OH not that old slicing a roast suckling pig with a plate trick, the hardened Hispanophile might exclaim. Well it’s new to me, this way of showing how tender the meat is. I’ve not even seen it in Segovia, source of this particular porker we are tucking into in Lunya. Peter Kinsella is carving it with pride – glad that a harassing soft launch is behind him and his wife, co-owner Elaine (the table tops didn’t arrive on time, they are still stacking their deli shelves).
The Liverpool original of this Catalan-style restaurant newly arrived in the Barton Arcade is the Good Food Guide North West Reader’s Restaurant of the Year and our pre-launch feast convinces me it might have a rival for that title come next year. It just feels right.
Step on to the interior balconies and you might be in some Modernista masterpiece off the Passeig de Gracia in Barcelona. Retreat to the dark and welcoming bar to select a copa of cult Spanish gin or two and that could be the Ramblas not Deansgate outside (maybe by this time I had over-explored the largest Spanish gin selection in the UK). The wine, vermouth and sherry list is terrific, too. Lunya are the only stockists of vi ranci (literally ‘rancid wine’), a sherry-like Catalan speciality. Maybe after I get through the gin list.
Next door to the bar is the cafe and deli selection, which will be a magnet for stocking up on Iberian provisions, including some fabulous olive oil – sprinkled in abundance on our pa amb tomaquet (bread and tomato) appetisers – and cheeses (dip a breadstick in the runny Tortadel Cesar), cured meats and hams. Look out for their specially commissioned salami, too, with fennel seeds plus some amazing hams, naturally.
For a four-week-old milk-fed suckling pig, though, you have to order a banquet where it can be carved to feed a party of eight in the main dining room on the first floor. It was remarkably good, as was a Lancashire with a hint of Scouse fusion dish, Catalan Hotpot with chorizo and cumin-infused morcilla (black pudding).
Catalan is the giveaway. The Kinsellas, an engaging couple, have only been in the business for four years, inspired by their visits to Barcelona, Catalonia and beyond to tap into the culture. And not just culinary, the tiled mosaic wall surrounding the open kitchen is a homage to Antoni Gaudí’s famous Park Güell in Barcelona.
With the food we are not talking El Bulli or the nueva gastronomia tapas places inspired by it. This is the Catalan people’s food using immaculately sourced raw materials. Lunya has taken up the baton from Iberica in Spinningfields; now we await the February arrival of El Gato Negro on King Street, completing the Spanish conquest.
