My Dinners with Albert: Tickets

The third, and obviously final, Albert Adria restaurant I visited when in Barcelona was Tickets. Maybe it was wrongheaded to start with 41° and end with Tickets, but that’s what happened. And, ultimately, Tickets was my least favourite experience. By far. It’s not that the food isn’t terrific. In fact, it is terrific. But I found the kitsch a little overwhelming, and it felt a little more Britney Spears  than Barnum and Bailey when it came to the Circus theme.

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My Dinners with Albert: 41°

It was like having dinner inside a Stereolab song.  From the dots and loops, wow and flutter, and what were projections of des étoiles électroniques on strips of plastic that hung from the ceiling like small portals to otherworldly planets full of butterflies, statues and swirling starscapes, 41° is modern and whimsical, buzzing with the the same sort of cerebral experimentation and orchestration you find in the lush sonic swirl of Mars Audiac Quintet.

My Dinners with Albert: Pakta

My friend Ron is a bit of a reservations savant. I can’t really think of a reservation that he has wanted that he hasn’t gotten. It’s not like he trips into them or anything like that — for the reputedly difficult reservations at restaurants like Frenchie or Momofuku Ko, he has definitely put the work in, making phone calls at what could be ungodly local hours or setting the proper Google alerts or whatever other subtle sleuth work is deemed necessary for each occasion. But the thing is: there seems to be no difficult reservation outside of his reach.

And so, in Barcelona this past week, through a series of happy coincidences and well-timed legwork, between Ron, my friend Lisa and me, we were able to secure reservations at Albert Adria’s trio of Barcelona restaurants: Pakta, 41 Grados, and Tickets. Being the lucky fifth wheel who was vacationing at the same time as two couples, I somehow managed to be the luckiest of all, getting to all three restaurants for meals. Kristina started calling our vacation My Dinner with Albert, since we were basically sharing our lives over these dinners and we all consider ourselves as talented and interesting as Wallace Shawn. (We don’t. Because nobody is. That is, to put a pin in it, inconceivable!)

Charlottetown Farmers’ Market

I was just in Prince Edward Island, and treated myself to a little bit of time at the Charlottetown Farmers’ Market. A wholly different experience from the Halifax market. It caters more to prepared food—with African, Asian, Indian and Canadian food stalls peppered throughout the small building—but also has lots of wonderful local produce, art, crafts, coffee and preserves filling up the other booths.

A blur of activity at the Farmers' Market

There is something really joyous about finding all kinds of foods that you wouldn’t expect to find elsewhere in PEI; the samosas and curries are especially delightful. But, ultimately, it’s the great local treats like Medallion smoked salmon and coffee that is roasted in Murray River, that makes me want to keep going back. And that’s exactly what I ate when I went there last week.

delicious smoked salmon, eventually shaved super thin for an awesome breakfast sandwich

The beautifully sliced salmon is plopped on top of a swath of cream cheese, and sprinkled with red onion, capers and a finishing touches---a squeeze of fresh lemon

Perfection!!!

Last year there had been news of an expansion of the Market or perhaps an additional Charlottetown space, and I’m admittedly ignorant on what is going on there, but I have to say that as much as it does seem like someone squeezing into an outfit that is two sizes too small, I find the market charming and engaging, and part of me would hate to see it change.