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Spain – and of course Barcelona – has always been a breeding ground for creative types in the kitchen. There’s an ever-increasing number of restaurants that take as inspiration first traditional preparations and update them with ingredients from a global pantry, yet keep their local soul intact. It’s a common thread among many young chefs in this town, and it has created a culinary scene that feels modern, unexpected – and personal. Let’s throw in an additional twist: a chef who’s not Spanish.

Armando Álvarez, from Venezuela, is the head chef and co-owner with his uncle, Santiago Melchor, of the tiny, cute and delicious Capet, which sits on a small street in Gràcia, on the Sant Gervasi side. Álvarez began learning to cook in his homeland, but he claims that his real cooking school was the kitchens of the restaurants he worked in in Catalonia, such as the wonderful Coure, run by Albert Ventura, who is renowned for “auteur cuisine” with Catalonian roots, or our beloved La Panxa del Bisbe, under the direction of Xavi Codina, which specializes in updated tapas in a Catalan fusion style. Some of Capet’s regulars were or are also customers of Coure or La Panxa, a group of discerning eaters who know what they like and who is cooking what and who normally come here with a smile and greeting for Álvarez.

In both of those “schools,” we can find the seeds of inspiration for Álvarez’s cooking at Capet. There’s a menu of tapas or small sharing plates – part modern tapas fare, part tasting menu at an ambitious high-end restaurant, but with more accessible prices – to be enjoyed by the lucky few who claim the limited number of tables or grab seats at the friendly bar in front of the kitchen. Capet’s kitchen itself is also very small, and it’s here that the staff choreographs their ballet in miniature according to what’s fresh and in season and with a Venezuelan inflection that Álvarez picked up from his mother.

Beyond the must-try Iberian pork or salt cod dishes, one of our favorite platillos was the brilliant reinterpretation of the typical octopus tapa, sliced and with fried yucca – a stand-in for the usual potato, offering the perfect textural counterpoint – and served with a punchy green herb mayonnaise. The South American influence can also be felt in the platillo of tuna ceviche, with a little Spanish inflection from Galician Padrón pepper and red pepper, as well as the addition of trout eggs, an intense transoceanic bite that reminds us just how big and close the Hispano-American world is. The marinated sardine takes us back to Iberian traditions but then flips them with cucumber, celery, radish and green acid apple with yogurt and a touch of curry. The curry balances out the apple, and both play up the soft, meaty sardine.

We recently got to taste the tender, aromatic ternera gallega (Galician veal) that Álvarez uses in his kitchen. The little dish of veal cheeks with potatoes Parmentier and Catalan summer truffle from the Pyrenees is a creamy, melting delight, incredibly fragrant and with a deep, rich, complex sauce.

Capet may be small, but Armando Álvarez has found a way to explore continents of flavor inside it.

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Published on June 04, 2015

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