Miga – A Coruña, Galicia

Date of visit: Tuesday, September 21, 2016

Chef and owner Adrián Felipez opened Restaurante Miga on Praza de España, right in the middle of A Coruña, in April of 2016. By the time I visited in September, Miga had earned a reputation as a foodie destination in A Coruña serving innovative farm to table fare in comfortable yet elegant surroundings. Miga sources its produce from within a 35 kilometer radius (approximately), and even has an arrangement with a local farmer in the village of Baldaio to purchase all the eggs produced by a Galician breed of hen, that are only fed a diet of turnip greens and red millet, for use in the restaurant. Another unique aspect is that Miga is the only restaurant in Coruña, and Galicia for that matter, with a kamado, an egg shaped ceramic Japanese wood or charcoal burning oven (Miga uses wood) that imparts a light smoky flavor to the items cooked within.

Everything on the menu (pictured below) sounded wonderful. I opted for the tasting menu option called the “Paseo por Miga” (Stroll around Miga), 5 salado (savory) and 2 dulce (sweet) dishes. Add in a wine pairing option, and a lovely afternoon was set into motion.

A nice glass of cava (Llopart Integral, a Spanish sparkling brut nature wine from the Penedès wine region near Barcelona), along with a basket of bread featuring well-known delicious Galician breads pan de Carballo and pan de Carral (the darker of the 2) arrived at the table first. Bonito (tuna) was in season at the time of my visit so it was featured in several courses beginning with the first course, an ahilda de bonito curado en agua de mar (skewer of tuna cured in sea water) with pipara basque (spicy basque peppers). The fish was lovely and the peppers a surprise in their level of spiciness!

Miga has several seating options to accommodate a variety of dining experiences. Two adjoining dining rooms in the back of the restaurant with a few larger tables for more intimate dining (or for a group), outdoor patio seating on the Plaza de España for those wanting to enjoy a casual experience with the ambiance of the city, and the front of the restaurant where casual two and four person high tops enjoy an excellent view of the kitchen. I opted for the view of the kitchen and enjoyed watching Chef Felipez and his staff at work creating these beautiful dishes.

Chef Adirán Felipez carefully crafting in Miga’s open kitchen.

The second course was another take on bonito (tuna) this time asado (roasted – in the kamado oven) with ponzu sauce, tomato, chives, cilantro, green onion, and dried corn. I nearly considered cancelling the next 3 courses to just repeat this one, it was so beautifully flavored.

Roasted bonito looked and tasted amazing!

Chef Felipez working with the kamado, a Japanese wood burning oven that imparts a subtle smoky flavor to whatever is cooked within.

The third course of pimiento rojo a la brasa (roasted red peppers) with caviar, potato chips, and local Baldaio chicken egg yolk, also came out of the kamado. This was an interesting dish where the subtly smoky red pepper was cut into thin strips and played like pasta with the yolk making a creamy sauce when twirled all together with the caviar. The waiter advised me to get ready to “mojar mucho pan” (dip a lot of bread) into this dish to sop up all of the goodness. This lovely Madai Godello Sobre Lías from Bierzo paired very nicely with this course and the next.

This beautiful merluza de pincho (line caught hake fish) over a pil pil suave (garlic mayonnaise) with judias tiernas (green beans) was another favorite of the day. The fish was perfectly prepared and so delicious with the green beans fresh from Chef Felipez’ garden.

The final savory course was also from the kamado. Award winning Viña Peón by Adega O Canceliño, a Mencia Garnacha from the Ribeira Sacra wine region, was a beautiful red wine to accompany the pork ribs. I feel very fortunate to have sampled this wine again when I visited Eclectic Restaurant a few days later.

Costillas de cerdo confitadas y a la brasa (Grilled confit pork ribs – above right) were so perfectly cooked they slid right off the bone. Topped with an extremely tasty combination of pisto de cebolla y tomate (onion and tomato ratatouille), smoked toasted cornbread crumbs, and fresh herbs (cilantro, mint, basil, chives and scallions), this dish was delightfully fresh and full of flavor.

One more wine to accompany dessert? Sure, why not! Sitta Dulce Nana is a sweet 100% Albariño wine from Attis Bodega in the Rias Baixas wine region.

The first dessert of piña a la brasa (grilled pineapple, also from the kamado) with helado de coco (coconut ice cream) was an absolute revelation. The combination of the acidic pineapple, smoky from the kamado, smooth ice cream studded with chunks of chewy coconut, accented by a fresh hit of yerbabuena (spearmint) chiffonade was just perfect together.

The second dessert was the accurately named tarta fea de zanahoria (ugly carrot cake) with helado de yogurth (with yogurt ice cream). It’s not very pretty, but this deconstructed take on carrot cake was deeply satisfying with sweet creamy carrots and crunchy cookie crumble, and a little bit surprising too with tangy bits of candied ginger.

