Date of Visit: Thursday, June 2, 2016
A big part of what draws me to A Coruña, and Galicia in general, is the ocean. Despite the sometimes lack of sunshine and the many cloudy, rainy days that Galicia has (and it has quite a few), the ocean is ever-present, ever-changing, and ever-beautiful.
The old part of the city of A Coruña is a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean, nearly surrounded by water. In the image on the left you can see outlined in red the Paseo Marítino, Europe’s longest seafront promenade at 13 kilometers in length. In another blog post I will talk more about the wonderful experience earlier in this trip where we arrived in A Coruña by boat, onboard a cruise ship, where we enjoyed views of the city from a truly unique vantage point. Whether by boat or by land, the views of the sea from nearly any point in A Coruña are just gorgeous.
Once again, I received a recommendation on Instagram from a local foodie in Coruña. He had strongly recommended Michelin starred Restaurante Alborada during our trip to Galicia last October, but we weren’t able to get there. This time, his exact words were “Alborada tenéis que ir sí o sí!!” (“You guys have to go to Alborada, no matter what!!”). Well, ok, if you insist!
The front of Restaurante Alborada (left), signage at the front door “Alborada – Espiritu de Galicia” (Alborada – Spirit of Galicia) (top right), and the view of the sea from our table (bottom right).
Our lunch reservation was for 1:30, right when the restaurant opened. Mr. Vacation and I were greeted warmly as we entered and were seated at a table for two in the middle of the dining room right next to the windows with a view of the sea right out front.
As we sat down, a small wooden stand was brought over as a place to rest my purse. How elegant! At the same time, traditional Galician cuncas (wine bowls), were brought to the table not with wine, but apple juice with herbs from the campo (countryside). What an enjoyable, unique palate cleanser before the meal. It refreshed and set the stage for the meal which clearly had its roots in traditional Galician cuisine, but with some unexpected modern and inventive presentations. Next, Chef Iván Dominguez came over to the table to say hello and tell us about the dining experience at Alborada. No menus were given, but he explained that there would be five savory courses and one sweet course with an optional wine pairing. Since neither of us were driving that day, the answer to the wine pairing question was “yes”. Chef Iván spoke to us in Spanish, but several other staff members spoke English.
The wine pairings would start with the first course so we ordered a couple of glasses of the local Estrella Galicia beer to go with the amuses, me with the Estrella Galicia 1906 Red Vintage and Mr. Vacation with the original Estrella Galicia 1906 Reserva Especial (named for the original recipe used during the year the brewery was established in A Coruña). The table was set with Sargadelos plates and then the appetizers arrived.
Wow. These starters really deserve their own close-up, each one truly a work of art. The kitchen could have sent these out separately and called it a “10 course tasting menu”, they were all that good. Starting at the top left and going clockwise:
- Meat empanada – The empanada (Galician pie) is emblematic of Galicia. Nearly every restaurant we have visited, from the most humble mom and pop place up to and including those with a Michelin star, serves empanada. Not a “version of” or their “take on” an empanada, but real homemade, traditional, classic, empanadas with whatever savory meat or seafood filling they fancy, and always with that fantastic crust. Here, the empanadas came out first and were perfect paired with the Estrella Galicia beer. The rest of the appetizers followed in short order.
- Cured caballa (mackerel) over crunchy potato w/ tomato aioli – Velvety cured mackerel, smooth aioli, and flavorful fresh herbs all married together perfectly with the delicate crunchy potato.
- Star cracker – Made of chickpea flour and various seeds, these starfish shaped crackers were served standing up in a box of dried chickpeas. They were crafted to accompany the next item …
- Squid ink pâté – Rich and intensely flavored, this squid ink pâté tasted perfectly of the sea.
- Merluza (hake fish) crudo over salsa verde croquetas – More velvety fish, this time draped over a pair of perfectly executed croquetas. What I wouldn’t give to have an entire plate of these to myself!*
The bread service. While all of the bread in Galicia is excellent, the bread here at Alborada is really something special. Firstly, it arrived just before the first of the main courses fresh and piping hot out of the oven. Then our server explained that it was made with masa madre (mother dough, a term for sourdough or natural yeast dough) and sea water. See the end of the post for more information on this, but the restaurant works with a local company that goes out in a fishing boat retrofitted to collect and treat the sea water from the ocean in Coruña that is actually used in making the bread here, and it tastes wonderful.
Who doesn’t love a tableside preparation? Especially when smoke is involved. Above, pimiento de Arnoia (Arnoia peppers – they have their own festival every August in the southern part of Galicia) were grilled and smoked with rosemary on this box that was brought to the table. The Arnoia pepper was then served on fermented cream of the O Cuoto pepper (like a Padrón pepper, but not spicy). Wine pairing: Godello.
Late spring and early summer vegetables beautifully filled this bowl: fava beans, asparagus (green slivered and white) purple & white pearl onions, snap peas, button mushroom, cauliflower, baby carrot, and sun dried tomato with ham broth poured over top. So fresh, so delicious. Wine pairing: TeiraX, a small production estate winery in the Ribeiro wine region, made from old vine Treixadura grapes.
