It might seem that Barcelona has it all, but hunger of two sorts, a desire to feast with my eyes at a famous museum and the opportunity to dine at a culinary landmark, led me to drive north of the Catalan capital one day this spring to the town of Figueras.
The visual feast was to be supplied by the late Salvador Dali. The food would be found nearby, at the Hotel Ampurdan, considered the birthplace of modern Catalan cooking.
Once you`ve shaken free of the traffic on Barcelona`s fringe, Figueras is a fast and easy, 90-mile car trip if you take the A-7 autoroute. (Driving in Spain doesn`t come cheaply, however. Count on spending nearly $20 in tolls.)
The A-7 leads to France through Gerona Province, which contains the scenic northern Costa Brava, the eastern end of the Pyrenees mountains and-along the autoroute-postcardlike views of pastures spotted with dairy cows, fruit orchards and vegetable farms.
I used the time saved by high-speed driving to visit the city of Gerona, directly en route about three-quarters of the way to Figueras. It`s a prosperous provincial capital that offers a nice contrast between the bustling modern part of the city and its medieval core.
Parking near the Placa de la Independencia, as advised by the ”Berlitz Travellers Guide to Spain,” I found a footbridge over the sulky, slow-moving Onyarr River and began a serious climb via narrow, winding streets to the cathedral of Santa Maria. It boasts the largest nave of any Gothic cathedral in the world, but the place-dark and barnlike-is short on charm. In the museum, there is a beautifully detailed tapestry of the Creation and, on the downhill trip, ruins of Arab baths (a relic of Moorish occupation) and an archeological museum. For those who can stay longer, the tourist office provides a recommended walking tour of medieval Gerona that includes the location of the ghetto occupied by Jews before their banishment from Spain 500 years ago.
Refreshments are served
Fresh-squeezed orange juice and espresso in a newly renovated, stylishly decorated cafe at the edge of the placa quenched my thirst. Something stronger would have been needed to offset the discovery of a parking ticket on my car. Continuing on the National II instead of returning to the autoroute, I had only to turn right in central Figueras and drive a block before reaching the Placa Gala i Dali. Everywhere else, this is a pleasant, unexceptional Spanish town. But it takes only a single, arresting glance to realize there`s nothing ordinary about its leading tourist attraction.
The exterior of the Teatre-Museu Dali presages the interior. Both are startling, shocking, funny. The building is a fortress; its pink walls are dotted with ceramic sculptures in the shape of loaves of bread and its roof supports rows of larger-than-life white eggs. (Much larger, actually. Each of them is 10 feet tall.)
Dali, who was born in Figueras, moved back in 1972 to oversee construction of the museum and lived in the attached Torre Galatea until his death three years ago. But the larger-than-life artist is still around. He is buried in the rotunda of the museum.
The building was once a theater and on the side of the stage is a sculpture dance band in the full cry of performance. Looking out from the stage into the orchestra seating area, a visitor sees a tropical garden setting that contains a multistory column made from tractor tires and an open limousine with a mannequin chauffeur at the wheel and a mannequin blowsy blond celebrating in the passenger seat. Washbasins hang high up on the walls. Beyond, where the balcony levels once were, are various galleries.
Unlimited lunacy
The gallery rooms are reached by staircases lined with stunning prints by the master. But the works in the galleries tend to emphasize Dali`s bizarre imagination more than his artistic genius. One critic writes of Dali`s ”wacky self-indulgence” and it`s visible in spades.
There`s a Mae West room, in which what looks to be the actress` face from a distance is made up of pieces of furniture. (Her ”lips” are a sculpted sofa, her nose a fireplace). There are human figures shaped from rocks and pebbles, nude mannequins with a multitude of arms, a menacing mural of a decaying human head, a stuffed standing alligator and more, much of it showing Dali`s preoccupation with death. The gift shop is well-stocked with prints, books and memorabilia.
All this may seem unlikely subject matter to stimulate the appetite, but the five-minute drive north on National II to Hotel Ampurdan was sufficient to change my focus. (No knock on Dali; I`ve thought about his art often since then. But it was well past 2 p.m., and my own private demons were demanding to be fed.)
A calming influence
The change in venue was complete. The hotel is so simple and uncomplicated in appearance that it invites no comparison to the museum. The terracelike dining area has windows on three sides, a shiny red tile floor, widely spaced tables and waiters in uniform jackets with epaulets. When they are still, the scene is a calm, impressionist still-life.
In the 1970s, this hotel restaurant, under the leadership of a brilliant chef named Joseph Mercader, became famous as he developed what is now called the ”new” Catalan cuisine. In essence, Mercader went backwards and leaped ahead at the same time by featuring only Catalan products and using them in traditional recipes he had updated to make them lighter and to highlight individual flavors.
Since Mercader`s death in 1979, his son-in-law, Jaume Subiros, has tended the flame (and the range) with great skill. I trusted him when he recommended deep-fried anchovy spines, when he suggested a form of risotto with salt-cod and local wild mushrooms, when he calmed the spicy aftertaste of a casserole of sausage and beans by presenting a selection of nearly a dozen fruit and herb sorbets.
The menu changes with the seasons, but the quality of the cooking remains constant. The great wines of Spain are available, along with several local products. Indulge yourself and the bill will climb well past $50 a person. But don`t skimp expecting something better or of better value in Barcelona.
I stayed so long at table, I skipped plans to drive to the Costa Brava before returning to Barcelona. It`s easily done, however. Roses, a seaside resort and fishing village, is only 15 miles from Figueras on C260. For those who can`t get enough of Dali and plan to stay in Figueras overnight, the Hotel Duran, which has Dali paintings in the lobby, is a good choice.
