Ranked number one in the world in 2013 and 2015 and number two in 2011, 2012, 2014 and 2016, this is a top foodie destination for obvious reasons. We secured reservations to this three Michelin starred restaurant in early February for the end of June 2016; so we planned our trip to Barcelona and Girona around them. Expectations were high and the food was delicious but the overall experience was a bit reserved and distant. Let me explain: we were greeted warmly and seated in a very crisp, bright dining room. Interactions with the staff were brief and professional and while there was some fun banter/exchanges with the wine steward, there were several times that I felt very much a part of an assembly line. The table near us was invited to the kitchen while we were not. There was a chef’s party happening in the back and Joan was in the house but we felt like observers on the outside looking in. This did take a bit away from the overall experience. And I think it may have been that I was expecting so much and was a little let down. What didn’t let me down, however, was the food.
We did the festival menu with wine pairings for two reasons: 1. Josep is a renowned sommelier and knows what he is doing and 2. To select our own wine would have meant perusing lists found in three tomes conspicuously displayed on a wheeled cart! The seven starters were paired with a wonderful crisp and dry bubbly: Albet i Noya El Celler Brut Rva D.O. Classic Penedes.
The food was beautiful, delicious and creatively displayed; each course bringing a slight tinge of regret at destroying a masterpiece over the sheer want of taste. The courses began with The World. Our selections were from Thailand (Thai chicken, coriander, coconut, curry and lime), Japan (miso cream with nyinyonayaki), China (pickled vegetables with plum cream), Peru (“causa limena”), and Korea (panko fried bread, bacon with soya sauce, kimchi and sesame oil).
Each bite was delicious and made me want to visit the rest of the world in the eyes and taste buds of Joan Roca. The brothers are known for their travels and bringing these international bites to their Catalan-styled restaurant.
Next we reminisced back to the brothers’ beginnings when they started a bar next door to their parents’ restaurant. The course was called Memories of a bar in the suburbs of Girona and it included Campari bonbon, kidneys with Sherry, breaded squid, salt cod with spinach and pine nuts, and pigeon bonbon.
I think every meal from now on should have a Campari bonbon at the start. Simply delightful and cheekily fun.
It was then on to the Green olive’s ice cream. This well-known display on a bonsai is still such a joy to see. The clever presentation just doesn’t get old.
Next we had “starfish” — cleverly designed sea urchin on a crisp chip displayed on some netting spread on driftwood. So cute and delicious.
The “Coral” display held our Sea bream ceviche and yin-yang oyster:
I’m a sucker for a good ceviche and the black garlic sauce was superb with the briny oyster.
St. George mushrooms were in season and we were served two different versions in our starter courses: mushroom bonbon and a mushroom brioche.
The little bonbons had a liquid center. The truffle-topped brioche were my favorite of the two — melt in your mouth brioche with a delightful mushroom center.
With the starters completed, we were served La Perdida 2015 from Ourense, Galicia. This white comes from Northwest Spain’s wine region that has been producing since Roman times. The white blend was crisp yet earthy and paired with the St. George’s mushroom consomme with miso and egg yolk. 
The little gnocchi in the consomme were perfect with the miso and mushrooms.
We were next poured one of Germany’s top Rieslings: Donnhoff Dellchen 2011. It had a pear nose with a tart pear and floral palate. This paired beautifully with the white asparagus with elderflower, mullet roe, dried apricot, ginger and acacia honey hollandaise sauce.
A slightly effervescent Claret, 2015 El Cosmonauta D.O.C. from Rioja was paired with cherries marinated on a bed of cashew, smoked eel and “beurre noisette.” 
The cherries went surprisingly well with the smoked eel and the wine had a cherry forward nose and palate to pair and heighten that.
Penedes region’s Mas Comtal Petrea Blanc from 2005 with a fruity upfront taste with a buttery, honey and spicy finish went with the langoustine with coca bean sauce with a black mole and chocolate, mantis shrimp cream with coconut and boletus edulis. 
This sauce was simply divine.
