The Chiarello Chronicles: Day One, October 3, Galicia. A Sublime Seafood Dinner at D'Berto Restaurant with Do Ferreiro Owner Gerardo Méndez

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Gerardo Méndez of Do Ferreiro, Chef Ryan McIlwaith of Bottega Napa Valley, D' Berto owner 
Alberto “Berto” Domínguez and Chef Michael Chiarello at D'Berto Restaurante, O Grove, Galicia. 
Photo by Gerry Dawes©2011 / gerrydawes@aol.com.

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D' Berto owner Alberto “Berto” Domínguez clowning around with a cigala (Dublin Bay prawn) at D' Berto, 
O Grove (Pontevedra), Galicia. Photo by Gerry Dawes©2011 / gerrydawes@aol.com.

 Restaurante d’Berto
O Grove (Pontevedra), Galicia

D’Berto specializes in simply prepared but sensational crustaceans, mollusks and fish from the beautiful Rías Baixas (lower fjords) of the northwestern region of Galicia: cigalas (Dublin Bay prawns), langostas (spiny, clawless lobsters), camarones (small, succulent shrimp), vieiras (scallops with their orange coral) and centollos (big spider crabs). Owner Alberto “Berto” Domínguez’s pristine selections are matched by his chef-sister Marisol’s spot-on cooking techniques, and the wine list features stellar picks, like Albariño Do Ferreiro “Cepas Vellas,” one of Spain’s best whites. Dinner, $70. 84 Avenida Teniente Domínguez, O Grove, Pontevedra, Galicia; 34-986/733-447. -- Gerry Dawes, Departures (on-line), May 2011.

Roe on a female cigala (Dublin Bay prawn) at D'Berto, O Grove, Galicia.  

Photo by Gerry Dawes©2011 / gerrydawes@aol.com.

Slide show on our dinner at D'Berto.
(Double click on the images to enlarge the slide show.)

  Where to Stay: Located roughly ten miles south of O Grove, the Gran Talaso Hotel Sanxenxo (rooms, from $175; 3 Paseo Praia de Silgar; 34-986/691-111) overlooks the Ría de Pontevedra. Nearby, two other options are the classic beachfront Gran Hotel La Toja (rooms, from $300; 34-986/730-025) and the Parador Nacional de Cambados (rooms, from $200; Plaza Calzada; 34-902/547-979), set in a 17th-century mansion. -- Gerry Dawes, Departures (on-line), May 2011.

We stayed at Hotel Casa Rosita in Cambados, a reasonably priced, comfortable hotel that looks out on the wetlands and fishing port of Cambados.  Casa Rosita has become one of my favorite road warrior hotels.  

Hotel Casa Rosita
Avenida de Vilagarcía, 8
36630 - Corvillón / Cambados (Pontevedra)
Phone: 986 543 477/986 542 878 

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About Gerry Dawes   

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. 

 

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