as it is a luxury boutique hotel built in a fifteenth century convent, inside the Alhambra.

The restaurant menu looked nice but we wanted to enjoy the fair weather al fresco, and picked some very decent dishes from the bar menu. Their gazpacho was actually one of the best I have ever had (I hope it is not a bottled gazpacho, otherwise my reputation is ruined) and I liked it much better than the Salmojero from Cordoba.

The octopus was well cooked and came with some tasty vermicelli pasta. The pork loin was all we love about Spanish fast food, a good old “plato combinado” with fried eggs and delicious peppers. Great!

Overall it was a good experience. Service was fast, the terrace was relaxing with a nice view of the valley and the food was substantially above average for a quick lunch break. Go there if you pass by. Or even better, stay at the hotel…

Andalusian gazpacho

Grilled pork loin roll with fried eggs and peppers

Paul the octopus with angel hair pasta

Cost: 10-20 EUR per dish (from the Bar menu)

A sample of the menu:

Vineria San Telmo, Seville, Spain

Located in the Santa Cruz barrio, Vineria San Telmo offers fresh and delectable tapas at a very decent price.

It was after savouring an extensive selection of tapas at the terrace of this crowded eatery that I decided to support Spain for the World Cup. Not that I care much about football, but the country which produces the mouth-melting bellota ham definitely deserves my full devotion.

As its name suggests, Vineria San Telmo also offers a large selection of wine, but having spent the day under the burning sun of Andalusia, we went for sangria instead to cool down.

The menu was enticing and we wanted to try everything. Despite the temperature at 45°C we were ready to have a proper feast and the waitress had to calm down our enthusiasm as we started to order frenetically one dish after the other. Apparently 10 tapas would be enough for two. Indeed, it was.

Marinated raw salmon with olive and caper tapenade

Raw gambas carpaccio with sesame seeds and soy sauce

 Jamon ibérico de bellota

 Sauté mushrooms with deep-dried onions

Tomato, eggplant and goat cheese "rascacielos" 

(=skyscrapers, why on earth this name?)

Tuna a la plancha with onion tempura and garlic sauce

Argentinian veal with mustard sauce

 Foie gras a la plancha with lichi

 Spanish beef filet with dried grapes and pine nuts sauce

Chorizo criollo

Our favourite tapas were the raw salmon, the raw prawns carpaccio (so fresh), the bellota ham (yummy), the "skycrapers" (!) , the veal and the beef. Personally, I also enjoyed the foie gras very much but the texture may not suit everybody's taste.

The weaknesses were the mushrooms (not savoury enough, which is quite surprising as Spanish cuisine tends to use a lot of salt) and the tuna (I like my tuna steaks pink and those were slightly overcooked).

We were so full after our ninth dish that we hardly tried the chorizo criollo. At that point I would have gladly swapped it for a lime sorbet. Had it been served at the beginning of the meal, we would have certainly appreciated it.

We paid 60 EUR for ten tapas and two jugs of sangria. It is probably possible to find cheaper tapas in Seville, but given the freshness of the ingredients you will find at Vineria San Telmo, it is worth paying the extra.

Cost:  3-5 EUR  per tapa, 5 EUR for a jug of sangria.

A sample of the menu: