Korpilombolo

Owners Pau and Anette are the key for understanding the range of small dishes that you'll encounter at Korpilombolo. He's from Empordà, she is originally from the Swedish town that gives the restaurant its name - and, naturally, their respective backgrounds can be seen and tasted in their creations. A few years ago they moved to a smaller venue in the centre of L'Escala, where they serve fresh dishes that combine fun and creativity with the Nordic element that's the main house style - for example, the smoked reindeer and marinated salmon, classics that are constants on the menu. In the creative section, you have innovations such as the solid 'escudella' (a traditional Catalan soup often eaten in winter and at Christmas), which at Korpilombolo you eat with a knife and fork, and that has all the ingredients inside it; and the Parmentier of 'romesco' (a Catalan sauce that includes toasted hazelnuts and almonds, grilled tomato and garlic) with sliced 'calçots' (Catalan type of onion). In the Empordà section, a dish of bread with tomato and chocolate provides a nostalgia trip back to their childhoods for locals, while you can also try grilled sardines with bread with tomato and grapes. The bread itself is another house speciality.