Potato churros (fermented with almost the same times as bread) as a tribute to traditional bravas, fried lasagna without a drop of oil or delicious crispy leek tsatsiki. Can you succeed by giving it almost exclusively to the fryer in times when fat is persecuted by the WHO? Yes, if you know how to fry like French chef Mathieu Pérez does at the new Señora Dolores.
This place in Sant Antoni, modern and cozy, with a name and graphics that pay tribute to La Pasionaria de Glasglow and all the Dolores ladies, is a true ode to the star utensil of any churrería. “Frying gives me openness, it allows me to play, because if you notice, each country has a different way of frying. “That broadens my vision,” explains Pérez, on the other side of the bar, in front of his fryer, who before opening this establishment alone was head chef at Bar Brutal and partner of the Colombo brothers at the now defunct King Kong Lady at Casa. Bonay.
He was also one of those responsible for making natural wines, back in the 2000s, fashionable in Paris with his bistro Aux Deux Amies; Hence, in the Señora Dolores winery there are between 80 and 120 references of pre-treated wines, especially in the Pyrenees and other areas of Catalonia.
Local wines (made within 200 km) that coexist, in addition to the excellent fried foods, with the occasional suggestion of the day in which the seasonal product is the absolute protagonist. “It can’t all be fried, there has to be a balance,” says Pérez.
On the day of our visit we tried the skate with peas and asparagus (delicious), the splendid artichoke that Pérez’s brother brings him from his native Perpignan accompanied with mashed turnips, leeks and mustard leaves and kumquat (the most spring-like) and a suggestion that, due to its success, has already become the star dish of the house: the fried tongue with gildas, which we would undoubtedly repeat again.
The dessert menu is small since, while finding staff, Pérez spends the vast majority of time alone in the kitchen: even so, the homemade flan with green anise, salted caramel and olive oil is excellent.