Chez Victor

Tucked away in the long shadow of the majestic San Esteban convent in Salamanca sits the unassuming restaurant Victor Gutiérrez, Michelin-starred and arguably home to the best food in the city. Named after the chef Víctor Manuel Gutiérrez Vallès, each dish is a gastronomic masterpiece- a distinct fusion of Peruvian hints exquisitely enriched by Spanish, Chinese and Japanese textures. We sampled the tasting menu, a decision that really should be made only by those with a very confident appetite, particularly given the constant stream of delicious freshly-baked bread rolls (raisin, onion or plain white) served alongside fine Incan spices in olive oil. Three bread rolls later, and I was in serious danger of being full before the proper tasting had even got under way. First on the menu, a finely-carved roast beef that was elegantly offset by a piquant Peruvian flavour. Next, squid ink risotto with wafer-thin tuna slices so hot they actually moved, somewhat unnerving but easily overcome by just feigning ignorance and digging in. The delicate fillet of cod that then followed was so flawlessly cooked it was like some kind of Peruvian fiesta for the mouth. Finally, the pièce-de-resistance: the best roast cuchinello I've ever tasted with a perfectly crispy skin, a real speciality in this region of Spain. By the time it came for dessert, we could barely breathe, let alone move (I made the mistake of wearing a tightly-belted dress, definitely won’t be making that rookie error again) – but with not one, but two dessert dishes, this was one tasting menu that still had more tricks up its sleeve. Thankfully, the rich chocolate brownie was ingeniously placed on a bed of mango sauce so felt less heavy than it looked (what a relief after the banquet we'd just consumed...); whilst the crisply-cut apple wedges artistically embedded in melon ice cream served to neatly cleanse the palate. We accompanied the meal with a Cambrico red wine, a speciality in this Castilla y Leon region with its complex aroma of raspberries, blackberries and liquorice that neatly counterbalanced the menu’s rich flavours. With a mere ten sittings at any one time, this was a quietly intimate dining experience- the room's blank walls and just three impeccable waitresses adding to the restaurant's refreshingly unpretentious atmosphere. At €80 a head for the tasting menu, this is perhaps a restaurant to visit for a special occasion- but I promise it's an outstanding culinary experience that is worth every last cent.

http://restaurantevictorgutierrez.com/