ANDALUCÍA - CÁDIZ - EL PUERTO DE SANTA MARIA - APONIENTE - VISIT 1

APONIENTE Two Michelin Stars 

Chef de Mar Ángel León Gonzales now has his third Michelin star in his ultra-modern restaurant, which he has recently moved into. It is a converted 18th-century flour mill overlooking the estuary and, most appropriately, looking out to sea, on the banks of the Guadalete River.

This is a review from 2015, the restaurant has moved to new premises and now has three Michelin Stars. The old restaurant is now an upmarket tapas bar/restaurant and is called

LA TABERNA DEL CHEF DEL MAR

Calle Puerto Escondido, 6, 11500 El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz

+34 956 11 20 93

The old restaurant, which was down a side street in the port of El Puerto de Santa Maria, was where we had this particular meal. Chef Ángel León made his name by taking traditional seafood and fish ingredients (basically seafood with a molecular twist) and turning them into such delights as you would find on the tasting menu below.

Tortillitas de camarones (the locally famous, brown shrimp fritters)

Raspberry trampantojo, embryonic yolk, cured soy breaded flying fish roe, seasoned with a subtle touch of wasabi.

Grilled sardines cooked on olive stones, dressed in fried flakes and served on a meringue of sardine fat and tapioca.

Pickled oyster with chamomile and soy, oyster powder, foam oyster, oyster leaf and plankton

Gazpachuelo (fish soup and mayonnaise), with mussels, sea jelly, nitro rocks, tomato water and plankton.

Monkfish cheeks in squid ink

Sea urchin cone, marinated mackerel (3 minutes at 70 degrees) and mayonnaise, made with the marinade itself, sea asparagus, fermented radish and plankton.

Squid tagliatelle

Fish frankfurter

Pijota cococha (small hake), breadcrumbs in green sauce and garlic flower nasturtium

Plankton, plankton and plankton, served on a wafer, jelly, seawater and a vaporised citrus.

Carpaccio of octopus, seasoned with a gelatinous bay broth and sea cucumbers.

Sultana, coconut and yoghurt.

Candy, salt, corn foam, chocolate, tea and smoked oil.

Refreshing cannelloni, pineapple, and sweet-sour apple with tiger mussel cocoa.

There are two menus to choose from, €150 to €185.

And two wine-pairing menus, €57 or €75.

Be aware that the wine pairing is all sherry, and with 24 courses of food and 24 glasses of sherry from 12 different sherries, this can be a bit overpowering! There are, of course, excellent unfortified wines to choose from.

The service is friendly, informed and very efficient, although they could maybe warn the uneducated that the wine pairing is all sherry. We know that sherry is wine, but this can cause confusion, as it can be pretty heavy to drink throughout the meal.

APONIENTE

Calle Francisco Cossi Ochoa, 11500 El Puerto de Santa María, Cádiz

+34 956 85 18 70

Twitter: Aponiente chefdelmar

www.aponiente.com

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