Asturias has traditionally been a territory with exceptional gastronomic power. In recent years, however, it has been able to go one step further, diversifying the panorama thanks to chefs trained, in many cases, in kitchens such as those of Nacho Manzano, Pedro and Marcos Morán, Koldo Miranda or Isaac Loya and who have taken their baggage to all the regions.
It is in this context in full swing that one must understand the contribution of Élenore, the restaurant that Cristina Árias and Guillermo González opened in Salinas at the gates of the pandemic. Having overcome that trance, Éleonore shows herself for what she is, one more piece of what makes the Avilés region one of the most restless and diverse centers of current cuisine in Asturias and, above all, as a proposal that does not looks like no other.
Cristina Arias is essentially self-taught, a cook who combined her work at the La Playa de Luanco restaurant with specific training at the Basque Culinary Center or the Hoffman School. She has Carlos Álvarez in her current team, who worked at elBulli between 2007 and 2008 and joined the project in 2018, a year before it opened, as head chef.
Éleonore’s is a proposal that does not look to the sides, which remains faithful to its own line, unusual in the area and which becomes one of its great assets; an exercise in personality that emphasizes the aesthetic, the technical and the workshop work. But let’s go in parts.
The aesthetic -when it goes outside the current trends, since every day we find proposals with a very marked aesthetic, often similar to each other, guided by books and social networks- tends to be understood in the kitchen, frequently, as something pejorative. When a kitchen is described as “aesthetic” or “precious” it is usually done almost as a demerit, as something that hides other shortcomings.
And it is true that it is something that happens, that it is not strange to find proposals that take much more care of the form than a background that is not always as solid as we would like, but this is not an aesthetic problem, but, if anything, one of those problems concrete proposals. When the aesthetic is part of a whole, it is a piece of something deeper, it is one more layer that is added and that becomes a value that is added to the diner’s experience.
The latter is what happens in each element of Éleonore. From the location, on the promenade, just a few meters from the sand and with spectacular views of the Cantabrian Sea from the dining room, to the interior design with attention to detail or the printed materials with which the menu is presented. Materials, in the plural, since beyond the enumeration of typical one-minute dishes, the tour involves a whole series of bakery and pastry formats in front of which the diner appreciates an additional explanation.
The menu is articulated as a journey through various viennoiserie formats, a common thread that accompanies the dishes and complements them; a display that is possible, since the restaurant has an attached workshop, The Pantry, which, in addition to having an independent office for sale to the public, feeds the kitchen.
This relationship with the masses is evident from the first bite, from the Bollinger champagne and apricot cocktail that is accompanied by a toasted yeast papadelta, with an intense flavor and appetizer.
Florentine with corn butter, cannelé with an oyster and rhubarb filling, pain suisse of oricios and apple, Parmigiano sponge with lemon peel cream and crispy speculoos. The snacks also show the exhaustive work that the kitchen develops around classic bakery preparations that are reformulated through flavors of local essence.
But, contrary to what it might seem at first, this exercise does not overshadow the product or become the center of attention. The Cantabrian comes to the table, for the first time on the menu, with the confit langoustine, smooth and barely warm, accompanied by roasted avocado and cucumber seeds. A proposal of honeyed textures, almost melting, that is accompanied with an apple and cucumber smoothie and a homemade puff pastry filled with hibiscus sour cream that provide the acid counterpoint.
Cured sardines in kombu seaweed, Iberian fat veil, crispy Joselito bacon and jalapeño vinaigrette. The early summer sardine, still just a little fat, is complemented by the smoothness of the veil and the crunchy pieces, while the vinaigrette, vegetable and very slightly spicy, provides the nuance that controls the greasy sensation. Next to the plate, a toasted Kamado ciabatta to dip in the sauce.
More Cantabrian with the king crab, whose crumbled meat is presented on a soup from his car and yolk and is finished off with the fried white, like a dentelle that adds texture to the whole. Next to it, to take advantage of the sauce, a donut flavored with a star anise that fits perfectly with the iodized seafood.
White asparagus -it was the end of its season when we visited the restaurant- poultry and malt butter consommé, one of the seemingly most essential dishes on the menu, in which bitter, toasty, pastry nuances are complemented by the light vanilla brioche jurasienne with tonka bean.
Asturian beef steak tartare accompanied by croissant bread and an interesting caper jam with bitter nuances; Kamado turbot, firm meat and mild flavor, with a green chickpea, grapefruit and pistachio salad.
The mallard duck comes in two services: a plié bread stuffed with duck that is accompanied with a raspberry and juniper jam and the filet mignon, which is proposed with raw laminated amanita caesarean section, green wheat and a deep duck and mushroom base to finish the menu
The technical display returns with the proposal of cheeses: frozen mascarpone bonbon, Lazana cheese bonbon, Comté with a Linzer biscuit and corn butter, crispy Vidiago and Cabrales, which is presented together with a classic forest honey madeleine .
Next comes the lemon, a tribute by the cook to Cedric Grolet, very well resolved, the vanilla and pistachio dessert -vanilla and white chocolate ice cream, crunchy vanilla with pistachio and pistachio ice cream accompanied by vanilla coffee pods, chocolate and licorice- and, to finish, the Candamo strawberry dessert: strawberry cream, freeze-dried strawberry crunch, strawberry soup, cream and osmotized strawberries with elderflower.
In summary, a technical and academic cooking exercise for the masses, which is complemented by work on the seasonal product, which is presented as essential, covered by a whole series of nuances; a combination that fits with the atmosphere of the space and with the general tone of the proposal without dissonances.
Éleonore’s kitchen follows a clear line, her own option that is unlike any other in her surroundings. And she is able to follow it, moreover, without contradictions, with impeccable execution. The work in the kitchen, remarkable considering that it is carried out by only three people, is technical, complex, meticulous and, above all, capable of avoiding the risk of staying halfway. He imposes himself a challenge and overcomes it without problems.
Cristina Arias and her team opt here for personality, for a differentiated culinary and aesthetic approach, which does not play the trick of fashion currents and which, perhaps for this reason, is in a certain sense timeless. The dishes, tasty and, above all, interesting -how many times this adjective is not present- are the fundamental axis, of course, but here they become, at the same time, one more piece of a whole in which atmosphere, cuisine and the impressive Cantabrian environment, which slips through the window, give shape to a small universe.
It is worth going to Salinas to get a glimpse of this microcosm, to discover a kitchen that is free, self-taught and self-demanding, combining academics with local products and managing to do so in a very satisfactory way. It is worth going to Salinas to get to know another of the many futures of Asturian cuisine.
