One of the highlights of Sunny Design Days, the week long tour through Spain to discover the best in Spanish design, was the food. Beautiful fresh Spanish food. Flavourful tomatoes, jamón, cheeses, olives, paellas… paired with strong and sweet wines. It's in moments like these that I realize I'm not a food blogger: as soon as there is food on the table, I'm in the moment and forget about taking photos. Please tell me I'm not the only one 😉
During the week, we had two memorable meals at Restaurante Solomillo in Barcelona. Solomillo is a brand new restaurante in the Eixample area, close to the Passeig de Gràcia. Downstairs you'll find a charcutería where you can get all kinds of iberic hams, cold cuts and cheese plates and on the first floor is a gastronomic brasserie, that serves "meat by weight" and the best Solomillo (tenderloin beef) in town.
An important asset of Solomillo is its cosy atmosphere. The interior design focuses on classic Spanish roots and was created with contemporary Spanish designs only. We had the opportunity to meet Maria and Jorge, the interior architects from Borrell & Jover, that designed Solomillo's space. They explained that they aimed to create a look and feel that is timeless yet modern. I think they succeeded that challenge: it's hard to define the date that the restaurant was designed. And it's wonderful to see famous Spanish brands like Nanimarquina (Medina rugs), Santa&Cole (Básica Mínima lamps), Cosentino (marble table tops), Marset (Funiculí lamps) and Expormim (Huma chairs) in one place.
In line with the cosy, classic and contemporary decor style, the staff at Solomillo is equally friendly and likes to explain everything about the food they serve. My absolute favorite dish was the buffalo mozzarella with Spanish tomatoes. It was succulent! Obviously not pictured, I was too busy spoiling my taste buds 😉 However, I managed to capture the iberic jamón:
The view from the bar, with Funiculí lamps by Marset:
Cheeses, from smooth and soft raw cheeses to spicier aged ones:
Basica Minima lamps from Spanish editor Santa&Cole:
I love the design of the paper table runner design where you can ✓ the doneness of your meat: bleu, saignant, à point, 3/4, bien cuit.
One detail that comes back in both the charcutería and the restaurant are the ceramic tiles. Maria and Jorge choose a basic designed tile, normally used for skirting board(!) and painted it in a meaty color. Around 7300 pieces were used at Solomillo, all assembled one by one. It looks glossy, chic and is a perfect fit for a restaurant that focuses on meat!
Below: this CaressLamp from Obvious is even cooler in person: when you gently caress the lamp it will slowly go on or off (see the video here), which is very addictive ;).
The Huma chairs are by Expormim, another Spanish design brand that we had the chance to visit during Sunny Design Days. I actually saw one of these chairs being made (by hand of course): so fascinating! Will show you more about that soon.
The perfect treat after a delicous meal at Solomillo: delightful chocolate truffles:
Solomillo Charcutería y Carne al Peso /// C/ Mallorca, 251 /// Barcelona /// +34 934 67 77 55
Those antipasti selections look wonderful, I often prefer the antipasti to the main course in many restaurants I frequent.
I must try the buffalo mozzarella, you've tempted me!