In Spain, I am hesitant and have never had the desire to dine at any Michelin-rated establishments. The "comida casera", the homemade and traditional dishes, is way more satisfying; the pairing of a few simple ingredients and flavors can create something beautiful and flavorful, which is why I love Spanish cuisine. There's no need for liquid nitrogen, avocado masquerading as quail, or tableside pyrotechnics to have a top-quality and thoughtfully prepared meal.
Victor Gutierrez, however, piqued my interest; and not just for its one Michelin star: the chef uses flavors from his homeland of Peru and marries them with many of Spain's traditional ingredients. The other interesting contrast of Spain versus the United States is while our Michelin-rated chefs spend almost zero time in the kitchen, preferring to pontificate on television, be best buddies with Oprah and Barack Obama, or participate in book signings in Hong Kong, Victor himself is in the kitchen, preparing every single plate. In fact, I arrived early for my dinner reservation to have a glass of sherry before dinner, and there Victor was, sitting on the stoop and smoking a cigarette (he offered me one!).
There are three tasting menus to choose from, each with a different number of courses and different level of complexity in preparation. I chose the Victor menu, which features the ceviche that Victor is so famous for. One feature of dinner that I think is absolutely brilliant (and more restaurants should employ) is the 10 euro supplement for a large bottle of water and as much wine as you can drink of one of the three types of wine available as part of the offer. I'm not promoting getting hammered at a world-class dinner, but you've easily broken-even after one glass of wine and a bottle of water. I opted for the Verdejo, a crisp and high-acidity white wine, in order to pair with the ceviche. The white wine also worked surprisingly well with the foie gras and the pork belly that were part of the Victor tasting menu.
The tasting menu itself was phenomenal; the portion sizes were just right. My favorite courses included the scallop (zamburina) ceviche in a tiger milk, his interpretation of "tortilla espanola", and for dessert, his preparation of pineapple. Victor both skillfully and artistically was able to combine very traditional Spanish ingredients, such as pimenton, olive oil, certain types of fish and shellfish, with the more spicy flavors and ingredients native to Peru, in order to create an experience that felt Spanish in its roots with an adaptation and presentation that felt very much more South American. Although there are many cultural ties between Spain and South America (patron saints of villages, language, etc.), Victor successfully reinforced this tie through cuisine (a lot easier said than done, considering the availability of ingredients in each of these parts of the world is so different).
The service is fantastic and top-notch. Although the dining room is small and intimate, the two female captains working the tables were extremely professional and polite (there was one humongous group of French people, behaving very French). They perfectly executed the timing of clearing and bringing out new plates and refilling water and wine glasses and worked very well as a team, despite how busy it was. The captain even asked one guy (who was the only Spaniard dining that evening) to shut off his cell phone because he was having this 20 minute conversation about bringing his kids to the grandparents for the weekend and unnecessarily disrupting everyone's dinner.
Thank you to both the service and the chef at Victor Gutierrez for creating such a memorable evening and unique experience in Salamanca! read more
