Cuina Sant Pau and the paradox of reinvention
Five years ago Cuina Sant Pau was a three Michelin-starred restaurant, headed up by Carme Ruscalleda and Toni Balam, and famous around Spain. Now, stewarded by Carme’s son, Raúl, and Oswaldo Rodrigues, it is a year into life as a high-end ‘bistrot’. The balance of acknowledging past glories while creating a new identity would daunt most but this pair have made Cuina their own with South American twists on Catalan classics that find a magic equilibrium.
This challenge is nothing new: restaurants around the world have struggled with it for as long as fine dining has existed. The exhausting nature of world-famous and high-end restaurants makes very few sustainable in the long term. Some succeed and some fail, some take on completely different identities, and some bring in new chefs with new ideas. Joe Allen might be the perfect example, a Broadway icon that established itself in Covent Garden before moving ‘brick by brick’ in 2017 and then closing for 18 months after struggling with the COVID lockdowns. No longer the regular haunt of London locals, it now captures the tourist market in a new location just off the Strand. The reopening has been a financial success, no doubt about it, but few would visit the new restaurant and say that the experience was the same.
Cuina Sant Pau has attempted, and succeeded, in striking an even finer balance by retaining some fine dining touches despite shunning requirements that would win back its stars. From start to finish of a visit though, nods to the past are clear for all to see. The walls are adorned with posters, murals, old menus, and photos evoking the glory days that saw Ruscadella and Balam sore to prominence in Spanish gastronomy. All of this though is implanted in fun and quirky ways, leaning into the new laid-back culture Rodrigues and the team are shooting for.
Whether it’s the old billiards table, reinvented as a dining table for large groups, the giant sculptures of the former head chef’s head, or dishes inspired by old menus, all of it adds to the new fun of Cuina Sant Pau.
When I spoke to Oswaldo, his passion and excitement about the opportunity were more than clear to see. His eyes lit up when he spoke about using silver service but shunning tablecloths, about elevating traditionally simple dishes such as patatas bravas to a fine dining level, and about bringing his own Brazilian flare to the menu.
If two dishes probably summed this up best it would be the Moquecua and the ceviche. The first is a traditional Brazilian seafood curry that here uses brilliantly fresh Catalan tomatoes, coriander, garlic, and limes to punch you with freshness.
The ceviche screams culinary creativity and is what Oswaldo is most proud of. Traditionally Peruvian, the chef adds Brazilian touches to make the dish his own. Scallops are served atop a passion fruit-based ceviche, bringing amazing sweet and sour elements contrasted by crisp red onions and salty corn cornels. Simply put, it’s a complete dish.
And yet, the classics are on the menu too. You couldn’t be on the Catalan coast without offering up Fideúa and calamares: suffice to say that both are pulled off at their traditional best with the latter served alongside an almost sweet black garlic sauce.
Of course, opening a restaurant in a building that previously held three Michelin stars has pretty obvious structural benefits too. Despite only offering a small and carefully curated list of wines (selected by Oswaldo’s wife, Suyan), the cellar is vast and filled with extraordinary vintages from some of Europe’s best vineyards. The kitchen downstairs is also completely unchanged from the days of Balam and Ruscadella, right down to the pass.
And that kitchen is something else. In the old days, up to 17 chefs would dance around the various stations in order to provide the attention to detail fine-dining requires. Now, just six or seven have free roam of the extraordinary facility with simply the best view I have ever seen in a kitchen offered up by huge windows out onto the garden and sea. Every facility a chef could dream of is on offer with five huge walk-in freezers and an entire room for the pastry section that dwarfs some kitchens.
My meal at Cuina Sant Pau was quite simply the most pleasantly surprising dining experience I’ve had in a long time. It wasn’t that my expectations were low, I just didn’t really have any. Ruscadella and Rodrigues Alves have pulled off the delicate balancing act that is refined luxury. Service is attentive without being overbearing, the food is delicious but hearty and unpretentious, and the dining room is stunning. Reinvention is a difficult thing but a year into its new journey, Cuina Sant Pau has managed it.
Originally published at http://olieatsitall.wordpress.com on October 28, 2023.
