Haute cuisine dishes that begin to cook on a piece of paper

The dishes served at the Miramar restaurant in Llançà begin with scraps of paper, which chef Paco Pérez collects here and there and repurposes. Small works of art that eventually emerge from the paper to become edible sculptures, with flavor, aroma, and, above all, soul. Paco Pérez, with five Michelin stars, two of them for the cuisine he creates at Miramar, is considered the quintessential artist-chef. "He's always drawing. In a process of daily creativity, he captures each idea in a sketch on paper, to be interpreted and transformed by his team into a dish that often conveys the essence of the Mar de Amunt to the diner," explains the chef's son, the poet Guillem Pérez. Creating from the raw materials provided by the land he loves so much and that inspires him so much is one of Paco Pérez's obsessions, and he demonstrates this with gastronomic offerings such as Arroz en la Barca, inspired by rice dishes that were cooked "on the high seas, without seeing land, breathing the salty air that makes me feel it." Paco Pérez champions the presence in haute cuisine of the humble seaweed found in the waters of the Mar de Amunt, which embrace the Cape of Creus up to Cervera.

A collection of pencil sketches by Paco Pérez is included in the exhibition Miramar. Explorations in the Upper Sea, which can be visited at the Girona Cultural Centre until October 15 and which showcases the aesthetic, conceptual, and emotional universe of the Miramar restaurant, a family establishment where gastronomy and art coexist equally. "In the everyday life of Miramar, in what happens on a daily basis, everything is imbued with art, beauty, and poetry, and we needed to explain all of this in this exhibition," explains Guillem Pérez, who curated the exhibition together with the artist Maria Vila, and with the advice of Ricard Planas, director of the magazine Bonart.

"The exhibition does not have an archival or documentary purpose, but rather to show the aesthetic and poetic vision with which things are done at the Miramar," adds Maria Vila, who has the painting on display. Hydrography of the sea (signed under her stage name, Maria Marvila), made with seaweed pigments and herbal infusions, among other natural elements. Nature and craftsmanship exude the nature and craftsmanship that image artist Francesc Guillamet has taken of Paco Pérez's gastronomic creations. A photographer at Miramar and other sanctuaries of haute cuisine such as El Bulli and Disfrutar, Guillamet has brilliantly captured the soul, texture, and beauty of each of Paco Pérez's dishes.

The exhibition is complemented by a selection of tableware handcrafted and created specifically for specific culinary creations by Paco Pérez. They are pieces of art designed to "welcome and amplify an experience that appeals to the senses and memory," explain the curators. The menus on display in the exhibition, created by visual artists such as Koyama, Pitxot, and Curie, are also unique and conceived as works of art. "At Miramar, the plate never arrives alone. The diner is offered an aesthetic experience before the taste."