International Chef’s Day: Savouring the Small

The review was right on: "Highly recommended for curious palates and lovers of natural wines.”
The review was right on: "Highly recommended for curious palates and lovers of natural wines.”

A small dot on a small map created by our small hotel. That’s how we discovered Chef Davide Carreri at Zaza, the best restaurant among the many good places we ate at this spring while in Menorca and Barcelona.

You will not find Davide’s name among the various lists of “top” chefs in the world. And that’s okay with us; chefs not wearing white top hats can often nurture us in surprising ways.

If life is a meal, Magellan and I are savouring the cheese before finishing with dessert. But for us, eating an eight-course dinner at a Michelin-starred restaurant at caviar costs that would easily feed a family of four in Canada for a week holds a much smaller interest than it did a decade ago.

Just this week we talked about returning to our favourite restaurant in the world for our next big wedding anniversary, Victor Arguinzoniz’s Etxebarri, (“My best meal ever as well,” says our friend Teresa, the best home chef I know.) Won’t happen. It’s a combo plate of economics (travel costs plus the restaurant’s price increase since we ate there eleven years ago) and demographics (too much food for we jubilados). Michelin has come to our city, too, heating up prices and resulting in more fixed-price, multi-course menus at the restaurants of some of our favourite chefs, like Vancouver’s Andrea Carlson.

Which leads us to more home cooking. “For me definitely Suzanne Goin is my home-cook ‘North Star,’” Teresa says—and I agree. A few other chefs who fit into this home-kitchen category for me include Alice Waters, Amanada Hessser, Marcella Hazan, Skye Gyngell, Andrea Carlson, Aglaia Kremezi and Kate Zuckerman.

Being aging jubilados also leads us to choosing restaurants like Zaza, the full name of the restaurant saying it all: Zaza Cuina I Vi Wines and Playfulness.

Zaza is in the barrio we stayed in, Poble Sec, described as, “Not much in the way of tourist attractions in this area but you will find that accommodation prices are lower and since the heart of the city centre is only a 10 minute ride by metro you have excellent transport to the rest of the city.” Hotel Brummell, small, only twenty rooms, describes itself this way: “an urban oasis created by friends in the Montjuïc mountain district of Barcelona. It’s local and charming, and home to what we consider to be some of Barcelona’s best restaurants, bars, and arts institutions.” Both statements are true.

Having seen Zaza’s name on a pistachio-coloured card produced by Hotel Brummell (the restaurant wasn’t on their large fold-out map), I googled it, liked what I saw and made a reservation. For the next day.

Zaza—which has only four tables—is run by a husband-and-wife team who grew up in Italy, Chef Davide Carreri and Carlotta Rossi. After his culinary training, Davide worked in luxury hotel restaurants in Tuscany, Lake Garda and Lake Como, including Berton al Lago which got its first Michelin star in 2017. The couple opened Zaza in May 2020.

Carlotta manages their renowned selection of natural wines, mostly from small Italian wineries. All night, locals congregated at the window that opens onto the street, stopping by for a glass or two of wine with friends. Carlotta, seven-months pregnant, was there for only a few minutes. “I’m Filipa,” said our waiter, “I’m a friend of Carlotta’s, filling in for her tonight. But don’t worry. I’ve done this before.”

The ever-changing menu is small, mostly organic and based on what Davide buys at the Mercat de la Concepció where he shops daily. “An approach to bistronomy from an intimate perspective,” a review read. Bistronomy?

Bistronomy, a new word for us, is a culinary style elevating the simple and seasonal ingredients in traditional bistro dishes with gastronomic culinary techniques. It was started by chef Yves Camdeborde, who appreciated fine cuisine but not the precious atmosphere and prices of the restaurants it was served in. He opened his own restaurant, combining high-level food with lower prices in a casual and friendly atmosphere. The neologism was coined by the journalist and food critic Sebastien Demorand in 2004, adding it to the culinary lexicon along with words like these that we also didn’t know until writing this post:

Jus lie (n.) - meat juice that has been lightly thickened with either arrowroot or cornstarch

Kissing Crust (n.) - the portion of an upper crust of a loaf of bread which has touched another loaf when baking

Quadriller (v.) - to make criss-cross lines on the surface of food, as part of food presentation

Remouillage (n.) - a stock made from bones that have already been used once to make a stock, making it weaker

Vandyke (v.) - to cut a zig-zag pattern around the circumference of a lemon to create decorative garnishes for food presentation

With Filipa’s guidance, we chose “daring little bites” from five snacks, seven mains and two desserts.

“You must add the beef tongue,” he insisted when we told him what we were thinking of ordering. My grimace was met with gentle persuasion. “It’s one of the best things on the menu. No one I have ever recommended it to has been disappointed—they love it.”  (He was so right.)

The mortadella tortellini Mr. Sugar Cooks, immersed in a foam of Parmigiano Reggiano, was…enrapturing, if that’s a word. My Oliveresque plea, “Please sir, I want some more,” was overruled by the wiser of the two of us. We’d already had the oysters with gin and a sorbet of pickled onions. And the radicchio tacos with anchovies, caramelized lemon zest and a balsamic vinegar gel—what a provocative taste delight. And the asparagus, with a sweetness from the addition of hazelnuts and coffee.

