Category Archives: michelin star

noor by paco morales

07 Monday Feb 2022

Posted by in andalucia, culture, food & drink, gastronomy, getaways, michelin star, restaurants

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This truly was a dream come true. I mentioned last week that my friends Xavier and Nina were coming to town with their friends Wade and Ginny, and that Xavier had seen my interview in Bon Viveur where they asked which one restaurant I was dying to go to… and my answer was NOOR! So as the gang had already planned to go there Xavier very generously invited me to go with them.

NOOR, which means “light” in Arabic, was opened in 2016 by Cordobés chef Paco Morales. His concept is all about tasting the history of al-Andaluz (the moorish name for Andalucía) and for his first season he began in the 10th century, using ingredients that were available to the people of that time. With the help of documentarians, historians, archaeologists and designers, Paco has told the culinary story of the times with skill and imagination, which has earned him two well-deserved michelin stars. Each season he has moved up a century (with a retrospective in year 4) and so, for this visit, we found ourselves in the late 16th century. And for the first time at NOOR new world comestibles have been introduced into the menu.

I won’t say too much about what happens there because there are some lovely surprises, but the space is simply gorgeous, all light and open and elegantly minimalist. The tables all have a clear view of the open kitchen and the service is beautifully choreographed without being pretentious or stuffy. Maître/Sommelier Pilar Vargas keeps everything running smoothly and is charming and helpful, as are all the staff.

The food. I’m not going to go into detail here because it would take all day. So much detail, so much care, so much going on. And so just go have a look at the photos and, yes, they were all as delicious as they look. Not a wrong step, though I will say that a couple of personal favourites were the cured meat starter with pickled onion and albaqdunis, the almond curd with tuna, and the grilled sea bass. But honestly, I loved every bite.

The wines. In the end we did the wine pairing and omg it was fabulous. While there was an emphasis on Montilla Moriles (of course) Pilar also surprised us with some international choices and then a special 2014 Moscatel de Alejandria by Pérez Barquero made exclusively for NOOR and served from a gorgeous green damajuana.

There are three menus available. Xavier chose the middle one “rihla” with the wine pairing option, but you could also order a bottle of wine and have Pilar “fill in” with a couple of special tastes during the menu tasting.

At the end of our meal we huddled together with Paco for a group photo and asked him what he was planning for the upcoming season. He made a show of asking one of the team, Josef, to come over so he could translate Paco’s answer to our group into English… and the answer was IT’S A SURPRISE. Honestly, if you can, go. Pics below…

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best. meal. ever.

06 Thursday Sep 2018

Posted by in michelin star

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It wasn’t all pintxos in San Sebastián (though really it mostly was). But I had told Gabriella @tenedor that I wanted to invite her for a nice meal while I was there in thanks for her generous hospitality. At first she recommended Elkano, just a short drive away in Getaria. But as we were making plans on the fly the whole time I was there (kind of the way I like it) in the end there was nothing available. Then Gabriella remembered Amelia, a place she had only visited once when they first opened just over a year ago. And within that time they have earned a Michelin star.

I’ve only been to two Michelin star restaurants before (1 stars, like Amelia), and was seriously underwhelmed. But Gabriella’s PA Katharine had just been to Amelia the previous evening and said it had been perfect. It was a sign.

Run by Argentinian chef Paulo Airaudo in an attractive and discreet location with  minimalist décor in the Romantica district, Amelia seats just 22 people, and there are only two tasting menus on offer. We ordered the smaller version (100€ pp), but somehow ended up with the larger one (130€ pp), not including wine. And while I could have done without the extra desserts, the star of the show (for me) was the hake with caviar and buerre blanc, which we would have missed out on with the shorter menu.

Although the Basque Country is awash with Michelin star restaurants, for the most part they are located outside either San Sebastián or Bilbao, so you’d either have to hire a car (and then not be able to drink), or a private driver. When I told Paulo that it was such a big point in his favour that he was in the centre of San Sebastián he simply said… Bingo!

It was also fun chatting with the new sommelier – a charming young man called Alex. They have a few nice sherries on the menu and it may turn out that I will meet up with Alex again one day in Jerez.

And so, here you go.
Possibly the best – definitely the most expensive – meal of my life.
Totally recommended.
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