Valencia, Day 2 - Michelin stars with a view

To condole ourselves for having missed out on a Michelin-starred dinner the night before, we made lunch reservations at Vertical.  Not only did it have a Michelin star and rave reviews, it was also conveniently located at the top of a swank tower very near the City of Arts and Sciences.  By the time we had finished admiring the architecture, we were ready to sit in a cool, modernist room with stunning views. 

See that 3x4 square of windows at the top of
the black tower? That's the restaurant.

View from the top

As for food, our waitress promptly informed us that they don't do menus at this restaurant -- they'll just bring us a series of dishes that (presumably) we were bound to like and then we would pay at the end.  After verifying that neither of us had any allergies to worry about, she started bringing out the courses, one by one.  From the first bite of the first appetizer (we started with the foie gras), we knew we were in a Michelin-worthy restaurant.  The food was absolutely incredible.  There were many courses and we lingered over each one, delighted with how we'd chosen to spend our time.  We knew we still needed to drive to Barcelona, but at least we would do it with full and happy stomachs!

From left: souffle, tuna tartare, tomato & pepper on cracker,
mackerel tartare, foie gras with truffle jelly



From left:  Deconstructed bloody mary
 and something else (I can't remember what it was!)

Seafood croquettes with whipped garlic mayonnaise

Gazpacho with fresh vegetables and seafood

Oxtail-stuffed canneloni and potato chips

Egg cooked over low heat with red peppers and Iberian ham juice

Prawns with scallops, cuttlefish and noodles



Chopped melon with sorbet to cleanse the palate

Faux mandarin orange with cream of coconut filling,
foam and citrus sorbet