Agora

Agora is the second restaurant venture by Madrid-born chef Antonio Oviedo. If 22 Ships is any indication of what Agora is like, it is nothing short of amazing. Unlike the ever-popular 22 Ships focusing on upscale casual tapas, Agora is a contemporary Spanish fine-dining concept that focuses on the chef’s roots to push out degustation menus highlighting seasonal ingredients from Spain and innovative cooking techniques like cultivation and dehydration. 

Dine amidst intimate surroundings and enjoy elevated Spanish dishes carefully crafted in the open kitchen. The best seat in the house is, of course, the bar where you can watch the theatrical preparation of each dish. The restaurant offers two seasonal menus (10 courses $1,288 per person; 11 courses $1,688 per person; five glasses of Spanish wine pairing +$850 per person), which serves predominantly fish and shellfish, one or two meat courses, and desserts.

The meal ritual starts with a freshly baked serving of candeal bread – a traditional Spanish bread, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, which you can dip on Agora's Verdial extra virgin olive oil that came from centenary mountain olive trees from the Axarquía region in Malaga – followed by Erizo, a sea urchin flan topped with sea urchin served with slices of muscat grapes, a good prelude to the meals that come after. Standout dishes include Ventresca – tuna belly soaked in Agora's homemade fermented fish sauce called garum served under a bed of smoked aubergine topped with Ossetra caviar – and Merluza – hake from Basque Country alongside percebes (gooseneck barnacle) from Galicia, served with garlic, parsley, and white wine sauce and paste. To finish the meal, don't miss the refreshing and moreish Flor De Azahar – an Arabic-influenced dessert made with orange blossom, almond, and saffron – and the bite of pan con olivas which ends the ritual with you soaking a piece of bread with the rich olive oil.