Kresala: a restaurant of sea, fish and fire

Barcelona"Kresala has a name linked to the Basque culture. Translated it would be saltpeter, but from a more mystical perspective, it also signifies the fusion between man and the sea. It speaks of the people who struggle every day at sea to earn a living and that white cloud of protection that covers them. Because the Cantabrian Sea is a wild sea. Basque culture has always been focused on the sea. They arrived in the Americas before Columbus. They were whalers. And cod. The salty foam of kresala It would be like a pagan god." This is explained by Iñaki López de Viñaspre, chef and founder of Sagardi Group, in the restaurant they have opened on the Gastronomic Balcony of Port Olímpic and which is named after the protector made of saltpeter: Kresala.

Less than a year ago, they opened this restaurant on the seafront in Barcelona, ​​the city that, until the Olympic Games, lived with its back to the Mediterranean. All of this has been part of an operation to dignify the area, dedicate it to the blue economy, and add high-quality restaurants, especially to the restaurants that overlook the sea, located on a breakwater that runs inland. Here, of course, what we eat (and what we want to eat) is what the sea supplies us with, which ultimately accounts for 71% of the planet and is still a great unknown of unexplored depths. However, here we go down to the seabed to bring the fish to the surface and expose what was born in the water with another element that is its antithesis: fire.

"We want to convey the culture of the Basque coastal villages where fire is at the door of the grillsIn Guetaria, Orio, Zumaia... Everything is full of grills. That's where they cooked the fish that arrived from the port and that the market didn't pay for, because they weren't famous. Back then, they roasted it there. Like the sea bream, which used to have no value, but now it does. Following that spirit, here at Kresala you also enter through the grill," explains López de Viñaspre. To have a grill adapted to what's done on the Basque coast, they teamed up with the kings of fire and grill in our home, the Maresme company Josper. And it's the first thing you see on your left when you enter the restaurant, before going through a menu to find, in the Encants, a fish cellar that looks like a Cartier window and finally a privileged balcony overlooking the sea and the sand. Once here, with a glass of minerally white wine, the show can begin.

In the approach to Barcelona

"Fish and fire are the combination of what we serve, following the principles of Basque cuisine. Very good produce, which is the central element, and simple cooking. We get our fish from Basque, Galician, and Catalan ports, specifically from Blanes and Roses. With this seafood, what we do is respect it greatly and touch it very little." Not spoiling what's good is a vital principle for this restaurant, which is open in the summer and which many Barcelona residents still don't know. "The first thing the citizens of Barcelona must do is take possession of their city. Because it's ours. This city is unique. Madrid may boast many things, but it doesn't have the quality of life that Barcelona has," he assures. In the approach, then.

And if we're talking about quality of life, once on the balcony, embraced by the breeze and salt, it's time to enjoy the ingredient that's the closest thing to a sip of the sea: oysters, brought in from France and enjoying a golden age in Catalonia. With a glass of bubbly, it's like inaugurating a ship. Afterward, the meal will vary greatly depending on what the sea has supplied that day. People must understand that what's available, and its weight, depends on no one but chance and the skill of the fishermen. So in this restaurant, we must embrace what untamed nature has provided, following a logic that isn't that of a supermarket. There may be oysters, turbot, redfish, sea bass, monkfish, or lobster. But whether there's any is not in our hands. Once it arrives, it will be a matter of passing it through the atavistic fire, but with the obligation of not spoiling what the sea, or the protective mantle of the pagan god of Kresala, has provided, and eating it in gratitude.