As we have been saying recently, “Pepe Solla is bettering himself day by day”. The meals he serves are more and more splendid, and this opinion is shared by the great majority of gourmets who come along. This increasing quality confirms the professional and personal maturity of the chef, whose confidence appears through the dishes. Intelligent en sensitive proposals that attempt to make the guest happy, quite simply. Compositions that are seasoned with the right sensory and intellectual incentives in order to be distinctively original and, above all, especially exquisite. The results are frankly fantastic. The satisfaction and, let’s repeat it, the reflexive imagination of the dishes create a real admiration. None of the proposals from the menu could be considered as eccentricities, even by the most traditionalist guest. Sensibility and solidity. And a lot of personality. This is what you can find in this clearly distinct evolutionary style. Every recipe hides a good deal of substance and splendour.
The generosity of efforts is palpable the whole way through, from appetizers to chocolates. The stream of little bites was delicious: olive oil “butter”, cappuccino, gin tonic, bread with anchovies pâté, octopus with potato and paprika cream … invite gluttony. In this atmosphere appears an immaculate delight brimming with subtle nuances: an outstanding scallop, macerated for 12 hours in oil together with citrus peels and ginger, that seemed to be half raw, lain on lettuce juice with minced macadamia nut and sprouts; tremendous. Purity and complexity could not be combined any better. This balance between naturality and diversity is also present in the baby squid tagliatelle served with seaweed, sesame oil and some spicy touch. The prawn croquette is all inspiration: a tail marinated in curry oil is hidden in an ethereal and delicate béchamel foam that is garnished with golden bread powder. 10/10 products, 10/10 doneness and 10/10 accompaniments: this is the way to describe the grouper, proposed on a black olives sauce with millet couscous and young garlic. The lamprey with red wine is another demonstration of the chef’s potential and nobility: exquisite fish, utterly fat and gelatinous, served with a velvety and excellent sauce that deserves a golden spoon. And so go joyful scenes on and on, until getting to the carnival cacheira (pork’s head), lain on chickpea broth with chickpeas, spinach and Basmati rice; its majesty the fat.
His style, very clearly defined, also appears through other appetizers and constructions. The Bloody Mary, the olive with anchovies and the chestnut cappuccino with Ras el Hanout –three appetizers inspired by Ferran Adrià’s concepts and techniques– are really fascinating, anthological. He alternates the prawn croquette with a mussel croquette: different seafood, but identical format. The marinated scallop, almost raw, with sesame and creamy and crunchy rice vermicelli, is another version of the previous proposal, but with some oriental hints that also characterize other recipes. The sauces are usually translucent broths, such as the fish soup infused in lemon grass and ginger, exuberantly perfumed, served with small pieces of lobster swimming in the liquid that are heated by the temperature of the consommé. If you want passion for soft doneness, for liquid sauces and for absolute cleanliness, taste the (horse) mackerel in citric stew. The sea bass served on the bottom of the sea (seaweed and salicornia) is another example of the unswerving way set out by Pepe and of the exquisite taste that distinguishes him. In short, Solla’s constructions have got more added value than ever.
