La Sucursal

Calle de Guillem de Castro, 118, Valencia, Spain

The main attraction at Valencia’s modern art museum, IVAM, is supposed to be its impressive collection, but visitors flock here for a reason that has nothing to do with the 10,000-piece gallery. Riding the wave of contemporary Spanish cuisine, the food at in-house restaurant La Sucursal is an art form of its own; a seven-course Menu Innovación includes dishes such as apple infused with green tea and aloe vera, or peach sorbet with red wine ‘pearls’ and sponge cake. The Menu Tradicional, despite its name, is far from typical; slow-cooked eggs are silken in texture, dotted with crunch from Iberico ham, starchy smoothness from potato parmentier and asparagus foam. The rice dishes so ubiquitous in Valencia make their way onto the menu here, though the arróz de costillas (ribs rice) is so intensely flavoured that it evokes visions of summer barbecues rather than everyday paella. The wine list heavily showcases regional varietals, and even the bottled water list is 20-odd strong.