From Southwestern Spain, the 2012 Equipo Navazos Florpower n 57 Vino Blanco was poured next. The wine had a tough challenge to stand up to baby squid with tempeh of “ganxet” beans. The dish had very strong flavors but the creamy sweetness in the mid palate of the wine helped to create a harmonious pairing.
A lemony melon Riesling from Mosel’s Heymann-Lowenstein Uhlen (2012) paired with the prawn marinated with rice vinegar, prawn’s head sauce, crispy prawn legs, seaweed veloute and phytoplankton. 
The fresh, creamy, citrusy Cosmic Confianca from 2015 paired excellently with the red skate confit with juice of charcoal-grilled pepper and rhubarb. 
One of my favorite dishes of the night. The skate literally flaked apart at the touch of the fork.
The Blackspot sea bream with “samfaina” (Catalan’s version of ratatouille), with Blackspot sea bream-bone juice was matched with a 2014 Carles Andreu Trepat from Conca de Barbera. Perfect choice to match a Catalan dish with this Catalan wine. 
A Tempranillo from Ribera de Duero: Finca el Peruco Goyo Garcia Viadero (2010), paired with another star of a dish: Iberian suckling pig with salad of green papaya, Thai grapefruit, apple, coriander, chili pepper, lime and cashew. 
A plumy, raspberry Cote-Rotie from Jean-Michel Stephan Coteaux de Bassenon (2013) was matched with the lamb with eggplant and chickpea puree, lamb’s trotters and spicy tomato. 
This dish had a nod to the Middle East and was delicious. It made us appreciate the Roca brothers’ travels and determination to bring different flavors to their region.
The final main dish was a veal oyster blade and marrow, with tendons and avocado that was paired with a rich and complex Rioja from 2004. The Vina Bosconia Reserva had heavy iron notes as well as berries and root vegetables that stood up nicely with the slow cooked veal.
This dish was not served with a knife because it did not need one. The veal was so tender and delicious.
A fun little interlude before dessert, we cleansed our palate with Jordi Roca’s new enterprise, a popsicle from his ice cream shop. 
This is a strawberry sorbet with rosewater. I’m glad I tried their hand popsicle when we went to the ice cream shop earlier in the day as I almost got this one there.
A Gewurztraminer from Rebholz Albersweiler Latt 2005 Auslese was poured to go with our first dessert: Turkish perfume (rose, peach, saffron, cumin, cinnamon and pistachio). 
This dessert was served with a cone of the same scents found in the dessert. The idea was to heighten the taste of the dish through intense smell.
Matias i Torres Malvasia 2012 from La Palma was paired with their famous orange colourology. This treasure of a dessert is a sugary ball that is resting on sweetened carrots. The ball easily breaks open to offer up edible flowers, and ice cream dots in mango, orange and egg yolk.
The final dessert was the Cuban cigar box: chocolate with milk, vanilla, dried plum, tobacco leaf and cocoa. This was paired with a 20-year-old Madeira from Henriques & Henriques Malvasia. 
This dessert was sublime. I didn’t really need the actual tobacco leaf but the rest of the dish was devoured.
As a special send off, we were inundated with treats from their candy cart. From top to bottom, left to right: Liquored cherries; sweet pickled apples; chocolate hazelnut; apricot gels; sugared raspberries; lime/melon gels; strawberry rhubarb macarons; little oreos; Ferrero Rocas. 
If you go, and I hope you someday get to try this lovely restaurant, you must get the Rocas’ take on Ferrero Rocher. These chocolate hazelnut bonbons have pop rocks in them. They explode in your mouth and are amazing.
So, there you have it, the food was amazing, the interactions with the sommelier were pleasant and friendly, the restaurant ran without a hitch and I just wish I had felt a tad bit more welcome.
El Celler de Can Roca, Carrer de Can Sunyer 46, 17007, Girona, Spain; Tel. (+34) 972 222 157; Reservations essential; Closed Sunday, Monday and Tuesday lunchtime, also Easter and August.
Food Travel & Me 