Berberechos (cockles) with mushrooms and peas. Here again, the super fresh vegetables nearly stole the show, but the berberechos held their own in this flavorful dish. This is where you are glad for that wonderful bread to sop up (sopetear in Spanish) that delicious sauce. Wine pairing: 2007 Albariño in oak.
Chef Iván spent a lot of time mingling with guests and cooking tableside in the dining room. Here, he is uncovering and playing the cabracho (scorpion fish) that has been steamed in salt covered with seaweed.
Cabracho (scorpion fish) from the photo above, plated. Served with a pil pil sauce (an emulsion made from olive oil, garlic and fish, in this case the heads of merluza (hake) fish) and spinach. The fish was so gently cooked and tender, a real treat both texturally and in flavor. Wine pairing: Jermann Pinot Grigio from Venice, Italy.
Chincho de ternera. I may have this name wrong, so let me describe it. Beef leg meat roasted then served pressed into a round shape (surely there’s a term for this, it is just escaping me at the moment), with a rich beefy sauce over top. Dollop of horseradish on the side. The real surprise here was this braised green wheat. It was an unexpected surprise, albeit a tasty one, having wheat prepared as a green vegetable. Wine pairing: Yet another wonderful surprise, this course was served with a Jerez sherry by Apostoles, which is a minimum of 30 years old. I’ve only ever had sherry like this in a dessert context, but it went so beautifully with this rich beef. The bites and sips got smaller and smaller as I wanted to make this pairing last for as long as possible.
When asked if you want to add another course, always say YES. This is just a good general rule to follow. Other tables were being served some different, and equally interesting dishes, so was ready for whatever surprise would come from the kitchen. This bonus course ended up being an empanada filled with rich stewed rabbit and roasted eggplant on the side. Wine pairing: Caliza Syrah, Petit Verdot from Marqués de Griñón.
Dessert was spectacular and could not have been more perfect especially on this bright summer day. Fresh fruit with strawberry gelato, toasted merengue, edible flowers with tiny bit of granola for a little crunchiness on bottom of the plate, with a lovely ‘soup’ of strawberry & manzanilla (chamomile) poured over top from a small Sargadelos pitcher. This dish was a feast for the eyes as much as the palate.
Several times during the meal Mr. Vacation commented about the level of artistry with which these dishes were composed. With the sea right out front and the bounty of the Galician products, the artists Chef Iván and the whole Alborada team, have much to draw from in creating such a wonderful experience for their guests.
Chef Iván Dominquez is also part of GrupoNove. As mentioned in earlier posts about YayoDaporta Restaurante, A Estación, and Casa Solla, Grupo Nove published a book in 2015, featuring all of the various chefs in the group. Each chef is profiled in the context of the landscapes, products, and producers that are meaningful to them, personally. In the book, Chef Iván is pictured with his sons on the ocean [the landscape] aboard a Galician fishing boat that has been refitted by a local company [the producer] to collect and treat the sea water [the product] with an ozone and cold filtration method so that it may be used for cooking, particularly in making the bread served at Alborada.
*Remember the croquetas above? The ones with the hake fish on top? Oh, here’s another photo to remind you. Well, in early August 2016 the same group that operates Alborada opened a new open kitchen casual concept in Coruña called Arallo Taberna, right in the heart of Plaza María Pita. One of the first dishes to catch my eye on their social media accounts? Yes, those same croquetas! I’m lucky enough to be going back to Coruña shortly and will be sure to make a full blog post after I visit Arallo Taberna for myself!
Restaurante Alborada
Paseo Marítimo Alcalde Francisco Vázquez, 25, A Coruña, Spain
+34 981 92 92 01
Website: www.restaurante-alborada.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/RestauranteAlboradaGalicia
Instagram: www.instagram.com/AlboradaGalicia
Twitter: www.twitter.com/AlboradaGalicia
Arallo Taberna
Plaza de María Pita, 3, A Coruña, Spain
Email: hola@arallotaberna.com
Website: www.arallotaberna.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/arallotaberna
Instagram: www.instagram.com/arallotaberna
Called simply la patata (the potato) on the menu, these fried potato batons were topped with “ketchup”, a tiny fried onion ring, and edible garlic flowers. Pretty and satisfying.
El pescado del día, esparrago blanco amargo y salsa rojo picante (Fish of the day, bitter white asparagus with spicy red sauce and macadamia nut). The fish of the day was a lovely local San Martiño (John Dory), from the ría (estuary) that I could see from my window seat.
Why is it that things prepared tableside seem to taste better? Perhaps even better yet when they are smoked tableside. Filloa-fajita de ‘raxo’ adobado y ahumado was takeoff of fajitas using the Galician filloa (crepe) as the tortilla dotted with sauces and edible flowers then topped with intensely flavored Galician style marinated pork that received a final bit of smoke tableside. This may have been my favorite plate of the day.
Three (yes, three) seasonal desserts. First (bottom) cleverly presented balls of pear “caviar” with lime zest served in this ‘imitation caviar’ tin, even served with a mother of pearl spoon for effect. The dish at the top right was simply called ‘mandarin’, an extremely light and fluffy mousse-like concoction with an lovely fresh orange flavor. The top right was my favorite, though. Lianzo de primavera (spring canvas) was a beautiful mélange of fresh spring fruits topped with ice cream quenelles and more edible flower petals served on an actual canvas. I loved the fresh, light ending to this beautiful meal.
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