With Apulia still on my mind, I was looking for a more southern european-influenced cuisine. Also, continuing my theme from the previous week (where I explored the einsunternull), I was curious about a restaurant that achieves both high ratings and a Michelin star, but a pretty low rating by the actual guests (3.8 on Google, admittedly based on few ratings; and amusingly, #666 out of 6952 on TripAdvisor right now).
How did my experience go? Well, this report will be a bit different from those I posted before.
Arrival
The arrival on this Thursday was quite an adventure. I am not usually late, and normally prefer to walk both directions, but in the Berlin monsoon, myOnce I had made the journey, I was shown to my table - the walk to the restaurant leads past the kitchen viewing area, which always interests me. But ... did I see that right? Camera domes on the kitchen ceiling?
The concept
It is worth explaining that Paco is not present in the day-to-day running of the restaurant on-site. The chef is Miquel Villacrosa, and Paco acts as a mostly remote mentor. The camera domes? He can watch the kitchen team work via the Internet, which he apparently does not do every day, either. Since I had picked a slower day (those are easier to get reservations on), I was told he likely would not. But that they have daily Skype interviews discussing the day ahead and the current challenges.And those camera domes - personally, in hindsight, they should have been my first clue. If you are wondering why the dishes are described so tersely compared to my usual notes, skip to my summary directly, but I have tried to maintain my usual structure.
The choices
The meal
The Cinco offers a tasting menu called the "Experience Menu", which is made up of nine dishes that are supposed to allow one, well, experience a mixture of Paco's memories and Spanish cuisine. Since it was the menu with the most plates, I clearly had no other choice.The drinks
The Cinco does not offer an "official" non-alcoholic pairing. However, my host talked to the bar staff and they offered to improvise a three or four matches, which I gladly accepted. In similar situations at the Rutz or einsunternull, I've been treated to various experiments that the sommelier conjured up from their lab and have mostly been very impressed.The meal
Aperitif
It started with an aperitif - a Necorino, a mix of san bitter, elderflower, and peychaud's, served on a rather large, clear ice cube and a chunk of roughened orange peel. The drink was delightful, and had a great balance between bitter, sweet, and red berry notes, and the orange's essential oils just worked perfectly. A great start!
(However, the ice cube was so large that actually drinking from the glass meant my nose kept stubbing it, which was less convincing.)
Greeting from the kitchen #1
The soup was interesting; the purple corn overwhelmed by the espuma though. the tortilla had an earthy touch to it. The iced cakes were indeed delightful; sweet corn, creamy, and the almond worked great as well. The truffle provided a wonderful fragrance.
However, the glass they are served on is indeed very fragile, and the almond one broke apart when I lifted it off the plate. I was told this, apparently, happens regularly.
(This would have been a good time to offer a hot towel, because the paste is somewhat sticky.)
Greetings from the kitchen #2
The brie-based dough with truffled honey was, again, very aromatic and fragrant. However, the way it was suggested to eat this was to fold it once, which leaves one's fingers covered in said truffled honey. (This should have been the latest time at which a hot towel would have been a great addition to the service.)
Breads
The white bread is passable. A bit chewy and not a very delicate texture, I'd doubt if this was freshly baked.
The darker one has anise seeds backed into it; or, more accurately, its bottom was apparently dipped in anise seeds. Leading to that section of the bread being overwhelmingly anise-y, almost burned (since it's not incorporated into the crumb, and fully exposed to the heat from the pan). The crumb itself is dry and flaky.
And, yes, serving bread on stones is wonderful - stones would, for example, help hold the temperature (if this wasn't cold), and possibly provide an interesting haptic sensation. Alas, the stones are under clear glass and for your viewing pleasure only. (Another omen.)
Tuna, caviar, and algae jelly
The first drink
Second course
The soup's flavour could be described as subtle and delicate - or shallow and non-existent. The asparagus tips were, in my opinion, over-cooked. The petals are beautiful visuals, but even when I tasted them separately, they were entirely free of flavour.
Intermission
Third course
The taste and texture of the sea cucumber were interesting, and, without mockery, subtle. This kitchen team clearly has no trouble cooking to the perfect point, and knows how to handle their meat and seafood. Alas, the espuma looks great, tastes of little. The baby carrot? I am unsure how it relates to the rest of the components, except in the lack of flavuor.
Second drink
Fourth course
Fifth course
The sea bass was truly very good; we are getting somewhere! Grilled to perfection, and not just simply through the magic of sous vide. The jus and algae paste was a pleasant surprise; suddenly, there was actual flavour on my plate and a use for that bread!
