When the octopus a feira with potato gnocchi and Sichuan sauce arrives at the Assalto bar, Matteo Bertozzi can’t help but laugh when he remembers how his idea was not to get too complicated, and he even talked about Italian and Spanish tradition. And, better said, to revisit the recipe book and tradition. But, he admits, in the end he ended up destroying it. A good definition for those who know how to see that very interesting dishes come out of these destructions, sometimes magnificent, always different and that do not leave indifferent those who sit in this small place that recently opened in the Raval.
The octopus is electric, courtesy of the effect of the Sichuan pepper on the taste buds. The tentacle pieces are just right, there is potato and there is spice, that is, everything usual in the legendary Galician recipe. But it doesn’t look anything like it. It’s very geeky, they warn anyone who dares to order it because it’s one of those dishes that you either love or hate. Days after trying it, we think we’re in for the former.
The fact is that Bertozzi did get involved a bit with Assalto in the end. And what was intended for another natural wine bar has ended up being a gastronomic bar as attractive as the chef behind it. The menu is short, but without concessions or filling dishes. Even the bread with tomato is claimed as an independent dish, not as an accompaniment: very good bread and fried and dried tomato reduced to create a delicious and spreadable sauce.
A great start that can be continued with the fried oyster with smoked piparra served on crispy shrimp bread. Or with the colorful and fresh Italian-Grenadine salad based on dried orange, fennel and olive.
Steak tartar also does not respect rules or traditions. Wagyu A5 – the good one, with the marbled fat – cut with a knife, horseradish, watercress, piparra – how this Basque chilli likes lately – and oyster pilpil that serves as a garnish. The result is extraordinary and the price (10 euros) a real bargain for this level of meat.
Each dish seems to have a trick. It’s not about playing trompe l’oeil, but about getting closer to known flavors or recipes, but in your own way. The mushroom risotto, for example, arrives without rice. He convinced us less than other dishes, such as eggplant with kimchi, salted peanut sauce and mint, another of the house’s hits that is worth trying, and that reminds us that Bertuzzi handles vegetables very well.
And the wines? Because actually the full name is Assalto bar de vins. There is no need to worry because with around 180 references, sommelier Liubov Starodubtseva has a lot of room to play and deal with the pairings of the dishes on the menu. Local naturals, ancestral bubbles, volcanic Italians, sakes and oranges coexist in a winery that justifies the visit in itself. The average ticket is around 45 euros, unless you want to play hard with wine, of course.
And, in case anyone is wondering, Assalto is also the result of an adaptation. A historical nod to when Nou de la Rambla street had a count’s name.
