Aürt — Restaurant in Barcelona

A very disappointing Michelin restaurant in terms of food.

We would like to split this review into four parts. 1) Location 2) Service 3) Wine 4) Food

1. Location (2/5) The restaurant is not very central and is all the way in Diagonal Mar. With traffic in mind over the weekends or on a Thurs/Friday night, you would need to factor in at least 45-60 minutes of travel one way in a taxi from somewhere like L'eixample. However, the design and renovation aspect of the restaurant was very contemporary and open with three to four large islands giving you a very private chef's table experience.

2. Service (5/5) Martina and the staff were very attentive to all our needs. We were 30 minutes late due to unexpected traffic and they were happily able to accommodate us with no issues at all. Separate to this, the service was basically what you would expect from a Michelin-starrred restaurant and it didn't fall short in any aspect - a very professional team.

3. Wine (5/5) Great selection and all recommendations from the sommelier were perfect and very on point.

4. Food (2/5) Leaving the most important part of the review until the end, as this is the main reason why we gave a two out of five. Naturally, going to a Michelin starred restaurant we would imagine that a lot more attention would be paid to the flavours of each dish; however, every dish lacked creativity and there was no single one that truly stuck out to us (with the exception of the onion royale - which was really good and the peas and pods from Maresme) Some of the dishes didn't really make sense in terms of flavour combination, an example of this would be the tomato in red mojo which was huge and so sour and acidic, it was just too overwhelming.

Where do I even start with the desert? Nothing worked. The carob mochi was OK but honestly nothing spectacular. The arugula ice cream was weird and mixing peas with yogurt, though it sounds like a creative masterpiece, just did not work. The "mignardises" was fried chicken skin with some other side that I can't even remember, that was also very strange in the way it tasted.

The meal was forgettable, but desert was just downright disappointing. But then again, please remember that these are all just opinions and everybody's palette is...

To begin with, one would initially think exclusivity to less than 20 patrons a night is minimalistic, however the nuance of having all of your guest at a chef’s table provides the most intimate encounter possible - and we were able to experience it while in Barcelona. I’ve been blessed with the opportunity to dine in the Far East, Middle East, Europe, South America and of course North America - I couldn’t be more delighted with the ability to observe the preparation, cooking techniques, attention to detail in presentation and plating and the passion to attain culinary perfection by the entire staff at AURT. Martina greeted us and ensured the special occasion of the start of our culinary journey. Chef Arturo stood in for the sommelier this evening and took the wine pairings to such a personal level, sharing his studious decision making on the wines he has carefully and lovingly chosen to accompany his art of food - perfection was attained this night. Marc and Xavi tempted and mesmerized our palates with 13 dishes to delight even the harshest food critic, tantalizing five cheeses to preempt 4 desserts crafted and customized by Eva which brought the carnival of delights to a fitting penultimate end; only to have an off-menu amuse bouche finale to complete the ensemble. Fernando showered us with so much attention and care we felt as if we were the only ones dining this evening. To limit the evening to a mere 15 participants within literal reach of the kitchen provided an atmosphere we have never known yet will somehow hope for at every dining occasion in the future. We came as estranged guests and left feeling like family. A return trip to Barcelona just to dine at this gem of an establishment is already...

This time will talk less about the food or booze. But about the PEOPLE. Because the experience at Aürt was absolutely insane & magical and it was ALL due to the lovely Staff that made it a night to remember.

Passionate, polite, professional, talented, intriguing, knowledgeable, genuine, kind. True artists. True artisans. True craftsmen of gastronomy. These kids cooked, delivered and explained the dishes like few other places I interacted with under the Chef’s Table Counter style of dining.

For the 𝐹𝑜𝑜𝒹, my advice is to go for that special Tasting Menu that these kids have on offer. Remarkable flavors, textures and combinations will leave you in awe. For me, the total world class dishes included the Mushroom Consommé, an umami bomb; the White Asparagus, indulging and packed with flavor; the Onion Royale, a dish turning an onion into a true feast for the nobles and the dish with beans that blew my taste buds into oblivion. For the 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓏𝑒, the two choices of whites were the perfect match, date and marriage for the food. Albariño & Verdejo can rarely disappoint, especially from these two local producers.

This night in Barcelona and this team has just proven to me once again that the people make the place magical. And the magic is bound with the people. They are the mirror of their Head Chef just as much as he is the mirror for them. Lesson enforced.

Dear Aürt, thank you for the inspiration &...