Casa Nova

Verdict

If you have already made the drive out to Casa Nova once, the question on a return visit is not whether the experience holds up — it is whether you choose the Viña menu or commit to Gran Vendimia. The short answer: go Gran Vendimia. The longer answer is that this Michelin-starred farmhouse restaurant in the Penedès hills operates at a level of self-sufficiency that genuinely sharpens what lands on the plate, and that does not diminish with familiarity. For food and wine explorers willing to plan well ahead and travel to Sant Martí Sarroca, Casa Nova earns its place among the most coherent farm-to-table propositions in Catalonia. See our full Sant Martí Sarroca restaurants guide for how it fits the wider dining picture.

About Casa Nova

Casa Nova occupies a converted poultry farm on the Ctra. de la Bleda outside Sant Martí Sarroca, in the Penedès wine country southwest of Barcelona. The property is run as a working smallholding: kitchen garden, beehives, chickens, shiitake mushroom cultivation, tuna drying sheds, a coffee roaster, and in-house vinegar and wine production. That list is not decorative. It is the infrastructure that explains why chef Andrés Torres can build a contemporary tasting menu around ingredients that most restaurants source from third parties. The arrival ritual, a guided tour of the grounds before you sit down, sets the frame for what follows: you are not being told about the philosophy, you are being shown the evidence.

The kitchen's technical approach sits within the modern Catalan tradition — composed, ingredient-led, rooted in regional produce , but the reference points are personal rather than stylistic. Torres draws on his mother's recipes as a structural base, then layers international techniques acquired through humanitarian work abroad. The wood-fired bread baked in the manner of indigenous Peruvian communities is the clearest example: it is not fusion for its own sake, it is a specific technique applied because it produces a specific result. That distinction matters when you are assessing whether a kitchen has genuine depth or is assembling borrowed ideas. At Casa Nova, the connections are traceable and consistent across the menu.

The wine programme adds meaningful weight to the value proposition. The cellar carries vintage labels that read as a serious private collection rather than a standard restaurant list. For a property this size, in a location this rural, the depth of the wine offering is one of the genuine surprises , and it pairs logically with the Penedès context. If wine is part of your reason for visiting, request guidance when you book rather than waiting until you sit down.

Two menus are offered: Viña and Gran Vendimia. No pricing is available in our data, but the €€€€ tier places this firmly at the leading end of the regional market. On a first visit, Viña gives you the full picture of the kitchen's range. On a return, Gran Vendimia is the logical progression , longer, more ambitious, and the format through which Torres pushes the boundaries of the mothballed-recipe-meets-contemporary-technique approach most fully.

The sensory experience at Casa Nova is anchored before you reach the table. Walking the grounds, you encounter woodsmoke from the bread oven, the fermentation notes from the vinegar production, coffee roasting, and the general green-herb character of a productive kitchen garden in active use. By the time you sit down, those aromas have already primed your reading of the food. That sequence is deliberate and it works.

A Google rating of 4.4 across 303 reviews, combined with the 2024 Michelin star, confirms that the experience translates consistently , not just on marquee nights. For a rural restaurant with a single chef driving the creative vision, that consistency is a practical reassurance worth noting. Explore the wider area through our Sant Martí Sarroca hotels guide, bars guide, wineries guide, and experiences guide if you are building a full trip around the visit.

For context on Spain's wider one-star-and-above circuit, relevant comparisons include El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Martin Berasategui in Lasarte-Oria, Quique Dacosta in Dénia, Mugaritz in Errenteria, Ricard Camarena in València, and Atrio in Cáceres. For a broader international reference point in modern cuisine, see Frantzén in Stockholm and FZN by Björn Frantzén in Dubai.

Practical Details

Casa Nova is located at Ctra. de la Bleda, 188, 08731 Sant Martí Sarroca , a rural address that requires a car. No public transport connection is realistic. Price tier is €€€€. Two tasting menus are available: Viña and Gran Vendimia. Given the Michelin star and limited seating typical of properties of this type and scale, booking well in advance is strongly advised. No online booking URL or phone number is available in our data; contact the restaurant directly to confirm reservation method. Dress code and specific opening hours are not confirmed in our data , verify before travelling.

Quick reference: €€€€ tasting menus (Viña / Gran Vendimia) | Rural location, car required | Michelin 1 Star (2024) | Book well ahead | Confirm hours and booking method directly.

How It Compares

See the comparison section below.

FAQs

• Is Casa Nova good for solo dining? Possible but not the format where it shines. Tasting menus at this price point and in this setting are built around the full arc of the meal , and the arrival tour of the property is a shared experience that lands differently alone. If solo dining in rural Catalonia at €€€€ is your plan, Casa Nova is worth it for the depth of the kitchen, but go in knowing the social architecture of the experience is designed for two or more.
• Is Casa Nova good for a special occasion? Yes, and it is better suited to occasions where the event itself is the dinner rather than a backdrop to conversation. The guided property tour, the two-menu format, and the Michelin star (2024) give the meal a clear shape and weight. For a milestone celebration, Gran Vendimia is the right call over Viña.
• What should a first-timer know about Casa Nova? Three things: you will tour the farm before you eat, the kitchen is built around producer self-sufficiency rather than imported luxury ingredients, and the drive out to Sant Martí Sarroca is part of the commitment. At €€€€, this is not a casual booking , come prepared to spend a full evening. The Michelin star (2024) and a 4.4 Google rating across 303 reviews confirm the kitchen delivers at this level consistently.
• How far ahead should I book Casa Nova? At minimum four to six weeks out, and likely longer. A Michelin-starred rural restaurant with limited covers and a format that requires advance preparation fills fast, particularly on weekends. No online booking platform is confirmed in our data , contact the restaurant directly as early as possible to confirm availability and reservation method.
• Is Casa Nova worth the price? At €€€€, yes , provided the format suits you. The self-sufficient production model (garden, bees, mushrooms, vinegars, wines, coffee roaster) means the kitchen is not padding the price with premium imported product. You are paying for genuine culinary depth rooted in the property itself, a serious vintage wine cellar, and a Michelin-starred tasting menu experience in a setting that has no urban equivalent. If you are comparing against Barcelona's leading tables, Casa Nova offers a more singular proposition than most at the same price tier.
• Is lunch or dinner better at Casa Nova? Specific service hours are not confirmed in our data, so verify before booking. As a general principle for tasting menu restaurants at this level in rural Spain, lunch gives you natural light for the property tour and leaves the afternoon open rather than requiring a late-night drive. If lunch is available, it is likely the more practical option.
• Is the tasting menu worth it at Casa Nova? Yes, and the Gran Vendimia over the Viña if you are treating this as a serious dining destination. The kitchen's depth , housemade vinegars, wines, mushrooms, Peruvian-technique bread, a chef whose repertoire extends to humanitarian travel influences , is expressed more fully across a longer format. The 2024 Michelin star validates the technical level. First-timers can reasonably start with Viña; returning guests should step up.
• Does Casa Nova handle dietary restrictions? No specific information on dietary accommodation is available in our data. Given that the kitchen works from a self-sufficient production model with menus built around what the property grows and produces, significant dietary restrictions may require early communication with the restaurant. Contact them directly when booking , do not assume adaptations are standard practice without confirmation.