Les Cols has a very different feel from any other restaurant I've been to in the area. Ultra…read moremodern decor (you have to see it, it is indescribable) and a slightly strange layout immediately let you know that you're in for something different here. The restaurant is arranged in an "L" shape. The small side of the L has a few tables arranged as one might expect in a restaurant. The long side contains one giant long table down the middle which, on the night we went, was set for a number of couples with about 3 chair widths between each setting...awkward! Not to mention not very private...this part of the room was virtually silent throughout the evening. Off of the long section of the restaurant are a number of small rooms containing a single table each, and it was in one of these rooms that our table for 5 had been laid.
The idea here is clearly to give you an experience centred around a meal (as opposed to just a meal). To that end, dinner actually starts outside behind the restaurant in a garden area. Here, you will be brought a glass of cava as well as an array of hors d'oeuvres common to both menus on offer (either their "normal" tasting menu or their vegetarian tasting menu, which bizarrely even shares the meat based hors d'oeuvres with the non-veggi menu). This was a nice touch, except that there was quite a long time left between the different food items, so we didn't actually sit down at our table until 45-50 minutes after our reservation time. Also, they did not have enough chairs for everyone who had booked at the same time as us, which meant that some people had to sit either on the grass or on the low stone wall ringing the garden (not great for the poor guy who decided to wear white trousers to dinner).
A lot of the food on the menu sounded clever and interesting and there seemed to be a nice balance of flavours and ingredients on offer. The execution of the dishes though was very hit and miss, with some dishes being nicely cooked, well flavoured and well balanced, whilst others were bland to the point where you would not have had a clue what you were eating were it not for the fact that it had been written down for you first. Unfortunately, whoever was on salt duty in the kitchen that night was far too enthusiastic in their role and pretty much every dish came with what can only be described as a heap of sea salt sitting on top of it. The salt was in large flakes and easy to pick off but alas the damage had already been done and in many cases one would have been forgiven for thinking they had just been served a spoonful of salt.
For wine, we accepted the sommelier's offer to bring us a selection of wines to compliment the various courses. The wines that we were served were, without fail, extremely good, but most of them were far too powerful for the food on offer. There were about 7 different wines served with the meal and the glasses poured were HUGE. I know I know, I shouldn't complain, but it meant that by the time we were done 1) we were very drunk (luckily one of us had not partaken and was able to drive home), 2) there was the equivalent of about a bottle of wine per person unfinished across the set of glasses on the table (huge waste!) and 3) our taste buds were thoroughly confused by the rapid delivery of so many over-powering wines. A good effort but the matching of wine to food was far from a win.
On our way out, we were met by the chef/owner who insisted on giving us a tour of her kitchens. Again, this was a nice touch, and I couldn't help but think that her staff could take a page or two out of her book. If they had had even half of the enthusiasm and passion evident in her character our meal experience would have been greatly enhanced. Instead, they filled the role of hyper-mechanical silent drones which made the whole evening a little...weird.
So where does this leave us? I'm honestly not sure. I think that with more personable service, a less awkward atmosphere, a new salt boy and a bit more care over flavour balance this could be quite the experience. As it stands though, I think the meal just wasn't quite what it should have been. Having said that, I have visited on one previous occasion when the food was much better, but the service was just plain rude. So I'm unsure what to make of the whole thing except to say that I'm not sure I'll be going back any time soon. It's just too much of an enigma!
If you do go, you may wish to consider spending the night in their pretty cool glass hotel. This is as weird as it sounds (but has far more privacy than you could ever imagine a hotel made entirely of glass could have) and is definitely something to experience. It will also save you incurring hefty legal fees and fines (not to mention the possibility of death) on the way home if no one in your party opts out of the wine service.
