Fewer tables, more focus on the room and the goal of taking flight even more in the kitchen. The changes are felt in Cruix, the restaurant that Castellón chef Miquel Pardo opened 5 years ago with his partner Carlos Fernández - from whom he has recently separated - on the corner of Entença and Gran Vía. They raised the blinds at a difficult time, two years before the pandemic broke out, although they knew how to weather it by offering an attractive tasting menu at an unbeatable price (28 euros) capable of giving anyone a smile of satisfaction in those times when everything was masks.
Now that Pardo is walking alone, he has no choice but to raise prices, because he already knows what the economy is like. He still makes up for it with a gastronomic offer that has raised the bar and the level of the product, and that we find much more mature and complex. This 34-year-old chef, who has worked at great houses such as Ricard Camarena, Àbac, the Hostal Empúries or the Heart of the Adrià brothers, has recently offered two tasting menus at Cruix: the Classic (39 euros, only at lunch), with the restaurant's classics and that rice to finish that has already become its flag; and the new Gran Cruix menu (66 euros, lunches and evenings), with which the chef gives free rein to his creativity.
The second begins with a dynamic sequence of appetizers: a razor clam with saffron pickle (which perhaps lacks a little power), an original Cuban-style steak tartare that is eaten in one bite and a tasty 'cheeseball' from the Cerdanya with chili that whets our appetite. Then come the cod churros with aioli foam, a dish that we already knew and that was successful during the pandemic season.
The cooking gets more serious after the Cruix olives and the bread, accompanied by matis oil from the Sierra de Espadán (in Castellón, since the chef likes to make nods to his land), arrive at the table. It is the turn of stronger spoon dishes such as the kokotxas empedrat with Santa Pau beans; or the green zucchini curry that we think lacks a little seasoning. The pass that surprises us the most is the penultimate one, the skate taco with green tequila, absolutely delicious.
This is Cruix and, finally, rice is obviously not missing from this new menu either. On this occasion, the chef prepares it with garlic shrimp and a very thin layer of this cereal that leaves the socarrat visible and the desire to scratch and scratch directly from the paella. For dessert? We find Tom Kha Kai's soup ice cream very interesting, which is followed by 'A sad day at the beach', a fun game that has already become an icon of the restaurant.
Since the departure of Carlos Fernández, Roger Tomás has been in charge of the room. As we already explained at the beginning of the article, it is clear that in recent times improvement has been sought. In the winery you will find a little of everything: natural, minimal intervention and classic wines. About 150 references among which bubbles and sherries are the main protagonists.
