A few years ago, as we were driving northwest through Spain on our way to Galicia, we stopped for lunch in the town of Pueble de Sanabria. There wasn’t much of a choice of restaurants. In fact there wasn’t any choice. Plaza Armas was the only game in town. It was a typical dark bar with a simple tapas menu. Or so we thought.

But in the back of the room was a dark winding stairway leading up to a beautiful formal dining room complete with white linens and tuxedoed waiters.

A beautiful restaurant, improbably located in a sleepy little town nestled in a river valley between Spain’s Reserva Nacional de la Sierra de la Colebra and Parque Natural del Lago de Sanabria.
I ordered gambas stuffed pimientos morron in romesco sauce, the best romesco I’ve ever tasted.

It was amazingly rich and as smooth as silk, not like any of the more rustic romesco sauces I was used to. For some reason the other day, that dish popped into my head. I had all the ingredients in the fridge so I tried to replicate it. I came pretty close to what I remember. But only close. The real thing is still just a distant and fond memory. Might need to go back to central Spain and beg for the recipe.