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Fanal Racou Fanal RacouPlatja d'Aro · 1978

The Weekly Tasting · Course by Course

Seven plates that follow the Catalan coast from sea to mountain.

Every Tuesday morning, Maria and the brigade rewrite the tasting around what the boats have landed and what the Empordà hills are giving us that week. The seven courses below are a representative letter — what arrives at your table reflects Tuesday's walk to the market.

  1. I

    Aperitiu de Mar

    Palamós prawn carpaccio, tomato water from the hinterland, and a single drop of extra-virgin olive oil pressed that October at our cooperative in Monells.

    Paired with · Espelt Saüll 2023 — Empordà DO white

  2. II

    El Peix del Dia

    The boat's catch — depending on Tuesday it may be scorpionfish, sea bass, or cuttlefish — finished on the grill over vine cuttings from Joan Casademont's cellar.

    Paired with · Vinyes dels Aspres 2022 — Empordà DO white

  3. III

    Suquet de Peix

    Our award-winning Catalan fisherman's stew — recipient of Best Traditional Catalan Recipe 2022 at the Girona Culinary Congress. Potatoes, saffron from La Mancha, and rockfish broth.

    Paired with · Mas Oller Mar 2021 — Empordà DO rosé

  4. IV

    Mar i Muntanya

    The Catalan classic, served at every coastal table since our grandmother's day — slow-braised beef cheek with cuttlefish, ink, and a picada of toasted almonds and dried ñora peppers.

    Paired with · Roig Parals 2020 — Empordà DO red

  5. V

    La Muntanya

    A main from the Pyrenean foothills — perhaps lamb from the Albera massif with romesco, or porc negre cheek from the Empordà oak forests, depending on what the farms have sent us.

    Paired with · Clos Mogador 2020 — Priorat DO red

  6. VI

    Formatge de Propi

    Three small Catalan cheeses from the Alt Empordà dairies — aged Garrotxa, fresh mató with honey from the Gavarres, and a blue from the Albera — served with quince paste and toasted country bread.

    Paired with · Anima Negra ÀN/2 2021 — Mallorca

  7. VII

    Dolç de la Casa

    A small dessert rooted in the Catalan canon — crema catalana torched at the table, or braç de gitano with seasonal fruit, depending on what Maria found at Saturday's market.

    Paired with · Moscatell d'Empordà · Garnacha del terreno

Allergens and dietary requirements are honoured with 48 hours' notice. Vegetarian and pescatarian paths through the menu are available on request.

Mar i muntanya is not a recipe. It is the way we have always eaten on this coast — a fisherman's stew that becomes a butcher's stew on the same plate, because the sea and the mountain were never very far apart. Every Tuesday I rewrite the letter to my grandmother, and every Sunday I serve it again to someone new.

Maria Racou

Head Chef & Third-Generation Owner · trained at El Celler de Can Roca, 2010–2014

Signature Catalan dish photographed in the warm candlelight of Fanal Racou.
À la carte · Catalan classics, reinterpreted

À la Carte · Order by the Plate

For evenings when seven courses feel like one too many.

Our à la carte selection follows the same Catalan canon as the tasting, served in smaller, shareable portions. Most guests order three to four plates between two.

  • Suquet de Peix

    €28

    Our award-winning fisherman's stew — saffron, potato, rockfish, and a picada of toasted almonds. Awarded Best Traditional Catalan Recipe at the Girona Culinary Congress, 2022.

  • Arròs Mar i Muntanya

    €26

    A short-grained bomba rice cooked in seafood broth with cuttlefish, prawn, and slow-braised pork rib. Served in the pan for two.

  • Bacallà a la Llauna

    €24

    Salt cod baked on the tin tray with a picada of ñora peppers, garlic, and parsley — finished with a raw egg yolk at the table.

  • Foie Gras amb Poma i Oli

    €22

    Seared Empordà foie gras, caramelised apple from the Albera orchards, and a thread of aged Moscatell vinegar. A house favourite since 1984.

View Full À La Carte

The Cellar · 320 Labels

A curated journey from Empordà coastal whites to Priorat mountain reds.

Curated by head sommelier Joan Casademont (WSET Diploma, 2014), our cellar holds 320 labels, with 92% drawn from the Empordà and Priorat denominations of origin. The four journeys below are how Joan walks guests through the list.

Featured · The Sommelier's Anchor

A Letter from Joan Casademont

"The list is small on purpose. I keep only the bottles I would pour at my own table — and I always start the same way: with a glass of Saüll in the hand, looking out at the bay. Empordà whites like sea glass; Empordà reds like the stone of the hills behind the house; Priorat like the inside of the cathedral at sunset. We move from there."

Joan Casademont · Head Sommelier · WSET Diploma, 2014

Journey I

Empordà Whites · Sea Glass

62 labels. Grenache blanc, Macabeo, and the rarer Carignan blanc. From the salty minerality of l'Albera to the orchard-fruit roundness of Monells. Pair with: Aperitiu de Mar, raw shellfish.

Journey II

Empordà Reds · The Hillside Stone

148 labels. Carignan, Grenache, Syrah, and the local sumoll. From the lighter Cap de Creus bottles to the structured old-vine Carignan of Rabós. Pair with: Mar i Muntanya, slow-braised meats.

Journey III

Priorat Reds · The Cathedral

84 labels. Garnatxa and Carinyena from the llicorella slate — Clos Mogador, Scala Dei, Álvaro Palacios. The mountain side of the cellar. Pair with: La Muntanya, lamb, aged cheeses.

Journey IV

Moscatells & Dolços

26 labels. Empordà Moscatell — the traditional Catalan dessert wine — alongside Garnatxa de l'Empordà dolça. Pair with: Dolç de la Casa, formatge, the end of a long evening.

Full cellar available at the restaurant. The wine pairing for the Mar i Muntanya tasting (€68) draws one bottle from each of Journeys I–III.