A Nou We Love You!

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

It is nice to be back in Valencia where the sun is shining brightly and just about everything is in bloom. We have just finished lunch and this evening we will be having dinner with Brian and Ofelia at Sorsi e Morsi secure in the knowledge that it will be open this evening. We are looking forward to it.

Yesterday being a día festivo there was really not much to do. We puttered most of the morning away and part of the afternoon. We decided to have lunch at A Nou and try the dish for which Susan received the recipe. Susan printed out a couple of pictures for Teresa and coupled those with a CD of photos that she had taken and we were good to go. In case you haven’t hada chance to check out Susan’s blog post about A Nou here is the link http://www.vistasdevida.com/

When we walked in the restaurant was hopping. There was a party of ten all the way in the back and a number of parties of four studded throughout the restaurant. We pondered what to order for an appetizer and Javi solved the issue for us by suggesting that we try the first of the season clóchinas, which are local version of mussels. They were small but tasty. Teresa sent out a little surprise for us while we waited for the fideuá to make its appearance. It was a coca crowned with meatballs made from veal. Delicious! We then got to finally sample the fideuá made with mushrooms and secreto ibérico, which is a highly marbled cut of pork from the shoulder of the Iberian black pig. It was so good that we had to restrain ourselves from licking the paellera in which it had been prepared.

We shared a dessert that featured a pistachio laced cake topped with cheese and vanilla ice cream. We finished the meal with coffee and then Javi poured each of us a copita of Narancello, which, as its name suggests, is orange-based as opposed to the lemon-based version of Limoncello. When we left the restaurant it was a little after 5:30 and lunch had lasted for a bit more than two hours. A nap was certainly called for and I was happy to oblige.

We were in for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Susan spent most of her time reading and I played around with some of my magic for kids and worked on a new presentation for a classic card effect. We were in bed a little before midnight.