Les Cols Restaurant & Hotel

Carretera de la Canya, s/n, 17800 Olot, Girona, Spain

RCR Architectes (2002-3 & 2004-5)

Arriving at an old farmhouse in Spain one may expect rustic cooking in an equally rustic setting, but Les Cols is not that kind of place. Les Cols is a poetic place of seasonal produce and the love of food and life, wrapped in glittering architectural wrapping designed by rcr architectes.

Chef and owner Fina Puigdevall explains:

‘…sounds, colours, scents. Stillness, silence and mystery. The soft, warm light. The sky and the earth. The virtuous game of shadows and water. Gravel, grass and flowers. The intimacy of a landscape. The immutable cycle of the seasons.

I try to establish the relationship between each moment and the beauty, and to live intensely every minute. Small things fill me with joy and get me closer to essentiality and to a complete life.

All this environment should favour a cuisine of the rural landscape and the seasonality; simple but essential; austere and humble but intuitive, intimate and authentic. A cuisine that should become the reflection of the way we are.

From here, but with the ability to open ourselves to the world, with the aim of reaching universality through the space of the intimacy. The splendour of nature. The completeness of life.’

An evocative 4 minute movie on the home page of the restaurant sets the scene for the possibilities of what might be if you visit what has been described by one reviewer as ‘the most beautiful restaurant in the world.’

For this is a truly special place for dining, banqueting and staying in overnight.

 

Further Information:

Place: Les Cols

Designer: rcr architectes or World Architects Profile

Photographer: Hisao Suzuki for El Croquis

Review: New York Times (16 July 2006)

Map: Les Cols

 

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