The Greenhouse
Inside the sleek and timeless Hotel Pulitzer, hanging plants and oversized lamps fill The Greenhouse, a new restaurant concept from successful Australian chef Damien Bolger. Chef Bolger, former owner and founder of Poblenou favourite Mercat Cuina Fresca, has continued on his quest for seasonal cuisine that focuses on fresh vegetables from local markets. Vegetables play the starring role in nearly every dish on the tasting menu at The Greenhouse. Duck breast, oxtail and the ever-popular pluma cut of Iberian pork are present, but these dishes are an exception to the rule. In fact, Bolger’s goal for the coming months is to move even further in the direction of vegetable-driven fine dining. That’s not to say, however, that the food at The Greenhouse is strictly vegetarian.
In the nine-course tasting menu (€60), there were several meat-free dishes. The salad of tomatoes with fermented strawberries and basil, for example, was a light starter with a good deal of finesse, though the tomato could have done with a few more days on the vine to reach full ripeness. The other savoury vegetarian dish was a gently cooked, single stalk of white asparagus whose impressive girth was spread with a pine nut purée. Beside the asparagus was a salt-cured egg yolk that gave the dish an extra creamy, but almost sticky, character. Finished with a light dusting of dehydrated beet salt, this was an enjoyable and unique way to present a classic Spanish ingredient.
The initial bite of the meal was actually a spoonful of tartar de buey; hand-cut morsels of raw ox meat that was dry-aged 45 days, mixed with ripe figs, draped in grated egg yolk, and garnished with extremely fragrant and fascinating mandarin fronds. These fronds were a personal first for me, and an excellent addition to a dish that would have been less interesting without that citrus punch.
My favourite plate of the night also happens to be a star item at The Greenhouse, a dish that Bolger assures will enjoy a long tenure amidst frequent seasonal menu changes. The simply named ‘brassicas’ is actually a dish in which nuance abounds. Depending on the season—or even the week—the dishes could, in theory, be a mix of kale, cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and/or any of the other crunchy, cruciferous vegetables that make up this pungent family. Slightly charred and cooked to perfection, with tenderness but a bit of crunch, our little pile of cabbage, kale and broccoli was tossed with ruby-red grapefruit segments and drizzled with fennel oil. Served in a shallow bowl, the brassicas lay surrounded by a pool of mussel emulsion, silky smooth and thickened with coconut oil. A few leaves of fresh mint and micro coriander were the final garnish, making for a dish that really did reveal a new dimension with each bite.
The meal continued in a positive direction with the arrival of a freakishly-long tupinambo (Jerusalem artichoke), slowly roasted before being glazed in an ‘XO’ sauce that was rich and packed with flavour, but clearly adapted for the local palate. Very light on the dried scallops and dried shrimp compared to the more traditional Chinese recipe, this ultra-reduced mahogany sauce was a more exotic take on veal demi-glaze, and a satisfying accompaniment to the toothsome root vegetable. Bolger dotted the log-like tuber with date purée and placed thin rounds of kumquat on top as a refreshing foil to the mouth-coating glaze. I had never seen a Jerusalem artichoke so big in my life, nor had I tasted one prepared in such a creative way.
The final savoury dish of our meal was a risotto-style rice, though the word ‘risotto’ was conspicuously absent from the menu. The term is all too often thrown around recklessly by anyone with short grain rice and a hunk of Parmesan, so it’s best to simply call it rice and leave it at that. This rice was thick and creamy and cooked al dente, as it should be. The finishing touch was a hint of vanilla and a small heap of fresh crab filaments. The variety of rice used in the dish comes pre-smoked from producers in the famous Catalan rice-growing region of the Delta de l’Ebre.
Our first dessert mirrored one of our first dishes of the night, with more fermented strawberry and basil, followed by delicious, delicately-coiled churros, sprinkled with sugar and served with a petite bowl of haba tonka ice cream. All in all, I think that The Greenhouse is a wonderful concept—a restaurant that focuses on vegetables while not shying away from meat and seafood—and I look forward to seeing the direction that Chef Bolger’s kitchen takes as the seasons progress.
The Greenhouse, Bergara 8, T. 93 463 6116
Lunch: Mon-Fri 1pm-4pm, €18.50 for three courses. Dinner: Tues-Sat 7.30pm-11.30pm