Barsa Taberna – Permanently closed

Last Sunday, I met up with my other food stylist friend, Eric Martyn.  Just like Abe, we met in that intensive food styling course at George Brown College years ago.  And nope, I have no plans of of breaking ties with my bestest business partner ever, Abe is definitely a keeper.  After receiving a recent call from Eric, we just touched base to keep up with each other’s take on food styling and food photography.   When he mentioned to meet at Barsa Taberna, I could not say no to visiting the recent addition to St. Lawrence Market.  With hope that I find my piece of Barcelona in the middle of downtown Toronto, I don’t think I’d say no to that.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

As we met up on a Sunday night, St. Lawrence Market was just dwindling of pedestrians here and there.  Parking by the curve of Church  and Front Sts., I started my walk towards Barsa Taberna.  The neighbourhood has a lot of recent additions and I do like the idea of walking leisurely down the cobblestone pavement of Market St.  It somehow started transporting me back to how it is at  Barcelona.  I have seen images of the restaurant interiors but nothing prepared me to the nostalgia of seeing it in person.  The brick walls, the intricate tiles and the handsome arches through the inner dining room.  It was beautifully designed I must say.  I stood there missing Barcelona.

For the night we were also joined by Eric’s mom.  She was a delight of a personality, very much interested with food like Eric and me.  For the night we have ordered banderillas (a generous mix of house pickles, quail eggs, marinated goat cheese, fennel and an assortment of olives),  Iberico Croquettes (stuffed with jamon and chicken), Lasagnette (vegetarian lasagna), Patatas Bravas and Pork Tortita (with roasted cauliflower, Barsa Kimchi with soy glaze).  As Eric knew a lot of people behind the kitchen counter, we had a treat of having samplers of jamon, Boquerones en Vinagre, Sea Bream ceviche, Broccoli Salad and Lobster Linguini.  It suddenly turned into a feast.

As you can see, the menu is not entirely Spanish.  I am still yet to find in Toronto my favourite Catalan dish of scrumptious Chistorra.  That being said, still swing by as I was so pleased at how the lobster linguini was put together.  House-made pasta cooked with olive oil, slivers of asparagus and tossed with perfectly tender and plump morsels of lobster.  It was truly luxurious to eat.  I must mention too how the Iberico croquettes reminded me of the croquettes I have enjoyed in Barcelona.  Rich, crunchy on the outside and creamy on the inside, those bits of jamon makes this one my second favourite of the night.

I got to get back to Barcelona soon.  Reminders like this just gives me that urge to jump on a plane and go.  I’ll be there soon enough.  That is a guarantee. :)