The proposal, available from November 5 to 9, invites guests to bring Ibsen’s ethical dilemmas to the gastronomic realm.
Published in Valencia City on November 3, 2025
The restaurant Contrapunto Les Arts pays tribute to the world premiere of the opera “An Enemy of the People” with a menu inspired by the moral, political, and symbolic tension that runs through the new work by Valencian composer Francisco Coll.
With this menu, the culinary space joins a historic event: the first world premiere of an opera in the twenty-year history of the Palau de les Arts. Written by Francisco Coll and jointly commissioned by Les Arts and Madrid’s Teatro Real, this creation stands as a milestone in the Valencian theatre’s program — a modern reflection on the critical legacy of the Norwegian playwright.
Inspired by Henrik Ibsen’s classic, “An Enemy of the People” revisits the eternal conflict between ethics and power, between uncomfortable truth and collective interest. Its message, reinterpreted by Coll, speaks to the present through the contemporary symbol of the “financial shark” — a mirror of the voracious capitalism that consumes values and consciences.
The Contrapunto Les Arts team has designed a three-act menu that translates this moral journey into textures, flavors, and contrasts. The endive salad with blue cheese cream and pickled pear represents the uncomfortable truth against moral sweetness and acidity. The main course, braised beef stew, embodies the strength of the individual who faces power with conviction and resilience. Finally, the walnut sponge cake with yogurt foam, red fruit coulis, and caramelized sesame offers a harmonious finale where roots, reflection, and the bittersweet taste of social judgment intertwine.
