King Kong coming to Barcelona, and no, that’s not a typographical error. Alexandra Ferrand, hailing from Montpellier, and daughter to a French father and Spanish mother raised in political exile in Algeria and Morocco, learned to cook Vietnamese food in the Asian-influenced Parisian barrio of Belleville (XXth). In the name of constructive criticism and municipal civility, let’s just say she finds the current Vietnamese culinary offering in Barcelona, um, lacking. So she’s taking matters into her own hands, which, to be honest, is where matters should be. She’ll be the chef in her new restaurant, King Kong, opening in the middle of June alongside the Mercat de Santa Caterina. Alexandra will center the offer around the bo bun, a dish she describes as an ensalada tibia, which typically features rice noodles, fresh lettuce, cucumbers, mint, cilantro, bean sprouts, pickled carrots, crushed roasted peanuts, and lemongrass-marinated sliced beef. All that is then dressed with heavenly nước chấm, normally a mix of fish sauce, sugar, lemon, garlic, and chiles. That list of ingredients alone explains why she describes Vietnamese cuisine as essentially simple with painfully complicated prep. And, as in Paris, she’ll serve her bo bun with nems (chả giò / nem rán) on top, Vietnamese fried rolls that can, just like the bo bun, be served up meatless, should that tickle your little pickle.
Find King Kong @
Carrer Gombau 4, 08003 Barcelona
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