The frutti di mare mix, alas, was forgettable in flavour again, even if the consistency and texture were perfect. The sepia pasta was too hard though, and too slippery to be able to be nicely coated by the sauce. (Too much gellant?)
Sixth course
This started out great; the creamy risotto's crayfish flavor was intense, and the umami from the mushrooms complemented it. (The white truffle slices could have done with tasting of something, though.) In the end, the mushrooms became overpowering, and I'd argue a few rice grains were partly still too much on this side of al dente. (It did not help that I had the perfect risotto at Quintessenza only a few weeks ago.)
Third drink
Red berries, vanilla syrup, black tea, which lend it is characteristic tanninic acid notes and minor astringency. This might even fit with the next course; perhaps slightly too sweet for that, still.
Seventh course
The pigeon was cooked to perfection again; perfectly pink, tender, well charred. (I added a pinch of salt for my own preferences.)
The two balls pick up on Paco's play - they look the same and share the same texture, but taste very different. The dumpling is filled with a hint of pigeon liver. (When the dish was announced, it was described as bread, but since the texture reminded me more of a Czech bread dumpling, that's what I am calling it.)
The dehydrated-rehydrated black olive - the tiny black sliver on top of the bread - though was a delightful moment. A blast of intense flavour hit my palate and I was happy to see it still actually worked! The olive oil sphere, too, was well done.
This was my favorite plate. It demonstrates that, all my gripes aside, there is great potential here.
Eighth course
Yet again, look at the plate - it if a visual master piece that is, alas, not echoed in the flavour and taste dimensions.
Ninth course
This is something you can't go wrong with, and extremely tasty. (I have most definitely not been known to eat an entire pack of Prinzenrolle by myself. That'd be gluttony.) But I will also admit that it felt out of place in the menu.
Wrapping up
The bill was sweetened by a parting gift. The dulce de leche was truly inspiring, and had a rich creamy taste. The self-made gummy bears had too much gellant, and the too-sweet coffee macaron's supposed ginger cream filling could have done with more ginger.
Service
The service was very courteous and professional. I have no complaints there. I enjoyed my chats with the hosts, and how they presented and introduced each dish. Even if, as usual, I could have done with a slightly faster frequency of the courses.Summary
If you have read until here, it will probably come as no surprise that my summary is not entirely favorable. Which is also why my report above is rather terse and probably reads like writing it was a chore; it was. I don't enjoy describing and thus reliving uninspiring food; I do not set out to write negative reviews, but to experience great food and share the joy. I arrived with high hopes and glad to have escaped Berlin's pouring rain.And it might well be that the restaurant works for some of their guests; they must have convinced the testers, at least. Maybe they visited on a day where the chef was actually in, or have a more refined palate than I do. Or maybe I was just unlucky, or did not understand the concept of the kitchen.
There were certainly a few moments where the potential of the kitchen team peeked through, but I lacked a "wow" moment. I understand that the visual and the story of food play a big role in our neurogastronomic experience; I love a great presentation, and it does enhance my enjoyment of a meal. Yet it cannot replace flavour; both are required.
Overall, their style seems to be primarily focused on the presentation, then texture, and only eventually, flavour and taste.
This should perhaps be no surprise, either: if the authority inspecting your work can only do so by video, what dimension of your work will factor higher in their evaluation? What will you strive to get right?
I also felt that, on most plates, there were too many components; perhaps this is a misguided opinion, but perhaps half the components would have allowed more focus on the other aspects.
Every dish was introduced with some reference to Paco's thinking and ideas; every chef in the kitchen has worked with him before. But Paco isn't there always; Paco only watches, sometimes. He's not inspecting every plate before it leaves the kitchen (though I would not be surprised if every plate was photographed before it went out). When he shows up in person, yes, then every dish is prepared for him to taste, or so I was told. But a chef needs to be responsible for every single plate, for every ingredient. Not just the appearance, but first and foremost the flavours.
This is a great restaurant if you want to impress your company with the aesthetics and visual presentation of your dinner, while not having the culinary experience distract from your business meeting. (The hundreds of copper pans hanging from the ceiling are another visual touch.)
The drinks were excellent, hinting at a very capable bar staff. (And that Bacardi Facunda Paraiso I was able to taste suggested an indeed excellent and outstanding arsenal.) Yet, the right answer to my inquiry regarding non-alcoholic drinks should have been the suggestion to stick with water, because none of them fit the courses.
Wrapping this report up, I was not impressed, and the one or two moments of inspiration were too few and far apart.
But do not take my word for it; culinary preferences range far and wide. And even if Cinco did not convince me, perhaps they will inspire and amaze you! Even so, I am glad to have had a chance to form my own opinion and thus better understand and reflect on what matters to me.
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