DINNER pages

Back home for a brief rest, and then time to navigate across the Gothic Quarter into another new neighborhood, Raval, where we had reservations in a little hole-in-the-wall justly famous for its paella.

You'll notice that feet never left the ground today (except Rochelle's for a nap.) All navigation was by foot along streets rarely polluted by wheels, and that is surely one of the reasons this was such a lovely day. I'm beginning to get the hang of Barcelona, and can find my way from point A to point B with only two or three consultations with a map. "I don't know how you got us here," admits Rochelle. It definitely has to do with a (usually) imperturbable sense of direction. We found Arume easily.

Feeling brave, we started with a blackberry mojito (at left, below) Next, burrata spring salad with pomegranate, guacamole, microgreens and hazelnut vinaigrette, and then their signature paella, ranked 34th of 7,201 restaurants in Barcelona on TripAdvisor. To finish off, la Torrija de Manuel with vanilla ice cream: as if crême brulée had a baby with a pudding cake. After this indescribably delicious meal, we were favored by our host (whom I think we amused with our foodiness and appreciation) with a couple of little glasses of the local after dinner drink, an alcoholic concoction of chocolat (spelt xocolat here) and cherries.

Here's dinner! Even better than in Collioure; now we have chicken and mushrooms to add to the other bounty of the season. A glass of rosé from the Hérault (the département we're in, like a state, of which there are 96 in France). Unlike our early season (read "tasteless") tomatoes, we're getting succulent beauties. Spoiled by our greenhouse's production of yummy tomatoes right into December, it's a treat to get these for our salad.

Dinner was one of those inexcusably superb French experiences we came for. The restaurant: L'autre Jardin. We order. I ask for wine; our hostess invites us to the cave to choose. We find a lovely Bio Viognier Chardonnay from the terroir to go with Rochelle's poisson du moment with seafood risotto and my Guinea hen in mushroom sauce. We share a starter: an elegant arrangement of capers (the big real ones), parmesan, and Iberian ham. Everything is superbly plated and the wine is perfectly matched to all three courses. It's a rare dinner where we down a bottle, but no problem. Panna cotta with raspberry coulis shared for dessert, two espressos and a glass of local armagnac. The whole dinner transaction goes down in comfortable (at least for us!) French. Perfect.

Dinner tonight - Chef Rochelle's salad at home: okay supermarket lettuce, heirloom tomato, sun dried tomato, Mirepoix market olives, pepper, pistachios (from Harvest Market!), parmesan, balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

For dessert, a little gateaux des noix purchased this morning with our chocolatine and croissant at a wood fired baker's place we found on the ridge above Sarlat. Yum.

next group : to Hawaii