Our waiter gave us cooling glasses of white from Sicily—it’s the greatest aperitif, he explained, “great acidity and the faintest prickle of salt down the sides of your tongue to whet the appetite.” Which it does nicely, and with mouths salivating we go to town on a menu that reads: confit of white beans with baby octopus in balsamic reduction; fresh buffalo mozzarella salad, and parpadelle with duck ragu, all things that just can’t be resisted.
Then he shows up again and with a glint in his eye suggests that we should also have the mero (grouper) cooked in tarragon stew because it’s the finest thing on the menu. How’s a girl to resist? And frankly in for a penny, in for a pound, each dish is so superbly cooked that we are powerless to resist when it is suggested we finish up with a shared plate of tiramisù. Let me just say that soggy, coffee flavoured sponge has never done it for me but this pillowy, cream-laden espresso scented cake has changed me forever.
They moved us to the bar to make way for the wave of new customers coming in and perched us with limoncello, whispering just before we paid: look it’s Maite Martin the flamenco singer with her lover. And so indeed it was… still, she’s always had impeccable taste that one, just hear how she sings.
Xemei is at Paseo de la Exposicion 85 (Poble Sec), tel. 93 553 5140. Open Mon, Wed-Sun 1.30pm-12am
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