Where to Eat: Our Favourite Costa Brava Restaurants | Butterfield & Robinson
The charms of the “rugged coast” (as the Costa Brava translates to) are many. For instance, winding your way through the best of the Empordà, Spain’s answer to Tuscany. Rugged volcanic landscapes, villages with pristinely preserved medieval architecture, the sublime Mediterranean coast of Girona province—it’s no wonder this land has been an inspiration for artists, and especially fertile for those working in the art of food.
Home to some of the world’s best chefs, the Costa Brava is a veritable constellation sprinkled with Michelin stars all around. With hundreds of years of agricultural and viticultural tradition in the region, it’s little wonder that when you come to eat in Catalonia, you will come to taste the many ways in which its traditional cuisine and ingredients are interpreted by these top chefs. Here are just a few of the excellent restaurants to consider on a night out.
Three Michelin Stars
Located in the medieval gem of Girona, you’ll find three of the Roca brothers taking care of business: head chef Joan, pastry chef Jordi, and sommelier Josep. With a trio of Michelin stars to match, here you’ll find a complex, cutting-edge (and necessarily creative) bent to the cuisine. It’s been ranked top in the world twice (on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list), and highly regarded for Jordi Roca’s desserts. Try a ‘classic’ menu of their greatest hits, or throw caution to the wind and discover something new from the kitchen.
One Michelin Star
Ambitious and young chef-sommelier duo, Albert Sastregener and Cristina Torrent, have made a mark with this one-Michelin-starred restaurant (awarded in 2009), housed in a former flour mill. The cuisine of the Emporda is represented here in the form of stews and traditional ingredients like cod, duck, and risotto; but with a creative and playful bent. There are over 400 wines on the list from Spain and other countries to complement the plates.
The long shadow of now-closed El Bulli (Ferran Adria’s temple of molecular gastronomy and experimentation) still casts a spell, as several of its ex-sous-chefs—Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch, and Mateu Casañas—have joined forces once more to make culinary magic in the coastal town of Cadaques. More relaxed and convivial, with the concept of shared dishes (compartir means “to share” in Spanish), expect modern and creative flavours in an unpretentious setting (an 18th c.home). The restaurant occupies the first floor, and an art gallery and rented apartments are on the other floors.