El crítico gastronómico de The New York Times, Pete Wells, ha elegido como el mejor entre los nuevos restaurantes de esa ciudad a Mercado Little Spain. Un local, regentado por José Andrés y los hermanos Albert y Ferran Adrià, que describe como un laberinto de restaurantes, bares, cafés, quioscos y tiendas que rinden homenaje a la comida y a las bebidas españolas.
- Mercado Little Spain
It’s true, I couldn’t figure out how to allocate stars to the labyrinth of Spanish restaurants, bars, cafes, kiosks and shops that the chef José Andrés presides over in the Hudson Yards complex. But putting it in the No. 1 slot for the year isn’t a close call. Not that Mercado Little Spain is without flaws. It has its share, starting with a name that’s too long. But it has made the city’s Spanish food scene, what, five times better? Ten times? Mercado Little Spain gives us ingredients we’ve never tasted in New York before, like weeks-old Ibérico pigs slowly melted over fire, or imported rabbit — so flavorful that nobody will say it tastes like chicken — in the Valencian paella cooked over burning logs. It also sells high-fidelity transcriptions of dishes from the chefs Ferran Adrià, whose liquid olives are still blowing minds, and his brother, Albert, who fed recipes to the outstanding pastry department. Somehow, though, the most impressive foods are the most elementary: the gazpacho that shimmers with olive oil and sherry vinegar; the thick, dark hot chocolate that comes with churros just out of the fryer; the goblets of gin and tonics. These and other dishes are so much better than what we’re used to that Mercado Little Spain might as well be the only Spanish restaurant in New York.