Sometimes I think there must be a beacon on my head that guides me to amazing food finds when I least expect it. Like stumbling onto Enric Rosich‘s amazing, colorful, flavor-packed macaron shop in a shopping mall food court in Barcelona. Macarons? Spain? Yes to both. And I can attest that they are every bit as good as Ladurée’s in Paris.
While attending a culinary conference, el Fórum Gastronómico 2015, I had a few minutes to visit the updated Arena and explore this bullfighting ring-turned-fabulous shopping center in the Montjuis district. Most peeps would go straight to the top of the Arena for the view and the ring of restaurants it offered, but the options all looked a bit too guidebook-vetted. So believing in counter intuition, I headed to the lowest level to explore Barcelona’s version of the shopping center “food court”.
I was on the hunt for a something to hold me over until dinner and found a delightful tapas-style chain called Mas Q Menos tucked into a side aisle. While I sat enjoying a coca of smoked salmon, capers and Spain’s favorite Philadelphia Cream Cheese, I glanced across the aisle and spied an small exquisite shop full of light, color and jewel-like macarons. Trays and trays of every flavor imaginable. And a little side display of treats and cookies that Rosich calls “Moments” for when you just need a little shot of pure chocolate or other sugar-stacked snacks.
Was this happenstance a foreshadowing of things to come? All I know is that the next morning, I was sitting in front of Enric, watching him make those marvelous macarons along with 20 other colleagues at Fórum Gastronómico. And if it hadn’t been for a chance encounter at a food court, I might have missed these little gems altogether.
