Another fantastic restaurant… this time it is Les Cols in Olot. This is a modern kitchen and restaurant that tries to stay true to nature and its produce, and succeeds. Highly recommended
In the previous post I already covered the “part of nature” concept and the restaurant continues with that.
On the left side of the below photo you will see the hotel “entrance” and on the right you go to the restaurant….
The entrance
The restaurant
At the back of the restaurant there is a huge garden where you can do aperitifs and snacks. This is a great example of how traditional and modern go together, a traditional 13th century townhouse being converted in a modern state-of-the-art restaurant.
Before it started
While drinking a nice glass of Cava in the beautiful garden we got the above marble slap with a buckwheat crust.
Home-made sausage from Olot. The land, the water, the cereal; buckwheat crust, the essentiality of primary food
Under the crust there was a little surprise of some local made sausage from Olot together with a brief description of the restaurant philosophy. Unfortunately this was only available in Spanish so it was lost on us…
To eat with fingers; cornbread hot sandwich. The caviar from La Garrotxa; buckwheat blini and Santa Pau beans. Evoking the landscape; black elder flower in batter
These little snacks were gorgeous, totally represent the restaurant philosophy while showcasing the kitchen skills….
Bread & Oil
It was very funny to see a bread & oil trolley. I have had dessert trolleys, cheese trolleys, etc. but had never seen a bread & oil trolley….
A summer prelude: Carrot sun, black elder tea
All dishes we ate at Les Cols felt very “pure” and “earthy”. It is that consistency that makes this a wonderful experience.
Contrasts, colours and textures: courgette in four different ways, basil, eucalyptus oil and garlic flower
The different contrasts of ice cream, crunchy, soup and cooked worked really well.
with the scent of this aromatic mushroom: wild mushroom salad, pine nuts, tortell d'Olot
From the henhouse right to the dish
I always wanted to make sous-vide eggs at home but never got to try them because every tenth of a degree temperature difference gives you a different outcome and thus i would need proper sous-vide equipment…. So this was the first time i tried the custard like consistency of the perfectly “boiled” egg….
Cut open: roast egg, mayonnaise, tuna
Look at those colours….!!
Grilled peas, bacon, black sausage
Amazing!
A hostel dish: Rice with wild mushrooms, sausage, mince sauce
Apparently the above rice dish is a Spanish student favourite, Les Cols have elevated this to become something truly special, one of my favourites, very earthy and at the same time very luxurious.
A salted fish always present in the mountain cuisine; salt cod, black pil-pil, brandade, raisins
A warm and seasoned meat; shoulder of rabbit, cherries, vermouth, yoghurt, cocoa
It looks gorgeous, but tastes even better. I had my doubts about the cherry with the rabbit, but it so much balanced out the richness of the rabbit.
Acid and floral; roses and poppies, citrus fruits, honey
Sweet and from summertime; strawberry roll, cream, sugar
A lovely dessert of berries, in a sauce, ice cream and different other textures, on the right in the picture there is a type of spherification technique (or wrapped in clingfilm 
)
coffee and digestive in the garden
After dessert we moved into the garden again and did coffee and petit fours on a picnic blanket that was put out just for us (where would you like to sit Mr. Douven )
Unfortunately we missed out on the post dessert, a ratafa ice lolly, as waiting staff forgot and we were not aware.
To share: chocolate bar. Sweet bread service; cake from Els Hostalets d'en Bas, cooked in a wood oven with the typical liquor from la Garrotxa
But there was nothing to complain… we got some more of the sweet bread in celebration of the Catalan national holiday and above that there is a full size chocolate bar!! No mini bars or pieces but a full 200 gram or so bar!!
Our lunch experience at Les Cols restaurant was as good as you can expect. Lovely service and a menu that follows structure. Basic country cuisine made better. A definite recommendation and i would love to go back sometime soon again!! Highly recommended
