Anna, Just Anna
The town of Anna is located just west of Xàtiva, in the foothills of whichever sierra this is (sorry, Google isn’t very helpful in naming the nearby mountain ranges and since I like to be accurate I will just admit my ignorance and stop there). Spain is a very mountainous country and I’m certain all hills, mountains, and ranges have names — perhaps I just need to find the right sort of map or atlas and get my info there, once I’m allowed to purchase books again that is. In any case, Anna is a bit more inland, and perched ever so slightly on a hill overlooking the river Anna. It is a very pretty town, clean and apparently quite well maintained, with a beautiful old public laundry well right down the street from the palacio we came to see. It also has a very long history, the area having been populated as far back as 3,000 to 5,000 years BCE, as archeological finds around the Albufera have shown. The Romans were here too, as were the Muslims before the Reconquista. Situated as it is in a fertile valley, it has been an important economic centre for a very long time, and water, of all things, has been one of its primary resources.
We had made reservations to see the Palacio de los Condes de Cervellón but arrived in town a bit too early so after strolling down a few streets and with our tummies rumbling started to look for a place to eat. At first it didn’t look like there were many places open but a few tables outside a butcher shop suggested there was a restaurant as well so we decided it was good enough. Sometimes hunger is enough to help you choose a place and we were hungry. The weird (to me, at least) practice of not being able to order a paella if there aren’t two of you to eat it, meant that I wasn’t going to get to try one here at Gastro Bar La Plaza Anna either as my friends were more keen on trying the local burgers, which, I admit, looked amazing. So I ended up ordering one too.
Unfortunately for us–or maybe fortunately–our burger was quite late in arriving: we actually thought the meat was still being cut off the cow at the butcher’s since we regularly saw big plates of meat making their way from the butcher to the restaurant next door and yes, that’s how fresh the food is around here. In order to make us feel a tad less ravenous, the lovely owner came over and apologized profusely for the delay while treating us to a plate of yummy Iberico ham … which was delicious. When the burgers arrived it became crystal clear why it was all worth the wait. I am not a huge fan of burgers in general (the occasional craving for a Fat Burger Cali burger notwithstanding) but this one! this one made an impression. This was a gourmet burger con carne de buey del Valle de Esla, foie fresco, y cebolla caramelizada or, in other words meat from a bull from Valle de Esla with foie gras and caramelized onions … and it was to die for. I don’t think I’ve ever written this much about a burger before but yeah, for this burger I will want to go back to Anna and you’re all welcome to come with me.
After this much meat one must have dessert: so we did, of course. I had a very yummy flan that looked more like a cake but I really should have tried the couland chocolate (a type of chocolate cake) because it, too, looked amazing. I was also introduced to something called cremaet, a very typical Valenciano dessert coffee made with rum, orange peel, and a stick of cinnamon. It was delicious as well. So far I have found that it matters not how big a town or village is, there is most certainly a restaurant, and sometimes more than one, where you can eat like royalty. It is no wonder Spain has more Michelin star restaurants than most other countries and now I know why. They know food and they do it well.
Before I finish off Anna and we head off to the palacio, I must also mention our entertainment during the meal: the five-year-old son (grandson?) of the butcher/restaurant owner was allowed out to roam freely outside, though why any same parent would let that particular child out I do not know. Now remember, this is a street where a car goes by very slowly once every half hour or so, if that. Our tables were practically in the middle of it. This child, and I have trouble calling him a child, to be honest–I could call him little daemon and not be far off–decided he was going to take over the restaurant and impress us with his antics. He started by showing off his toys and running around but soon started interacting with the guests, including us. For some reason he had a problem with us in particular and demanded we guess his name, giving us a clue that it started with “J”. Unfortunately for me I was not his favourite person after that as I cut the game short by guessing it right off the bat — I guess he wanted the game to go on much longer than it did but then I foiled his plan. Damn foreigners, eh? Javier was beyond precocious and I feel for his family: this kid is going to rule the place in no time (if he doesn’t already). We did get a good laugh watching him for a while but the temperature had dropped precipitously while the shade moved in and we were eager to see the palacio. I’m sure little Javier has already forgotten us but we sure won’t forget him, or the meal his family made for us.
