Baalbec
Baalbek is a town in Lebanon where traditionally many different cultures and nationalities have managed to get along without massacring each other.
It is the inspiration for the new restaurant run by Steve Anderson, who is also the owner of Ma Kuin.
Steve is a true internationalist; Ma Kuin is named after his Burmese grandmother, and his latest culinary adventure is inspired by what he refers to as the opposite shore of the Mediterranean.
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Steve’s restaurants have always been a place to go for something different; something experimental and yet confidently executed, and Baalbec is no exception.
The 17€ menu is a journey through the world of your own taste buds, with four starters and then a choice of three main courses and two desserts.
They say that less is more, and as you watch the chefs cooking in full view you can observe their love for their art.
On the day I visited the starters included toasted bread with its own little bowl of oil from Viver, cous cous with grapefruit, rhubarb and figs, leaks with blueberries, aubergine with feta cheese and honey, and beetroot with olives and chillis. And I mean all of it!
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By the time we reached the main course we were already sated and ready to go overboard, and yet every dish had a light touch without being sparse.
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The two main dishes we chose were lentils with roasted beetroot and charmoula, a marinade and relish used in Algerian, Libyan, Moroccan and Tunisian cooking according to Wikipedia, and a fish that was probably mackrel, swiss chard and muhammara, a hot pepper dip originally from Aleppo,
One of the sweets was strawberry and rose ice cream with pistacchio and the other a tart with forest fruits and anis.
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The waiters explain everything when they bring it, although I usually get distracted by my other senses.
The decor is simple with a pistacchio yellow and black dominating and moody music playing and even following you into the bathroom.
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Gran Vía Marqués de Turia 63.
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