Sweet Genius

On Tuesday night, Eddie took me to dinner to celebrate my 34^th birthday.  I don’t feel nearly as old as that number makes me feel.  But, it’s just a number anyway, right?  In any case, for our meal I chose El Club Allard, a two Michelin star restaurant near Madrid’s Plaza de Espana.  This marks the third country in which Eddie and I have enjoyed a Michelin-starred meal.  Two years ago, we celebrated my birthday at Jules Verne, halfway up the Eiffel Tower in Paris.  Last year, we marked the occasion at COI in San Francisco.

On this particular evening, our taxi dropped us in front of a 19^th century building with no markings whatsoever.  It looked like the picture on the website, so we went inside.  To our right, a small door—with no signage—marked the restaurant’s entrance.  We were seated in a small, quiet room with a few other diners.  One woman was already taking pictures.  This bodes well, no?

On the table, before each of us was a small card that read “Bienvenidos a la Revolución Silenciosa…” (“Welcome to the silent revolution”).  A waiter came to take our drink order, and placed a small dish of “salsa” in front of us.

He explained that we were to take the small cards and use them like a chip, to eat the dip with.  Yes, the card was edible—think Chinese rice candy wrapping, but hard—and the salsa was a foam consisting of chile and cilantro.  Delicioso and so unique!

To begin our meal, Diego Guerrero, the chef, came out to take our order.  He spoke to us in Spanish and Eddie wanted to practice, so he played along.  Then Diego got to a question Eddie didn’t understand.  “I think he wants to know if we have any allergies,” I said—not that I understood, mind you, I just guessed based on context.

We ordered the Classico menu and here’s how it went…

Game truffeé with Foie and mushrooms
Superb!  An earthy creaminess balanced with an ever-so-slightly sweet crunchiness…

Mini Babybelle of Camembert truffeé
A tart and odiferous cheese, made palatable by its salty cracker counterpoint.

 Sukiyaky
Umami at the height of its inexplicableness!

 Scallop’s small pasty with black garlic
The garlic hammered my tastebuds at first, but mellowed with each subsequent bite;
however, it gave way to a slightly overpowering fishiness.
Not a winner in my book (nor Eddie’s).

 Raviolis de Alubias de Tolosa en infusion de berza
The larger ravioli came across as a dignified version of refried beans, but it was really
the smaller pockets of chorizo oil, which popped in my mouth like caviar,
that made this dish sing.

 Eggs with bread and panceta served over a light potato cream sauce
When cracked down the middle, the bread “bled” its yolk.  Imagine sunny-side-up eggs, with bacon and toast, all in one bite.

 Black Halibut with black garlic “ajoblanco,”
a broth of their own spines and cinnamon, lemon Pu-ehr
Divine—from the crispy skin, to the flavorful sauce,
to the crunchy seaweed topping it all off!

 Taco “hare”
Perhaps if I weren’t from the land where they sell these on the street, this may have been more impressive.  But, as it was, the mole rabbit was like that I would get at Casa Lupe (hey, Monica!)…tasty, but nothing too fancy.

 Sacher pot with ginger
A foamy cream, topped with soft, crumbled ginger.
Eddie was wanting for more texture, but I think the topping wasn’t crunchy so that we could enjoy the lushness of the foam underneath.

 The fishbowl
SWEET GENIUS!  How do you even explain this one?  A white chocolate mousse/foam, topped with two, salty gastronomic versions of coral, garnished with a milk chocolate mussel shell and Blue Curacao foam.  First sweet, then salty, all fading into the melt-in-your-mouth heavenliness of a perfect dessert!

 “Poché egg”
A chocolate eggshell, enveloping a panne cotta filled with mango puree, atop shredded, toasted mango and coconut.  Again, unimaginable creativity!

 Chocolate…“croqueta”
Served in a mini deep-fryer sieve, these soft chocolates went down so easy
because of their creamy sweetness.

It is hard not to compare this meal to those at the other highly rated restaurants we’ve been to.  In fact, COI stands as the pinnacle of our dining adventures—each serving was spot-on in terms of flavor.  But this was not the case at El Club Allard. Not every course was a hit in terms of taste.  However, this meal surpassed any I have ever had in terms of unique creativeness.  If this were “Chopped” or "Sweet Genius," Diego would win for his sheer ability to transform the ingredients into something new each and every time.