The green garden with restaurant of the yolk of the egg of Barcelona where peas from Maresme and Navarra are eaten

BarcelonaThe garden with a restaurant or the restaurant with a garden at Hotel Alma Barcelona (c. Mallorca, 269) proposes to unite through cuisine the vegetables from Navarra and Maresme. Joaquín Ausejo, the hotel's owner, knows both regions well, and that's why he has brought their products. Those who want to savor "pèsols llàgrima" (tear peas) with a raw egg yolk in the middle can eat them as a starter, and then compare them with those from Navarra, which are rounder, fleshier, and have a more substantial bite. The green of the legume that sparks passions in the spring that is ending is the protagonist of many afternoon dishes, where you will also find chard with potatoes (excellent), white asparagus from Navarra, artichokes, and "borratges" (borage), one of the vegetables unjustly most difficult to find on menus, and they always deserve ovations: they are crunchy, sweet, and bitter at the same time, and if cooked steamed or sautéed, with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, they make a great dish.

To continue, for seconds, sea bass in salt and egg white, a preparation typical of the Hotel Alma restaurant; turbot and meats, which are not missing from a menu that is especially dedicated to vegetables, but which aims to please all tastes. For dessert, strawberries, wild strawberries, sorbets and cakes. And all this while perhaps someone offers to play the grand piano in the middle of the dining room. Or better: while you hear the birds chirping in the garden, music that warms the soul in the heart of Barcelona.Hotel Alma prepares the Maresme and Navarra vegetable menu every year when it is harvested at the best time of the year. With a cuisine that seeks to respect the product, it makes it the protagonist for months, even though it does not impose it and it is not the only option; you will find many others. On the wine list, options from Catalan and world cellars.