Five Dalí POM Watches to L'Escaleta, Another Great Alicante Restaurant, One of the Best in Spain

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Gerry Dawes's Persistence of Memory* (Salvador Dalí) Melting Watch Awards.

L'Escaleta, My Favorite Alta Cocina Restaurante in Spain

L'Escaleta's elegant dining room

Chef Kiko Moya

L'Escaleta

Cami Estacio Del Nord 205
03820 Cocentaina (Alicante), Spain
011-34 96 559 21 00

L’Escaleta is a big surprise. In an off-the-beaten track town near Alcoy in Alicante province, Chefs Ramiro Redrado and cousin Kiko Moya, a combination of experience and youth, along with Ramiro's son, Alberto Redrado-undoubtedly one of the best wine sumilleres I have encountered anywhere and manager one of the best cheese offerings in any restaurant in Spain-have raised L'Escaleta to a benchmark Guía Gourmets guide rating just below Quique Dacosta's El Poblet.

And the lofty esteem in which L'Escaleta is held is well-deserved: The country surroundings, lovely decor, tranquil ambience, assured service, stellar food, sublime wine-food pairings and the cheese offerings make L'Escaleta is one of the best restaurants, not only in Spain, but I dare say, Europe.

Instead of butter, L'Escaleta offers a copper dish

of silky Ibérico ham fat with romero (rosemary).

Pichón (squab)

Duck leg with caramelized rice

Alberto Redrado with his cheese cart at L'Escaleta

Cheeses at L'Escaleta

Dessert with superb dessert wines selected by Alberto Redrado
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About Gerry Dawes

Gerry Dawes's Spain: An Insider's Guide to Spanish Food, Wine, Culture and Travel

Gerry Dawes was awarded Spain's prestigious Premio Nacional de Gastronomía (National Gastronomy Award) in 2003. He writes and speaks frequently on Spanish wine and gastronomy and leads gastronomy, wine and cultural tours to Spain. He was a finalist for the 2001 James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award for Best Magazine Writing on Wine, won The Cava Institute's First Prize for Journalism for his article on cava in 2004, was awarded the CineGourLand “Cinéfilos y Gourmets” (Cinephiles & Gourmets) prize in 2009 in Getxo (Vizcaya) and received the 2009 Association of Food Journalists Second Prize for Best Food Feature in a Magazine for his Food Arts article, a retrospective piece about Catalan star chef, Ferran Adrià.

In December, 2009, Dawes was awarded the Food Arts Silver Spoon Award in a profile written by José Andrés.

". . .That we were the first to introduce American readers to Ferran Adrià in 1997 and have ever since continued to bring you a blow-by-blow narrative of Spain's riveting ferment is chiefly due to our Spanish correspondent, Gerry "Mr. Spain" Dawes, the messianic wine and food journalist raised in Southern Illinois and possessor of a self-accumulated doctorate in the Spanish table. Gerry once again brings us up to the very minute. . ." - - Michael & Ariane Batterberry, Editor-in-Chief/Publisher and Founding Editor/Publisher, Food Arts, October 2009.

Mr. Dawes is currently working on a reality television series
on wine, gastronomy, culture and travel in Spain.

Experience Spain With Gerry Dawes: Culinary Trips to Spain & Travel Consulting on Spain

Gerry Dawes can be reached at gerrydawes@aol.com; Alternate e-mail (use only if your e-mail to AOL is rejected): gerrydawes@gmail.com