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El Caliu – A Hidden Jewel Among the Restaurants of Blanes

VisitBlanes.com • Item 152 • Posted: July 20, 2010

More articles on this topic: Blanes, Where to Eat

VisitBlanes.com — Whether you’ve vacationed in Blanes enough times to be recognized by the locals, or it’s your first visit to this wonderful beach resort, you owe it to yourself to sample some genuine Catalan dishes.

We’re assuming, of course, that you’ll want to set your sight a bit higher than Patatas Brava and Calamari a la Romana, all or not washed away with cheap Sangria.

In other words, while we well know there are some gems to be found among the tourist-district restaurants and eateries you will want to find a place that caters to the locals.

Fine Catalonian dining.
© El Caliu

More often than not that means you’ll have to venture deeper into Blanes — away from the beach, the snack-bars, the hotels and the hordes of tourists.

That said, usually you won’t have to travel far, and such is the case with El Caliu.

We discovered this fine restaurant more or less by accident.

One evening while vacationing in Blanes we were going to meet some friends for dinner at Damajuana — one of our favorite restaurants.

Unfortunately, the place was not open that evening. No problem, we thought: we’ll head for Cava Nit, another fine local restaurant. (And note that both these restaurants can be found very close to the beach, albeit in the old part of the village.)

When we discovered that Cava Nit wasn’t open either that night, one of our friends suggested going to El Caliu. We actually went by car, but it turned out to be a very short drive.

On subsequent occasions we simply walked, which took us about 20 minutes at a leisurely pace from the boulevard at Platja Blanes.

El Caliu is located at number 27, Avinguda Joan Carles I — in an old part of Blanes. Frankly, to us the street did not look all that promising. Let’s just say it’s not picturesque… But that was forgotten as soon as we entered the restaurant — and most certainly after we had tasted the food we were served.

Mind you, we’re not professional restaurant reviewers. But we sure know what we like, and we recognize quality when we see — and taste — it.

Add to this a welcome bonus: a hospitable atmosphere already hinted at in the name of the restaurant. “El Caliu” is the Catalonian word for the heat emanated from the embers of a fireplace. The name actually suites it very well, since as soon as you walk into the restaurant you can feel the warmth of its owner and family.

El Caliu is a family business. Owner and operater José Cruz Ferrón provides his customers with a variety of dishes, from regional food to fine dining.

José has a background of 14 years in the food industry — hands-on training that has made him an exceptional cook.

But at El Caliu José also counts on the support of someone who was his first teacher — and later his student as well: his mother, Trini, who rules the kitchen while José, in his inimitable way, takes care of the front of house.

The mother-and-son combination results in the most delightful dishes in which one detects that rare, sought-after combination of home-cooked flavor and fine dining quality.

We’re not going to name individual dishes, but we’ll tell you this: come with a good appetite. There’s something for everyone: fish, meat, vegetarian…

Don’t skip the starters either. You’ve got to see and taste them.

It’s easy to see why the locals love this restaurant and have thus far kept the place in business for nearly five years (El Caliu will celebrate its 5th birthday this October).

We’ve known about this restaurant for a while now, and to be honest we debated whether we should highlight it on this website. After all, we don’t want out ’secret, hidden jewel’ to be overrun by tourists.

Then again, we decided that it’s far enough away from the beaten path of easy tapas and microwaved snacks to ‘risk it.’

Mind you, while casual and friendly, El Caliu has an upscale atmosphere so treat yourself and dress up a bit. We’re sure that once you’ve dined at El Caliu once, you will — like us — return again and again.