| The wine cellar and the painting collection |
| I have already described, more than once, the artistic interest of two very prestigious restaurants located in the West of the region: The legendary and well-known “Casa Consuelo”, in Otur, very close to Luarca…. |
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| … The restaurant “Casa Consuelo” on Otur road, in the council of Valdés, sponsors the VIII National Contest, dedicated to the “Gastronomy in painting”, which grows in prestige every year as well as the dishes served in the dining room grow in wisdom and experience. Such experience has allowed elaborating delicate and delicious dishes such as the “Octopus with vegetables”, which one of the novelties is given by the kitchen of “Casa Consuelo”, big sanctuary of the Asturias traditional cooking. This means that without tradition there is no innovation. The brothers Álvaro, Ramón, and Roberto García López (we cannot forget Rubén, who lives between Madrid and Otur, after having retired as responsible for the restaurant “El Luarqués” in Madrid) are great professional hoteliers and enthusiast patrons who have got with tenacity, patience and Knowledge one of the most excellent wine cellars in Asturias and in Spain as well as a very notable collection about gastronomy, probably the best in Spain. Cooking, wine cellar and painting collection help to exalt two of the most valuable senses: the sense of taste and the sense of sight. Gazing at some of these paintings makes one feel hungry and it ennobles the taste. “Caja Rural de Asturias” and the company of dairy products “Reny Picot” collaborate with this cultural event but “Casa Consuelo” carries the most weight. There were 240 paintings at the contest this year from all over Spain. Besides, “Casa Consuelo”, as usual, pays a tribute to people from the intellectual life of Asturias related to painting or gastronomy. This year, the tribute has been paid to the art critic Jesús Villa Pastur, (the soul of this event and, in general, of the most varied cultural activities that have Luarca as their background) and the novelist, art and gastronomy critic Víctor Alperi. They were glossed by Evaristo Arce and José Antonio Fidalgo respectively. And for the first time since such tributes are celebrated, Evaristo Arce and J. A. Fidalgo´s texts have been printed in a beautiful booklet in whose colophon says: “This booklet edited by Hotel Restaurant “Casa Consuelo” in Otur (Valdés) was printed the 19 July in “Gráficas Barata” in Oviedo. This day, Jesús Villa Pastur reached the age 90. 90 well-lived and well-shared years. Congratulations, master! |
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| Evaristo Arce states that Villa Pastur is “witness and protagonist of the cultural history in Asturias for half a century” and that all his paintings as well as his criticisms are an example of literary balance, knowledge, intellectual sharpness and delicacy. On the other hand, Fidalgo looks for the qualities that allowed Víctor Alperi move between narrative and gastronomy and finds out that “those qualities in Víctor´s personality are his refined sensitivity and his subtle sense of humour”. There is where we must know the writer and the critic. Villa Pastur and Alperi are two great complements in this Painting event, which, as painter Linares says, “It is already the most prestigious event in Spain about painting related to gastronomy.” |
| "LA NUEVA ESPAÑA" – JOSE IGNACIO GRACIA NORIEGA - 20th September 2001 |
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