Llançà is one of those municipalities with lots of tourists during summer season and little during the winter. Around 5,000 people normally live in Llançà, but during July and August the population explodes to around 50,000. Head up north from Barcelona on the coast, between the Cap de Creus and the French frontier, in Catalonia and you will arrive at the fishing town of Llançà. Continue to the best location at the beautiful seaside promenade and you end up at Miramar which is a blessing for all lovers of seafood.
The location of Miramar just next to the beach is perfect and the glass-fronted covered terrace offers the best views in town. Miramar comes with a long history that spans all the way back to 1939 that was a tough time in the region just after the end of the Spanish civil war. Julia Cisneros and her husband, Alfonso Serra, began serving drinks at their own place named Miramar. Eventually they started to offer food and rooms for the night for their guests and this evolved over time. Later on their son Laureano Serra and his wife Isabel Buxeda took over and their
business continued to grow over the years. They raised two children, Montserrat (also called Montse) and Francisco, and later their daughter took over the business and runs it today together with her husband Paco Pérez.
Chef Paco Pérez was only twelve years old when he started to work in his family’s tapas bar. He finished his cooking school and was fully committed to become a great chef. Paco was trained and gained experience from working with some of the best chefs such as the French Chef Michel Guérard who is considered as one of the inventors of the nouvelle cuisine and the famous Catalan Chef Ferran Adrià. Paco Pérez considers his years with Ferran Adrià at elBulli his most important and developing in order to become a skilled chef. It was already in 1984 that Paco started to work in the kitchen of Miramar as a seasonal cook and today he is married to Montse Serra and they run the restaurant together. In addition to Miramar in Llançà Paco is also responsible for The Mirror restaurant in Barcelona and Das Stue restaurant in Berlin.
Chef Paco Pérez is a technical and talented chef with no compromises when it comes to serve the freshest and most genuine local seafood. The Mediterranean and closest fishing port is just outside the window so a steady flow only of the best seafood is guaranteed. The flavours are distinct, pure and for the uninitiated it can sometimes be a bit extreme almost like having a sip of salt water directly from the sea.
You will have many dishes during your tasting menu like the initial ten different tapas dishes before you even have started with the first starter. The menu is heavily focused on seafood with interesting names of the dishes like “Our small brain” or “Caesar salad” that always is something else than the names hint about. Miramar is a wish come true for seafood lovers.
Written by Andy
