Nonna flo Ristorante Trattoria Moderna — Restaurant in Sant Feliu de Guíxols

On first impression this place looked like quality, and our suspicions should have been aroused when the waiter I thought rather rudely stated we don’t do pizza here !!! Was he referring to the fact that it wasn’t a “pizza kind of joint” or that we looked like the kind of people who ate pizza takeaway every night - not a great opening introduction. Once installed at our table bread arrived ( bread was amazing which is normally a good sign ) with gin & tonic test tubes - novel I suppose but didn’t really think it necessary. Having ordered the Steamed Sepia I’m really in two minds whether I didn’t understand what the menu was proposing or it was just to clever for its own good . What arrived was basically sushi with garden peas some green foam and lots of green honeycombe nonsense, accompanied by Plankton jelly which had no taste whatsoever and again didn’t add to the plate . This took me totally by surprise. We live in Altea in the Costa Blanca north region and I’m a regular fan of sepia in various forms but this simply didn’t do one of my favourite meals any justice whatsoever. All very clever I’m sure but this place wasn’t in that kind of league and would be better served just concentrating on being true to what their serving and producing great tasting food and less on gimmicks like test tubes and ferris wheels for coffee biscuits etc etc - service was at best condescending and having lived in the alps in the border of Italy for 15 years all Italian restaurants serve great pizza and are proud to do so. These guys seem to think that there place is too good for that world famous Italian specialty! Concentrating too much on style and not anywhere enough on substance won’t get me hurrying back...

Great find in Sant Feliú, we arrived there by chance after escaping the outrageous prices of the restaurant next door, which made us run away before ordering. Nona Flo is also on the expensive side, but much reasonable for what they offer and the setting. The view outside is premium, the tableware is very nice, and the food is indeed pretty special. Don't expect the typical Italian fare, despite of its name. The cuisine is elaborate and modern, even experimental, and most dishes present a combination of ingredients only apt for the adventurous. Extraordinary salmon with coconut mousse, good tartare on brioche, okay pasta with sea urchin and dried Japanese fish flakes (a few more grams of pasta in the plate wouldn't hurt either). One less star because of regular -not free range- eggs are used (this made most plates off-limits at least to me), wine servings are less than generous (in Spain wine is cheap, why skimp?) and the ubiquitous foams, both cliché and unnecessary. Coffee is great too, served with a carrousel of delicious petit fours....

Potser us sorprèn com n'és, d'expeditiu, en Francesco. Però aquest és un dels actius i la raó principal per les quals la Locanda Di Nonna Flo és un dels millors (per no dir el millor) restaurant pizzeria a TOTA la comarca de Girona. L'Anna, la seva dona, ajuda considerablement a assolir i equilibrar l'èxit de l'equip. Les especialitats són notablement italianes (origen d'en Francesco), però el marcat estil mediterrani que emana la carta, l'entorn i la cuina el fan elaborar una cuina fresca, elaborada, variada, gustosa i molt ben presentada. No us equivocareu si reserveu abans d'anar-hi, perquè tot i que en Francesco o l'Anna faràn el possible per fer-vos seure en el seus dominis -unes privilegiades i meravelloses vistes a la badia de Sant Feliu de Guíxols-, si hi aneu sense reserva és probable que us hagueu d'esperar (gaudir de les vistes i del restaurant bé s'ho val) o bé de girar cua perquè, en plena temporada, sempre estàn a tope. La cura i el valor pels detalls són una norma i també un punt a tenir en compte. L'espai està cuidat i decorat amb bon gust tant a l'interior del local, on a l'hivern es gaudeix de les vistes a través de gegants vidrieres practicables, com a l'exterior, on la plaçeta on està situat el restaurant permet omplir l'espai de més del doble de les taules que hi caben a l'interior. Tot i així, ni a en Francesco ni a l'Anna se'ls cauen els anells per controlar la situació. Treballant conjuntament amb l'amable i atent equip de cambrers, tot plegat funciona com un rellotge suís. En resum: amb el disseny d'un Lamborghini i la maquinaria d'un Rolex, què pot fallar? Bè, Jo sempre que hi he anat ha estat un éxit absolut i suposo que es poden permetre el luxe de tenir un mal dia, però la pizza Calzone La Gondola (el meu plat favorit) i el tiramisú no han canviat en els últims anys i continuen sent igual d'espectaculars. I això bé es val una bona critica i una recomanació amb els ulls tancats, oi? La carta de vins (i de cerveses) conté productes 100% italians i no mereixen cap mena de descrèdit, seguint amb els estàndards de qualitat del restaurant.

Avui, per sopar, hem tastat l'Spaghetti alle vongole i la Parmigiana di melanzane i estava tot bonissim. Bon nivell de plats, bon servei, preus adequats, bona carta de vins, espai fabulós, respecte pels origens i un bon limoncello per rubricar-ho. Què més es pot demanar? Ull! És d'aquells restaurants italians de debó que cuinen la carbonara amb guanciale i no amb cansalada! 100% Respect i llarga vida a La Locanda...