They chose the name Âme (soul in French) knowing that they could end up forgetting the circumflex accent both when writing it and when pronouncing it. Even so, they wanted to pay tribute to French cuisine in this way, as they also do through the menus in this restaurant that has just opened by the Lebanese Joey Attieh and the Bolivian raised in Venezuela Pachi Rodríguez. It is not the first time that these friends form a tandem, nor the second. First it was as students at the Sant Pol de Mar hospitality school, from where they would go on to do internships at Moments, at the Mandarin Oriental. There was so much complicity between the two that Attieh was already speculating about the day they would open a business together. And when he himself decided three years ago to bring the flavors of the Middle East to Barcelona by starting Albé, it was clear to him that the person who would cook there was his colleague. While the Lebanese was always more familiar with the room and the management, although in these beginnings there are so few that everyone does a little of everything, Pachi Rodríguez has cooking in his veins. So much so that, being a chemist, he did not hesitate to change his professional direction after a few years of experience to focus on the kitchen and soak up new knowledge working in different places around the world.
The next step has been Âme (London, 91), now partners, where they try to go up a step compared to Albé’s offer and have changed the touches of their country’s cuisine (now scarce and much more subtle) for that tribute to the French cuisine that excites them, using a mostly local pantry but without giving up some French products or products from other sources when they feel like it.
This passion for France, added to the one that roots them in Catalonia and its capital, where they are delighted to live, added to the wealth that the origin and professional background of each of them brings, gives uniqueness to the new restaurant that is already in Its first week is seen as one of the interesting novelties with which this 2023 says goodbye, moving gastronomically for the bad and for the good, with many openings, many closings and a notable dance of chairs.
The space is small and cozy, with a dining room in which one of the stone walls from the oldest part of the building, from the mid-19th century, has been recovered and from where you can see the kitchen, located at the back of the premises. There is no standard menu, but rather several options on which everyone can make their own menu compositions. For example, choose a starter (13 euros), such as the delicate mushroom consommé with foie oil and eringui, the Montseny gyrgola with cashews and foie, delicious and with an interesting crunchy touch, or the Japanese scallop (they choose it for its meatiness and its texture) with salsify cream and a citrus air; one of the dishes from the heavy section (24 euros), such as lemon fish with green sauce, with a citrus touch, the tasty Pyrenean trout (it is appreciated to leave out the usual species) with its roe, beurre blanc and olive oil. fig tree or a boullabaisse that we reserve for the next visit; one of the meat suggestions (25 euros), such as the Pyrenean duck magret fed with acorns, matured and cooked with beetroot, chard and its juice (reminiscent of Iberian pork due to its mild flavor) or the Montseny lamb with tupinambo puree and demi-glace. There is also a section of Delta rice (21 euros), the red shrimp from Palamós and the one we tried, duck soup, very successful, which they make by making a confit based on the thighs.
To finish, some cheeses (8 euros) and desserts (9 euros), with interesting proposals such as Maresme strawberries with champagne and date pudding, beurre salée caramel and tonka chantilly, less sweet than the name suggests. . Whoever prefers it can opt for the tasting menu (75 euros). At the moment they are open at night from Monday to Friday and starting in January this day also at noon.
