Besta - Moves You to the Core

Mar 12

Written By Maria

I can honestly not remember the last time a restaurant experience has moved me emotionally as much as my visit to Besta did. It literally had me close to tears, in the best way possible.

Besta Barcelona — *Manu Nuñez and Carles Ramon at Besta, Barcelona. Photo © Barcelona Food Experience.*

Besta has an interesting story. Two chefs, Manu Nuñez from Galicia (also known from Arume) and Carles Ramon from Catalunya, got together with plenty of experiences from, and extensive stays in, each others’ home regions, and chef Nuñez from a year-long stay in Sweden. Together they have created Besta, and it is a BEAST.

The restaurant is beautifully decorated. It manages to feel both rustic and elegant at the same time and is divided into several areas, which gives it a cozy feel. You are in great hands here: Marta Morales, runs the team outside the kitchen, and she will instantly make you feel at home.

The menu is fascinating. I love when I see a menu with items I haven’t heard of. Some of them because they might be typical Galician expressions I’m not familiar with, or in other cases, ingredients I don’t recognize, which I find thrilling. The menu is not too long, just right, and comprises the best and most interesting from the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.

First, we received a welcome drink. It’s a gorrión; a gin-based little drink with gin specifically made for them (GinBesta) with algae and oysters. It was refreshing and served in glasses that are typically used for sherry in the south of Spain. I loved that little detail.

Next came the home-made rye bread, with home-made butter made with Galician milk and slightly fermented. In some of the dishes you’ll find delicate brushstrokes like this from chef Nuñez stay in Sweden, making everything a little bit extra magical. When just the bread and the butter make your heart flutter a little, you know you are in for a ride.

I don’t want to go into too much detail about the dishes we had; you really have to try it for yourself (and the dishes change on a regular basis). But each dish is like a little masterpiece, where the knowledge and experience and a touch of, dare I say, PUNK, by the chefs can be experienced. Because here you can see technique and skill that comes out elegantly but with an edge, and plenty of integrity.

The sommelier at Besta picked out fascinating wines for us. We went through 5 glasses of unique wines that were perfectly paired with our dishes. I truly recommend you choose to go for wine pairings, it will take your experience to another level.

So what brought me to tears, you ask? Some of the flavors deeply moved me in the dishes we enjoyed. Precisely one: a cabbage with a béarnaise sauce where I was presented with tangible memories from my childhood.

Another surprising emotion came through with the pre-dessert that was a refreshing sorbet made with wild herbs that transported me to a lawn with fresh-cut grass or just any early summer morning in my native Finland. I still get emotional when I think about it.