Festival Castell de Peralada is a pretty big deal in the small area where it happens. Each year, the festival pulls in a great number of acts from all over the world. For instance, this year, the Boston Ballet was there. And with this event come people from all over to attend the month long festivities. The village that it’s in is quite small, so a lot of people wander around and find the hidden treasure.
The restaurant, Cal Sagristà is one of those.
Their business card says they’re located at Carrer de la Rodona, 2. Included in this is ‘(Girona)’ which, while the local county that Perelada is in, is not the closest large city. That would be Figueres, which is more known for the Dalí Museum than for fine dining, yet restaurants like Cal Sagristà dot the landscape all around here and offer some of the best meals I’ve ever had.
The exterior is unassuming, built in what was once an old, yet very large farm house. This mild sense of played-down décor is cast throughout the rest of the restaurant as the interior is classy, yet not splashy. Whether it was the reserved hand of a highly skilled interior decorator or just the realization that good taste in a restaurant can be simple and to the point, Cal Sagristà is one inviting place to eat.
The meals are all based on Catalan favorites with lots of meat and fish. While the well-known paella is not on the list, there are many a dish, like incredibly well-prepared steaks, chickens, and prawns to take the place. Trying the goat cheese salad as a starter was delicious. The tartness of the cheese mixed with a sweet marmalade on spring greens with walnuts to give a lethally mouth watering combination. Moving on to a steak with a cheese sauce perfectly drizzled over it really started to fill me up with a succulent warm feeling. This was all paired with a local Catalan wine from Masia Serra called IO that, despite a gimmicky, over-designed label was deep in body, oak, and qualities that complimented the steak wonderfully. I closed with their white chocolate cake that was almost like a candy bar, yet just bitter enough to keeps a sense of class to it.
This is not somewhere that just the locals know about as I heard many an English and French accent around me who may have been there for the festival or just for the beaches 15 minutes away. Expats know that a place like this easily impresses visiting friends because the meals are at the same time highly classy and expertly prepared, but also approachable. A fine experience.