The word miga refers to the crumb of the bread. When something has mucha miga it means that there is a lot below the surface. There is a nice double meaning here with the restaurant’s name, as there certainly is a lot going on at Miga: the sourcing of excellent local ingredients, careful preparation of said ingredients, a unique Japanese oven, and friendly, welcoming service. 
Miga
Praza de España 7, A Coruña, Galicia (map)
+34 881 92 48 82

Website: www.migacoruna.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/migacoruna
Instagram: www.instagram.com/migacoruna

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Bido Restaurante – A Coruña, Galicia

Date of visit: Friday, September 23, 2016

 

La Casa Barrié – photo taken from the English Route of the Camino de Santiago that passes directly in front. Home to Bido Restaurante.

The city of A Coruña is known for having beautiful architecture and some absolutely gorgeous stately historical buildings. One of the grande dames of the Corunese cityscape is La Casa Barrié (Barrié House), built in 1916. Unique in both size and design, it occupies a large city block near the Plaza de Vigo and is built in an “eclectic” style, which is to say a mixture of different architectural styles (Classic, Baroque, and Modernist). It is within this building that Bido Restaurante is located, right on the English Route of the Camino de Santiago on one of the main thoroughfares that leads into the old part of the city.

Beginning in August of this year, social media in A Coruña started buzzing about a new restaurant set to open in late September by Chef Juan Crujeiras, founder and co-proprietor of Michelin-starred A Estación Restaurante in Cambre, Galicia. Since I was fortunate enough to have visited A Estación twice last year and enjoyed both visits immensely, I was really hoping to be able to dine at Bido during my September trip to Galicia. Alas, it wasn’t to be … the restaurant’s opening was three days after I was scheduled to leave A Coruña. When Chef Crujeiras ever so kindly invited me over to Bido for a sneak peek of the restaurant a few days before the actual opening, I was absolutely delighted to accept!

The name Bido comes from bidueiro, the Galician word for “birch”, as in the tree. The restaurant’s unique logo incorporates a graphic interpretation of a birch leaf (note the blocks that form straight line of the letter “B”, top of the letter “I” and the corners of the “D” in BIDO, below), and also makes reference to the intricate patterns often seen in the old fashioned hydraulic (cement) tile floors of which Chef Crujeiras is quite fond.

When I arrived early on a Friday afternoon the team at Bido was buzzing about working to finalize all of the last minute details since the restaurant was actually opening in just a few more days. Table settings weren’t yet laid down, but there was already an inviting comfort to the refined airy space. Personalized with birch branches, leather chairs, and natural golden tones, the architecturally impressive interior brings a sense of nature and the outdoors into this city restaurant. While the setting at Bido is a bit more elegant than at her sister restaurant in Cambre, the atmosphere is less formal. There are no tablecloths, for example, and one can sit at the comfortable bar to enjoy a beverage and a bite to eat.

Sipping on a glass of wine at one of the comfortable high tops near the window with a lovely view out onto Calle Marcial de Adalid. Note the birch leaf motif from the logo repeats in the awning.

Bido Restaurante serves contemporary Galician cuisine in quite the same style as the dishes that are served at A Estación. A unique feature of Bido’s menu is that the main courses are all served as media raciónes (half portions), so that guests may try multiple items. As a matter of fact, several of the dishes listed in Bido’s menu are quite similar to dishes we enjoyed at A Estación and, from all accounts, they are executed with the same high level of quality.

The current version of the menu (menu photos courtesy of Chef Crujeiras):

Para Empezar, Picar O Compartir (To start, Nibble, or Share)
Entrantes (Starters)
Principales (Main Dishes)
Y de postre qué hay? (What’s for dessert?)

 

 

Well, I did get to try something of the food during the visit to Bido – a seafood croqueta! It was delicious!

Bido takes full advantage of the beautiful well-stocked bar that dominates the front of the restaurant with a specialty cocktail program that covers a great many of the classics. In addition to the cocktails and spirits, they offer a by-the-glass selection of unique and interesting higher end wines. Normally wines of this level are only available by the bottle, particularly in A Coruña, so this is a unique feature allowing guests to sample wines that might not otherwise be found by the glass.

Below, Chef Crujeiras poses with one of the bottles being sampled on the afternoon of my visit and with yours truly (MyLifeOnVacation) for an Instagram post.

In a recent interview on the local Galician culinary radio program Come e Fala, Chef Crujeiras expressed his excitement about this new project and commented that Bido’s opening has exceeded his expectations. With a passionate and devoted team on board (including Manual Otero, the charming maître d’ – head waiter, from A Estación who was featured in this interesting article earlier this year), this new outpost has been established in fine form. While A Estación remains as highly regarded as ever, the arrival of Bido is an absolute boon to A Coruña’s dining scene.

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Bido Restaurante
Marcial  de Adalid 2, A Coruña, Spain (map)
+34 881 92 28 47

Website: www.bidorestaurante.es
Facebook: www.facebook.com/bido-restaurante
Bido Instagram: www.instagram.com/bidorestaurante
Chef Crujeiras Instagram:  www.instagram.com/crujeiras

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Come e Fala Radio Program – September 9, 2016 episode featuring Chef Crujeiras

A Coruña’s Modernist Route (Ruta Modernista) – For more information on the beautiful historical modernist buildings in A Coruña , see the Coruña Turismo site – available here in English.

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