Sea bass with horse radish and lemongrass sauce (Source: Own photo)
Three women - one Swedish-British, two Moroccan-French - run the Threads Restaurant located in a converted former textile factory in Vilassar de Dalt, a village some 30 kilometres up the coast from Barcelona.
The first thing I notice on the approach are lovely jazz tunes, which put me in the mood for relaxation and sophistication. I receive a warm welcome in French, Arabic, English, Spanish, or Swedish, whatever my preference, for this is a very multi-cultural restaurant. The welcome sets the standard for the service, which, throughout, is kind, personable, and attentive, yet nonintrusive and professional. With a lot of smiles. I very much like that Threads is run by women; here you find none of the macho-BS you often encounter in some male-dominated restaurants.
I opt to sit outside to enjoy the lovely November afternoon sunshine and settle for the 13-course tasting menu, along with a local Alella red. I am no wine expert, so I ask for the house recommendation. I have never had a bad wine in a Spanish restaurant and Threads is no exception; the wine is delicious without being over-powering and goes extremely well with the food.
Then the first course arrives. A rich mouse of smoked eel in tuille, meaning a crusty fish-bone shaped pastry casing, which provides a satisfying base for the fragrant eel. The eel is creatively arranged on burned fish bones.
Fragrant smoked eel served with fishy tuille (Source: Own photo)
The second dish is a finely crafted Moroccan chicken tartelette encased in fine pastry and resting on a bed of corn. The pastry is thinner than paper and very crispy. The consistency of the chicken within the pastry casing is akin to peanut butter, but with North African flavours. Biting into the wholesome morsel, I immediately find myself taken back to my last trip to Morocco. It occurs to me - as it often does on such occasions - how much richer life is when cultures mingle freely.
Exotic chicken pastilla tartellete in a bite (Source: Own photo)
Dish number three arrives, immediately teleporting me to Asia. Wrapped in seaweed and covered with grated horseradish, this is toro - fatty belly - the finest delicacy on a tuna! I believe the last time I had fatty tuna belly was in Brazil with my former colleague George, who is also a big fan of toro. As I savour the deliciousness of the fish, I contemplate how good food has the ability to convey me to happy memories. I raise my glass to George!
Toro cigar with seasalad sheet (Source: Own photo)
After these appetisers, it is time for the starters! The first dish is an innovative and very successful pallet-cleansing corn-flavoured sorbet served with coconut cream and sprinkles of unsalted popcorn! I have never had anything like this before, but it sets me up perfectly for the next course!
Corn sorbet, coconut cream and popcorn powder (Source: Own photo)
Which is certainly no disappointment either! In fact, I think this dish is probably the best on the menu. The chef has carved a scallop into thin slices, which she folds into a flower shape together with thinly sliced vinegary radishes. The scallop flower is served with a rich dashi cream sauce and a spoonful of salty caviar to produce what is probably one of the most complex, yet rewarding dishes I have ever eaten. I can eat a plateful! Incredible taste!
Scallop flower served with dashi cream sauce and caviar (Source: Own photo)
But as if that is not enough, the next dish ups the stakes further. In what was probably the most visually stunning dish of the entire meal, Threads serves grilled prawns encased in pitch-black ravioli in a orange prawn bisque. I die whenever I have bisque! This one was very, very rich, making me think of the enormous number of prawn casings that must have gone into making such a flavourful broth.
Grilled shrimp pasta with prawn bisque (Source: Own photo)
And, then, something I have not tried before: bread as an actual course. Between the starters and the main courses, the newly-baked and still warm golden crusty country bread arrives. It is delicious enough to eat on its own, but the star of this course is in fact the accompanying plate of exotic butters. One butter is dark brown and salty with bitter unsweetened chocolate flavour, the second a white-chocolate-encased foie gras mousse served as a little birthday cake with with an edible candle wick, and the third is an under-stated pyramid of parmesan-butter topped with grated truffle. All three butters are irresistible, but the last one - the parmesan job - is almost criminally delicious. I can honestly say I have never had tastier butter in my life! And the whole idea of serving bread as a course is pure genius. Bread is amazing, so why not elevate its status?
Homemade bread and exploration of butters (Source: Own photo)
Next up is the first of no fewer than three main courses: sea bass served in a horseradish and lemongrass sauce. The fish is cooked to perfection, giving it a slight chewy resistance to the bite, and a full subtle flavour. The word 'fish" has been delicately scored on the flesh (see picture at the top of this blog post). The broth is white with green specks of oil, rich in flavour, but, Nordic-like, never out of balance with the sea bass. Again, I find myself teleported, this time to my recent Scandinavian roadtrip (see here). This dish, too, would be incredible as a main course. Fabulous!
At this point, Threads turns on the French charm with two mains consisting of quail and beef fillet, both served with intense classic french sauces. The delicate quail breast is carefully braised and served with a herb stuffing and a slice of foie gras.
Quail served with intense sauce (Source: Own photo)
The beef, cut in little squares and topped with vibrant green herb butter, is accompanied by polenta bites with horse radish and an intensely ravishing beetroot and caramel pomade.
Filet topped with green herb butter, beet and caramel pomade (Source: Own photo)
Evidently aware of the magic of the restaurant’s sauces, the waiter politely inquires if I want more bread to soak up the sauce. Yes, I do! This quality sauce requires emphatic consumption! And so, once again, this time prompted by sauce, I find my thoughts travelling elsewhere, to a passage in "For Whom The Bell Tolls" in which Ernest Hemingway describes a hungry Robert Jordan savouring gravy:
"Robert Jordan wiped up the last of the sauce in front of him with a piece of bread, piled the rabbit bones to one side, wiped the spot where they had been for sauce, then wiped his fork clean with the bread, wiped his knife and put it away and ate the bread."
I am getting full by now, but more food was coming. The first of two desserts consists of flakes of dried yoghurt broken over a tangy yoghurt ice cream and served on a crusty base of genuine honeycomb. Honey and yoghurt, if you have not tried it yet, is an extremely pleasing combination, because the sweet and sour flavours go so well together. The honey comb is brittle and sticks to the plate.
Yoghurt peel, yoghurt ice cream and honey comb (Source: Own photo)
The yoghurt helps to cleanse the pallet for the final piece de resistance: an insanely beautiful and quite irresistible vanilla and raspberry combination arranged in the shape of a flower. The white vanilla petals are tangy with drops of vanilla oil, while the red raspberry petals are sumptuous with a completely disarming crumble and little fresh sparks of raspberry fruit. World class dessert, not just in appearance but also in taste.
Petals of vanilla and raspberry (Source: Own photo)
My meal concludes with a creamy cortado, with the obligatory brown foam, accompanied by two types of sweets, one a rich walnut-shaped chocolate with crunch, the other the smoothest truffle I have ever had. They are gone before I even have time to take a photograph!
My verdict on Threads: this is an extremely good restaurant. The village of Vilassar de Mar and the neighbouring town of Cabrils are known for their excellent restaurants, but what sets Threads apart is that it offers a genuine alternative to the usual Spanish fare in these parts. Threads serves an enormous range of dishes - seafood, shellfish, beef, bird, bread, desserts - and ALL of them are delicious.
What a talented team!
Here is the link if you fancy a visit: https://threads.es/en/about/
The End
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