Walnut Creek is a 1.5-2 hour drive from home. A bit too far to go often. We had no idea there was a bustling downtown area complete with a free trolley, a Uniqlo, and a Peleton!
We found Telefèric Barcelona on accident. Looking for Tapas in the Bay Area, it came up in Palo Alto which I found was not opened. What really caught my eye was that their other restaurant location was Barcelona, Spain.
Telefèric is located in the middle of the outdoor shopping district. Lots of parking was nearby in a huge structure, but right next to the red brick building is a metered parking lot. The building itself is tall but quaint and doesn’t have large signage. The door is against a wall of succulents/plants. On the bottom floor is a little shop and a pizza parlor. To get to the restaurant, head up the stairs or take the elevator to the second floor.
It' isn’t stuffy inside, there are banquettes, small tables for 4 and bistro tables lining the window. It wasn’t busy at 11AM PST. The hostess first seated our reservation at one of the bistro tables. Unfortunately, this seat had a view that was obscured by a large steel column. We asked to move to a normal seated table in the corner of the restaurant, giving us a better view of the street corner below. There’s a room offset from the corner that looked like it served a party. There is also an open-air rooftop terrace near the front. Tiny, suspended gondolas hang from a ceiling covered with (plastic) hanging plants. (Telefèric is a gondola). A sign out front said they sometimes have flamenco nights!
Our waiter was Spanish, and he talked us through their specialties and his favorites. A small cart was pushed around with 4-5 plates, Pintxos (think dim sum)! We followed our eyes and got the bacon-wrapped date on top of cucumber goat cheese, and a deconstructed caprese salad.
Pintxos > Amuse bouche > bites. These were $5 a plate.
Tapas: Salmon sashimi topped crab coquetas.
you would think that a tightly packed high-rimmed bowl like this would turn patatas bravas (french fries) soggy.. but these were really crispy and nicely presented (almost stacked neatly like bricks).
roasted brussel sprouts
white sangria
lobster paella
Paella is a must when we check out a Spanish restaurant. We opted for the Lobster because the likelihood of us coming out frequently is very low. The lobster on top was cooked perfectly. The rice in the paella came out slightly saucy/mushy which we both noticed, but set/firmed up after a few bites and was really good. It also had mussels, shrimp, octopus. Paella could be eaten by itself in one meal.
We ended the meal with Torrijas: Catalan French Toast. Our waiter said that they had run out of supply the night before but they opened up the next batch for us. This was what french toast dreams are made of. The outside was perfectly crispy fried and the inside was very soft and wet… not firm and dense like french toast. It had a little bit of infused orange and orange zest. It was a definite highlight.
This did not break the bank but was not cheap. It was worth the cost for real Catalan/Coastal/Spanish food. We’ll go again for a special occasion and when we’re willing to drive over… or wait for Palo Alto.
BONUS: Inklings Coffee and Tea
We stopped on the way for a pick-me-up in Pleasanton (near a Therapy store).
This cafe was beautiful! I love libraries and used to have my parents drop me off in the morning and I would spend the day there, and have them pick me up later. If only there were cafe’s at our suburban library. This is essentially a library/study/multipurpose room in a cafe.
bookshelves hold books you can take, there are little bins on lower shelves for kids, and you can even check out board games.
bonus: sitting blankets are laid out in a basket!