Chocolate “salami” made from a cocoa and coconut base and served with mascarpone ice cream was the night’s dessert. Filipa poured us small glasses of wines to complement each course, reasonably priced, too. And insisted he treat us to a generous glass of grappa to end the night, thanking us for getting our order in before he pushed together the other three tables to accommodate the six young women with an 8 pm reservation.

“Would you like to meet Davide?” he asked.

“In a year I’d like to be in a bigger space,” Davide told us, his galley kitchen similar in size to the one in our first apartment. We wonder how they are managing now with a baby…

What does it take to be a great chef? Creativity. Passion. Imagination. Knowledge. Determination. An entrepreneurial spirt. Organization. Stamina. Time management. Time…

For her food for thought on International Chefs Day, I asked Barbara-Jo Macintosh, a trained chef who had her own restaurant, wrote a cookbook (Tin Fish Gourmet), opened a cookbook store (where Teresa, Ed, Susan and Anna and I met and formed our own book club 14 years ago) to which she brought in chefs from around the world, wrote another book, sold  Books to Cooks and moved to France, where she bought and renovated a place that she runs as a small guesthouse.

I encourage the chef who has educated themself in both cooking, especially from scratch, and hospitality, to continue their quest to feed and serve the souls that respect the nourishment they offer. Whether it be in a hotel that serves all the days’ meals, a cocktail bar that accompanies their beverages with bites of deliciousness, a diner for the bon labourers, a restaurant with a brigade of cooks yearning to catch a star. All establishments that create and prepare a menu using fresh ingredients and serve with hospitality in their hearts should be applauded for their desire to be independent. The world that eats well lives well, and when we treat ourselves to a menu prepared by trained souls, we can elevate our desire to be curious about food… 

Think carefully, eat slowly, appreciate the restaurant that nourishes you. 

Temporarily closed for a good reason—best wishes to Chef Davide, Carlotta and their new baby

Navigation

Bissegger, Thomas. “What is Bistronomy.” EHL Insights.

Andrea Carlson Chef and co-owner of Burdock & Co, our favourite special restaurant in Vancouver. The last time we were there the waitress, who served us Elizabeth, said that on her first stage at Burdock, her first guests were a couple who had travelled to Vancouver (from Copenhagen) expressly to eat at Burdock! Andrea’s cookbook is a treat to use as well.

Suzanne Goin Many recipes in my copy of The a.o.c. Cookbook are marked “9/10.”

Skye Gyngell A Year in My Kitchen: no season goes by without cooking something from this cookbook.

Marcella Hazan This link takes you to a New Yorker article who explains, “There was only one way for Hazan to survive in this country: learn to cook. She turned to “Il talismano della felicità” (“The Talisman of Happiness”), a book by the Italian food writer Ada Boni, whose words ferried her back to the home she missed. Pages from my copy of Marcella’s Italian Kitchen are in the last course of their life…

Amanda Hesser As I’ve written before, she is today’s Julia Child with her The Essential New York Times Cookbook, and the link on her name will lead you to some of them.

Hotel Brummell Only 20 rooms, great service, reasonably large rooms, excellent breakfasts…

International Chefs Day Every year on October 20 since 2004.

La Maison des Mots Barbara-Jo Macintosh’s guesthouse in France—have a look at her stunning website.

Aglaia Kremezi Start with her killer recipe for tzatziki; you’ll be hooked. No tomato season goes by without us making her easy peasant recipe for salmorejo.

“The Giant List of 101 Culinary Terms Every Chef Knows.”

Michael Ruhlman’s Newsletter Lynn got me hooked on this joyous romp through he and Ann’s lives. How do they eat so much, drink so much, read so much, travel so much, watch so much, write so much?

Sigal, Jane. Bistronomy: Recipes from the Best New Paris Bistros. France: Rizzoli, 2015.

Mr. Sugar-cooks Facebook page Davide’s tortellini is named for this.

Alice Waters Wondering what to do with cauliflower? Figs? Alice Waters has two books you need; Fruit, and Vegetables. I consult both weekly.

The World’s 50 Best Restaurants

Zaza Instagram

Zaza Facebook page

Kate Zuckerman The Sweet Life, that it is with this book of Kate’s, her recipe for Pumpkin Souffles from this book were served last weekend for Thanksgiving.

4 Responses

  1. I’m salivating!! “chocolate salami”! Got to try that.
    Next time we’re in Vancouver Rosy and I would love to take you to Burdock & Co. I bet it’s a jewel.

  2. As always, your article leaves me wanting to run out catch a plane and go and try what you’ve talked about. 😁

    1. And the prices–amazing for Barcelona for that quality. A home takeaway: buy small radicchioes and fill individual leaves with a mix of tuna, mayo, cream cheese, cold mashed potatoes, olives, green onions, green and red pepper, boiled eggs and a bit of pimento (a riff on a salad we had in Menorca)—yummy as appies, for lunch, for a cold dinner in the summertime…

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