El Cellar de Can Roca
Can Sunyer 48
Cuisines: Spanish
About
Contained within two antique buildings, set near one another about 2km (1 1/4 miles) from the center of town, this is the best of the wave of modern restaurants that have collectively transformed Girona into one of the more fashionable cities of Spain. It was established in 1987 by a trio of brothers (Joán, Jodi, and Josep) whose grandparents first launched the family into the restaurant business in the 1920s. The older of the two buildings is a Gothic-style Catalan farmhouse from the 1500s that's used as a catering hall for private functions. In 2007, the venue moved from there into dignified newer premises within a verdant 3-minute walk. Cuisine here is about as elegant, upscale, and creative as you're likely to find anywhere in Catalonia, changing according to the seasons and the inspiration of the chef. Oysters with cava or several variations of foie gras might begin your meal, or perhaps shrimp soup or a salad of seasonal mushrooms with truffles. Main courses might include codfish braised with spinach, or turbot with goat's milk in a potato shell with mint. And desserts are lavishly theatrical, identified on the menu merely as the "red," the "green," the "orange," or the "white" dessert of the evening and later more clearly defined and described by the staff. Many evoke paintings, and some were concocted and named after perfumes developed by the well-known couturiers of Spain, Venezuela, and France.
