A couple of years ago, four friends who met working at the star-studded Caelis, by chef Romain Fornell at the Ohla hotel in Barcelona, ??decided to embark on a trip together on their own: Unprevisto, a restaurant that began to take shape more or less at the same time. that the Ertes caused by the pandemic were brewing.
At that time the rental price was nowhere near what it is today, so the Italians Luca Pinna, Raffaelle D’Avico, Isabella Vivarelli and the Ecuadorian Alberto Jaime León took advantage of the opportunity to take over an old hamburger restaurant on the Dreta de l ‘Eixample, which they renovated as best they could without anyone’s help.
Two years later, after achieving success thanks to word of mouth, they remain faithful to their initial proposal: a completely improvised tasting menu, which has evolved over the years. This is based on seasonal produce and market cuisine, and they say they like it to be a surprise, because it makes the chosen formula more informal. “Tasting menus are usually serious and sometimes even boring. We want to make everything fun,” explains Vivarelli as he attends to the room, exuding sympathy.
At the helm of the kitchen are Pinna and D’Avico, who in this case decide to start the experience with a panipuri of artichoke cream scented with lime and seasoned with bottarga, which already suggests that the Italian pantry will be present in Imprevisto’s kitchen. It is followed by the Normandy oyster with rock fish suquet, Catalan chopped crumble and trout roe, which transports us to Caelis for a few seconds; and a very interesting beef sirloin tartar accompanied by a reduction of the meat’s own juice, aromatic herbs, pickled mustard seeds, toasted pine nuts and Raifort mayonnaise.
Among the unexpected dishes that we tried on our last visit (they have two tasting menu options, a long one with 10 dishes and a shorter one with 7); We are also surprised by the so-called ‘seafood snack’ that they prepare with squid, cockles, razor clams, mussels, a curious pico de gallo with semi-dried tomato, white garlic and jalapeño. Also the exquisite ravioli stuffed with smoked potato and prawn tartar that is served with a foam of the seafood itself.
The careful selection of wines by sommelier Alberto Jaime León impeccably accompanies each pass. In his cellar, a little of everything: rieslings. txacolis, funkier natural wines or others with a more classic and formal style.
Recently at Imprevisto you can choose à la carte dishes, but wouldn’t trying their proposal this way be an atrocity?
