Nature blesses the coast of the Costa Brava. This is where the Girona Pyrenees meet the Mediterranean Sea and almost 40 miles of undulating coastline stretches from Blanes, just north of Barcelona, to Barcelona France.
Inland, pine, poplar and oak forests make this area one of the most lush corners of Iberia. Production is plentiful; The raw materials for fine and genuine dishes include Emporda wine and oil, Pals rice, L’Escala anchovies, Palamos red prawns, Santa Pau kidney beans and ultramarine sea urchins.
The Costa Brava first caught the British imagination as a package holiday destination in the 1960s. But after his moment in the sun, resorts like Lloret de Mar were eclipsed by the Costa Blanca and Costa del Sol in the 1970s and 1980s.
Lydia reveals she explored Girona “not street by street but bite by bite” above. She adds: “Girona offers a gastronomic everyday life. Fish stalls gleam with red, raw scorpion fish and sticky piles of squid. Bars and cafes feature coffee with chuchos – cream rolled in crispy sweet pastries – croquetas stuffed with leftover stew, pan con tomate draped with escala anchovies and Emporda wines.
Nowadays, however, the focus is on culture of pleasure and nature. The coast is largely Barcelona’s playground, and many locals head out of the city at weekends and head here to hike, swim, or hunt for Rovello mushrooms.
Most importantly, the Catalans of the Costa Brava have reinvented Spanish cuisine.
Most foodies argue that this was the natural result of exquisite produce and southern France’s nouvelle cuisine, bleeding down from the frontier and cross-fertilizing with local talent. Ferran Adria and the Roca brothers unleashed the Michelin star avalanche: today the area counts 16.
I came here primarily to eat and, appropriately enough, stay at the 77 room and suite Hostal de la Gavina on my first trip abroad since the start of the Covid pandemic. Opened in 1932, it nestles with a defiant immutability amidst all that foodie pedigree on a prized rocky outcrop in S’Agaro, an hour north of Barcelona.
Legacy: Lydia checked into the 77-room-suite Hostal de la Gavina, which opened in 1932
The Hostal de la Gavina ‘snuggles with defiant immutability…on a prized rocky outcrop in S’Agaro, an hour north of Barcelona’
Hostal de la Gavina’s Michelin-starred underground restaurant, Candlelight by Romain Fornell
Pictured left is an example of one of the artistically presented dishes at the Candlelight by Romain Fornell restaurant. On the right is the Blue Bar terrace of the Hostal de la Gavina
The old-world Spanish glamor of Hostal de la Gavina has attracted Hollywood stars, European royalty and even Lady Gaga over the years
The hotel’s old-world Spanish glamor has attracted Hollywood stars, European royalty, and even Lady Gaga over the years. But the core clientele are generations of smart Barcelona families and the occasional newcomer from the Côte d’Azur.
Repeat guests often stick religiously to the same dates and even to the same rooms. Inlaid marble and parquet floors, huge clusters of flowers, Hellenic-style columns and ubiquitous bulbous mahogany with hints of old Spain. But the hotel’s raison d’être is to make the most of its gastronomic heritage.
There are three restaurants, one with a Michelin star, and Gavina’s approach to food is one that pleasantly alternates between unconstructed Spanish and cleverly conceived fine dining.
Seconds after I arrive, a woman appears at my door brandishing a large crested plate covered with sparkling Jamon Iberico. “Are you sure this is for me?” I ask. “Segura,” she replies.
Just one piece before dinner wouldn’t hurt, I tell myself, and then devour it in one gulp. Shortly thereafter, my group and I head to the underground, Michelin-starred Candlelight by Romain Fornell restaurant at the Hostal de la Gavina. It’s tiny, understated, and exquisite. Food is served on pastel colored plates painted with leaves and flowers.
A junior suite at the Hostal de la Gavina. Of the hotel’s interiors, Lydia says, “Inlaid marble and parquet floors, huge floral tendrils, Hellenic-style columns and ubiquitous bulbous mahogany with hints of old Spain.”
Jamon Iberico is popular in the Costa Brava region. Lydia devours a whole plateful of it in her hotel
The tasting menu is peppered with pretty, intensely flavored things: foie candies, runny olives and the tiniest baby prawns decorated with plankton mayonnaise.
There are three types of butter: rosemary, white wine and tomato. A fennel vichyssoise is served on a giant ice slab adorned with rose petals like a shimmering culinary watercolor.
Later, we retreat to El Barco, the bar nicknamed The Boat for its disguise and studied atmosphere of a Titanic-era ship.
It looks like that hasn’t changed since 1932. Staff are staying at La Gavina so long that as recently as last year, the now-retired bartender updated visitors about a falling out between Ava Gardner and her partner Frank, which he once witnessed with Sinatra at the bar in 1951.
A view of the 11th-century castle that Salvador Dali bought for his lover Gala in Pubol, which he also used as a studio until 1984. Lydia passed but said: “We don’t linger: sunshine and Michelin stars are calling.”
The most famous son of the Costa Brava, Salvador Dali
When Sinatra discovered that his wife was on the set of Pandora and the Flying Dutchman suspected of having an affair with bullfighter and actor Mario Cabre, he flew in to check on her.
After a couple of dry martinis, she slapped him in the face, but eventually forgave his machismo and they married that same year.
After munching our way through the hotel, we detour to nearby Girona and explore it bite by bite rather than street by street. One of the oldest cities in Spain, Girona built its wealth on paper mills, red wine, cork production and furniture.
As citizens vehemently advocate for self-determination, the crimson and gold flags of independence hang from many windows. In contrast to Barcelona’s extreme wealth and poverty, Girona boasts a solid middle class and equally affluent everyday life that is gastronomic by nature.
Fish stalls gleam with red, raw scorpion fish and sticky piles of squid. Bars and cafes feature coffee with chuchos – cream rolled in crispy sweet pastries – croquetas stuffed with leftover stew, pan con tomate draped with escala anchovies and Emporda wines.
The Coast’s most famous son is Salvador Dali, so let’s take the time to visit the 11th-century castle he bought for his lover Gala in Pubol, which was used as a studio until 1984.
Shockingly pink bougainvillea wraps its outline against a cornflower sky. Dali was only allowed to visit him at Gala’s invitation, at least that’s what the guide claims. There are goldfish for faucets and sculptural heads decorate the pool. Gala is buried in the basement, in a lonely and melancholy mausoleum. We don’t linger: Sunshine and Michelin stars are calling.
Els Tinars restaurant, which has a bustling cottage vibe and white-on-white decor, is just off a four-lane freeway, but a thicket of pine trees shields us from it all.
The delicious lunchtime tasting includes many perfections, but it’s the blue lobster with Iberian bacon and figs with olive oil ice cream and caramelized pain perdu that lingers in my mouth.
On a budget flight home later in the afternoon, I peruse the inflight menu. It’s a cruel comedown after a glorious last supper, and I remember to relax more gently the next time I come to the Costa Brava to eat silly.
