Homage to Catalonia
Casa Valdemarul. Piźkna 7/8, Tel. 628-8140Hours: Open daily noon until last guestReservations and credit cards accepted
Poor Manuel. The beleaguered Barcelona waiter in the cult British TV series "Fawlty Towers" never could get it right.
From his balding pate painstakingly disguised under a sweep of black hair, to his cultural faux pas and torture of the English language, he was one of TV's great tragic/comic figures.
And as for his skills at table waiting: With his Catalonian exuberance, his disastrous efforts usually earned him a smack across the head from his luckless boss, Basil Fawlty.
In real life, I doubt Manuel would get a waiting job in Spain. In this Mediterranean nation, food and dining out is a national pastime. I mean, this is a country that has a string of cafes that are devoted solely to Spanish air-cured Serrano ham ... called, naturally enough, Museo del Jamon.
I don't think Manuel would last a minute in a busy Seville tapas bar either, with its hordes of hungry Andalusians shouting their Sangria-fueled orders.
And I couldn't see him lasting a night in Warsaw's upmarket Casa Valdemar.
Tucked away on a tree-lined corner of Warsaw, Casa Valdemar has been open for almost seven years. I'd always heard great things about it, and how popular it is with the Spanish expat community, so finally I made a reservation.
In summer, diners sit outside on Casa Valdemar's large patio. But in the winter, its interior is the place to be. The colors of Spain's flag - red and gold - are everywhere, even the waiters wear them. Heavy wooden rafters and bare wooden floors play down the lushness of it all. The tables are laid in white linen, embroidered with little flowers, lacy napkins and candlelight. In the center of the room, a great adobe clay oven dominates.
And who else but the Gypsy Kings would be on the CD player.
The resulting effect is stylish, without being snobby, and relaxed with just the right dose of fussiness from the waiters. But women diners take note: there are no prices on your menu. Only the men are given access to that information. Fingers crossed you don't order the zł. 7,900 bottle of wine by mistake.
Our dinner commenced with a complimentary "tapas of the house" - two large oysters in the shell, dressed with a splash of balsamic vinegar, crisp pieces of Serrano ham and wilted spinach. Flown in from France, they were fresh but tainted with gritty pieces of shell.
We shared our entrees, a mixed platter of Spanish assorted specialities (zł. 39) and the long-winded "artichoke in-between meat, vegetables, oven-cooked with rennet cheese" (zł. 35). On a cold autumn night, my dish was superb: served in a small terracotta bowl, it had deliciously tender pieces of beef in a rich gravy with fresh peppercorns, carrot and tender artichoke hearts. David's platter was just as delectable. A few paper-thin slices of Serrano ham, grilled baby octopus, salami, olives, and a grilled lamb loin chop, to name some of the ingredients.
At some point through the meal, we spied the chef emerge from the kitchen and pop our main dishes in the clay oven - the temptingly titled "marinated golden quarter of pig" (zł. 139), and my "aromatic salmon steak in foil with lobster butter" (zł. 49). By the time the dishes made it to the table, they were cooked to perfection.
David's pork - the classic Spanish dish of suckling pig - was served straight from the oven with potatoes and a golden head of garlic.
"Look at its tiny legs," I cried, pointing to its rather minuscule ankles.
"It wouldn't win the prize at the Sydney Royal Easter Show," David opined before tucking in.
My salmon, topped with slices of fresh lemon and a sprig of the ubiquitous dill looked rather pale and tepid by comparison. But I have to say it was perhaps some of the freshest salmon I've had in Warsaw and cooked perfectly. But I'm not sure where the lobster in the "lobster butter" had disappeared to.
As for David's dish, the meat was tender, the crackling thin and crisp. However, we both agreed it wasn't the most sublime suckling pig we'd ever come across.
Dessert for David was a delicate bowl of refreshing ice creams and fresh berries - that really were fresh! I chose the lime cake with green pepper sauce: the flat ricotta-filled tart was a little too dry, but the spicy, almost salty sauce gave it some extra oomph, and teemed with a spoonful or two of David's ice cream, it was not bad at all.
Our ever-attentive waiters brought us the bill in the biggest silver box I've ever seen - and no wonder, in this restaurant you pay for what you get.
The cost of a three-course dinner for two, including drinks and tip came to zł. 600 ($142).
On the menu:
Mixed platter of Spanish assorted
specialities zł. 39
Artichokes with meat and vegetables,
oven baked with rennet cheese zł. 35
Chorizo sausage grilled in ash zł. 39
Mussels in saffron served with
mushrooms zł. 29
Marinated golden quarter of pig zł. 139
Aromatic salmon steak in foil
with lobster butter zł. 49
Valencia Paella (with chicken,
rabbit and vegetables) zł. 45
Lamb chops with beans, bacon
and spinach zł. 79
Lime cake with green pepper sauce zł. 19
Crema Catalana zł. 25
Celia Barnes
