New foods and an old acquaintance

Our guide Rachel arranged two more delightful meals on second day of touring.  Our lunch was at the newly established restaurant, Brots.  Located in the village of Poboleda in the Priorat and owned by a passionate chef,  Pieter Truyts.  Pieter is from Belgium and has long experience working in Michelin star restaurants in Cambrils and Belgium. Our chef is also the husband of a local winemaker. The several course tasting menu, paired with local wines was a feast for the eyes and the stomach, all prepared from local fresh ingredients.  I ate things I never thought would cross my lips. I am not much of a food explorer, but in this case I am glad I was.  I tried to keep notes on the ingredients of the various plates, but as the chef was creating an off-menu selection, just for us, I could not keep up with it. Maybe the wine influenced my note-taking ability. :-)

Some of the delectables included Salad of Iberian pork cheeks and smoked sardines, Codfish belly risotto and tuna cheek, Pulpo (octopus), Mackeral over local mushrooms.  

The decor was hip, whimsical and modern.  

Our visit to Priorat in 2010

By shear coincidence, this restaurant was located right down the street from a little wine shop that Mike and I had visited on our last trip to Spain and the Priorat.  I took memorable picture of the large wine cask inside the shop.

Same wine shop, same man working there in 2014

Our final meal in Priorat was at Les Figueres. The restaurant opened just for our private dinner.  After our incredible (and long) lunch, this meal was an enjoyable, low-key way to end our time in Priorat.  Once again, the focus was on fresh locally sourced ingredients paired with a selection of very local Gratallops wine.

We arrived back at inn, said our goodbyes to Rachel and our tour partners and enjoyed our last peaceful night at Cal Compte.