barcelona, spain : cal pep.
ah, our first stop in barcelona : cal pep.
when erin asked for recommendations, cal pep came up a few times. so we knew we had to try it.
a bit of info about cal pep : "cal pep presents a new way of cooking... our restaurant concept grew from the idea of sharing the dishes, their tastes & flavors, in a tapas-style. cal pep is authentic mediterranean cuisine, reflecting pep's personal style & incorporating seasonal ingredients... all prepared with pep's originality & flair." we <3 you, pep & team!
we made two trips to cal pep ... the first one - my camera died. but fortunately, the food was so delicious, we wanted to come back anyway.
here's a disclaimer, much like in my posts from mexico. i didn't generally explain that i was "vegan." i did more of a "hi, i don't eat meat, cheese, milk, eggs, etc." type of thing. so when it came to bread? no, i didn't ask. the bread in spain seemed pretty basic. no added extras. when it came to preparation, i asked pretty much everywhere. but as you'll see below - in the case of cal pep, there was a moment of non-vegan, but it was my fault. no worries. in my opinion, you gotta be flexible when traveling.
here's what i had ...
when erin asked for recommendations, cal pep came up a few times. so we knew we had to try it.
a bit of info about cal pep : "cal pep presents a new way of cooking... our restaurant concept grew from the idea of sharing the dishes, their tastes & flavors, in a tapas-style. cal pep is authentic mediterranean cuisine, reflecting pep's personal style & incorporating seasonal ingredients... all prepared with pep's originality & flair." we <3 you, pep & team!
we made two trips to cal pep ... the first one - my camera died. but fortunately, the food was so delicious, we wanted to come back anyway.
here's a disclaimer, much like in my posts from mexico. i didn't generally explain that i was "vegan." i did more of a "hi, i don't eat meat, cheese, milk, eggs, etc." type of thing. so when it came to bread? no, i didn't ask. the bread in spain seemed pretty basic. no added extras. when it came to preparation, i asked pretty much everywhere. but as you'll see below - in the case of cal pep, there was a moment of non-vegan, but it was my fault. no worries. in my opinion, you gotta be flexible when traveling.
here's what i had ...
pan con tomate :
bread w/ tomato & olive oil.
fantastic & a major staple for me during this trip. no complaints. you wouldn't think it'd make that big of a difference, but smearing some fresh tomato on a hunk of fresh bread is just so.damn.good.
mixed olives :
interestingly, on our first trip here, we were presented with a different array of olives. both versions were great, but the light green ones here actually had some sort of salty spread inside them. (maybe anchovies, gross.) blah.
pimientos de padrón :
fried padrón peppers.
you'll see a couple of these in my posts from barcelona. here's where the error at cal pep entered. i asked about the cooking oil (100% sunflower, commonly used throughout spain). but i didn't ask about the fryer. and since it's a bar where they cook everything right in front of you, i eventually paid attention enough to see it was not a vegan fryer. sad, but true. the peppers were awesome though. (yes, i still ate them.)
alcachofas fritas :
you'll see a couple of these in my posts from barcelona. here's where the error at cal pep entered. i asked about the cooking oil (100% sunflower, commonly used throughout spain). but i didn't ask about the fryer. and since it's a bar where they cook everything right in front of you, i eventually paid attention enough to see it was not a vegan fryer. sad, but true. the peppers were awesome though. (yes, i still ate them.)
alcachofas fritas :
fried artichokes.
same issue with the fryer. but again, so tasty. these were also coated in some sort of breading (which i did make sure was a-ok).
same issue with the fryer. but again, so tasty. these were also coated in some sort of breading (which i did make sure was a-ok).
on our first visit, we also had some amazing sautéed spinach w/ chickpeas & a lovely bottle of vino tinto. overall, a fun place to eat.
*note, there is no menu at cal pep. the servers just get a feel for what you like to eat & bring you stuff. so it's possible there are other potential vegan items here, i just didn't have them!
*note, there is no menu at cal pep. the servers just get a feel for what you like to eat & bring you stuff. so it's possible there are other potential vegan items here, i just didn't have them!
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cal pep
plaça de les olles, 8
08003 barcelona, spain
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