Jean Luc Figueras

Description:

• For a Kama Sutra-like dining experience, head for this hip Gràcia town house that was once the studio of Balenciaga. Even if food critics narrowed the list of Barcelona restaurants down to five, the chef and owner, Jean Luc Figueras, would likely appear on the list. The setting is modern and refined, the food both traditional and innovative, as Figueras stamps every dish with his personal touch. Highly dedicated to staying on top, Figueras is a seeker of the finest ingredients on the Barcelona market, and his menu is adjusted to take advantage of the best produce in any season. The emphasis is on fresh seafood, although his meat dishes are also sublime. His fried prawn and ginger-flecked pasta in a mango and mustard sauce would make the gods weep, and his sea bass with cod and blood sausage is no less brilliant. Your tastes buds will go into orbit if you're wise enough to select such nouvelle-inspired dishes as shrimp with a velvety smooth and golden pumpkin cream sauce or the pork with a zesty goat cheese enlivened with peach honey. The desserts are homemade and inevitably sumptuous.

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

ABC

•  Restaurante Favorito 2008

Frommer's

•  Very Highly Recommended 2009
•  Very Highly Recommended 2010