Cala del Tanit, Oscar Bosch’s new restaurant, has Mediterranean inspiration

Calas is what they call the small beaches between rocks on the Mediterranean coast. Catalan chef Oscar Bosch was inspired by restaurants on the edge of these places in Spain to create Cala del Tanit, which opened at the beginning of the month.

These places are part of the affectionate memory of Bosch, grandson of fishermen and son of a cook. His restaurant, like those in Calas, is based on fish and seafood.

The address, in Itaim Bibi, opens seven years after the opening of its first store in São Paulo. The chef also runs the Tanit restaurant and the Nit Tapas Bar, with cuisine from his country, and the cool ice cream shop Mooi Mooi.

The starters made to eat with your hands, present in their other businesses, open the meal. There are suggestions such as the nori straw with tuna tartare, wasabi mayonnaise and roe (R$ 58 for four pieces) and the fried cheese bread in the shape of a ring covered with honey and grosso, a type of raw sausage (R$ 39 for two units).

Grilled preparations guide the main dishes. Baked under a salt crust, the fish of the day arrives at the table whole with slivers of garlic. It is served in two sizes: R$190, for two people, and R$295, for four people, and comes accompanied by potato galette and marinated tomato carpaccio.

Pasta, which is the chef’s passion, completes the menu. There are recipes such as pappardelle stuffed with house-made smoked ricotta, egg yolk and parmesan cheese foam on a spinach cream base. It costs R$69.

To finish, there are two desserts, both for R$38. One is a reinterpretation of the banoffee, which imitates a banana, made with mousse and fruit tartare, served with dulce de leche and cocoa crumble. The so-called calm miga contains chamomile cream, ginger ice cream, elderflower gelatin, tangerine and orange and carrot shavings.

Thiago Fernandes, ex-Guilhotina, makes drinks at the bar, located in the lounge, from where it is possible to see the cellar with around 300 bottles of wine.

With tables on the sidewalk and decoration covered in light wood, the restaurant is located on the ground floor of a three-story building with a terrace, which will house a new Bosch bar, scheduled to be
opened later this year.