Blanc
Lauded as the only woman in the world to hold a total of seven Michelin stars, chef Carme Ruscalleda expanded her footprint at Barcelona’s Mandarin Oriental Hotel in May 2017 with the opening of Blanc (formerly chef Ángel León’s BistrEau). Blanc is an all-day, elegant but more affordable complement to her two-star fine dining concept, Moments, also within the Mandarin Oriental. I was invited to dine at Moments a few years ago and really enjoyed the experience, though I don’t know if I could have justified the price if I were paying myself. Therefore, when the opportunity came up to try chef Ruscalleda’s modern Catalan cuisine again, but in a less formal setting, I was eager to explore what Blanc had to offer.
Decorated in pristine white, Blanc is an open and bright space with touches of greenery and pastel color accents that would make this an equally perfect setting for a client lunch, a group meal during a city conference, or an intimate dinner for two. The service is still quite formal, with suit-wearing staff moving quietly around the expansive dining room, serving carefully-paired wines and pushing a classic dessert trolley loaded with cakes, tarts, and meringues between tables as well-heeled guests finish their meals.
The classics á la carte menu is a surprising blend of cuisines. Club sandwiches and Caesar salads represent the realm of classic international hotel fare, pan-Asian dishes like dimsum, pad thai and ramen pay homage to the Mandarin Oriental’s roots, and Middle Eastern snacks, such as hummus and fattoush, round out a menu that seems to have a little something for everyone.
The real draw at Blanc was the more elegant and refined Autumn Tasting Menu; a five-course degustation menu for €59 per person, including dessert but no drinks. There is also a more upscale á la carte menu that includes most of the tasting menu’s dishes, plus about a dozen more.
The tasting began with a glass of the house brut cava, specially bottled for Blanc restaurant in Penedès. The champagne-method wine was light and crispy and a touch fruitier than your typical brut cava, and it offered a non-intrusive pairing. We were primed for our meal with a basket of hearty bread and a complementary duo of croquettes; one was a classic croqueta de jamón that was molten hot but rich and delicious, and the other an extra-crispy panko-coated bite of beetroot and blue cheese. Both were skillfully prepared and would give anyone unfamiliar with Spanish croquetas a very respectable benchmark for this local staple.
After the croquettes came the first course of the tasting menu: a chilled lobster tail dotted with thin rounds of lightly blanched green beans, micro spinach leaves, avocado, and a trio of bell peppers, all dressed in a bright citrus broth and drizzled with rich olive oil to cut the acidity. The flavor was lively, the salt assertive but not overdone, and the lobster was perfectly cooked; a great start.
The second dish was an excellent version of a Catalan classic; a melange of sauteéd porcini and chanterelle mushrooms with tender asparagus stalks and crispy fried discs of botifarra negre (black pudding). Rustic in flavor but with the deliberate preparation and presentation one would expect from the kitchen of a chef like Ruscalleda, I made short work of the plate, paired with a crisp, medium-bodied Mâcon Villages chardonnay from Joseph Drouhin.
Next arrived my favorite dish of the meal, a meaty morsel of pan-fried monkfish, served with a "Hong Kong Maresme" sauce, blending the tastes of Hong Kong with ingredients from the Maresme region. Sichuan peppercorns and juicy strawberries formed a sauce that was firetruck red and bursting with ripe berry flavor, smeared beside a dollop of aubergine purée, sticks of daikon (mild radish), and slivers of baby vegetables. I found the pairing of strawberry and monkfish fascinating, and loved every bite.
The final course before the desserts was the succulent pluma cut of Iberian pork, glazed with natural pork au jus and garnished with a spiced date purée and shaved ribbons of baby courgette. Paired with a simple but bold bottle of 2013 Vizcarra (Ribera del Duero), the pork was expertly-grilled and the date sauce had a subtle touch of sweetness that balanced the deeply savory pork reduction. This dish felt a bit predictable after the monkfish strawberry surprise, but was still thoroughly enjoyable.
Dessert came in the form of an impressive assortment of cakes, tarts and chocolate, though I would have loved the option of a composed dessert to match the elegant style in which the other course of the meal had been presented. The meal as a whole was almost faultless and the service was purely professional. I might not choose this restaurant for a night out with friends but I do think it’s a great option if your goal is to impress without being overly formal, or paying a fortune.