10 Day Trip Around Spain

[panchy]

My mother and I are taking a 10 day trip around Spain with a tour company. However we will be on our owns for the majority of lunches and breakfasts. We would like to try out local cuisines as well as the more upscale restaurants (if they're worth it). Money is not an issue, we are willing to spend for a few meals. Also, I know absolutely nothing about Spain and would love it if you could mention the dishes that each area is known for (ex: Valencia and paella).

We will be going to:
Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Granada and Seville.

Thanks!

[rrems]

In Barcelona, my two best choices for a wonderful lunch would be La Dama, which serves high-end traditional Catalan food in a classic art nouveau setting, and Alkimia, which specializes in very contemporary interpretations of regional food, in an ultra-modern setting. Both have a Michelin star, and it is well-deserved.

[PBSF]

Rather than just give some off the head recommendations, my advice is to get one of the widely available guide books on the areas get an idea of the food in the areas you are visitng.. Also, it would be helpful to let the board know what type of places your tour will be taking you for the evening meals. This will help narrow down recommendations. A few things to keep in mind: Spanish meals hours are much later than most countries, usually around 2pm for lunch. How would this fit into your tour? Will a long formal lunch get in the way of sightseeing. Also the location of your hotels might influence your choices. How adventureous are you and your mom in term of food and venturing out.
Madrid has just about every regional cuisines of Spain, endless variety and also some of the best seafood; Barcelona has good tapas/pinxtos, traditional Catalan food but is probably most famous for modern Spanish cooking; Valencia is famous for their rice dishes and of course all of Andalousia is great for tapas as well as food with Moorish influence.
In Spain, breakfast tends to be simple: coffee and rolls in most places (or maybe a small sandwich); also churros with coffee in Seville and Madrid; or squeeze of fresh tomatoes and olive oil on toasts in Barcelona. There are cafes in just about everywhere for breakfast, therefore one would not need to venture too far.
Also a good introduction is to search this board for the posts on the cities that you're visiting. They are the most popular places in Spain. This may help you be more specific and will get more relevent responses.

[panchy]

PBSF, your information is already so helpful! I wish I could give more information on eating times, etc. but it won't be provided for us until we get to Spain. My mother is not as brave about eating exotic/new things only because she has a delicate stomach but I am all up to eat whatever is famous regionally. I am the same person that ate live octopus legs in Korea and absolutely loved it. I'm hoping that we will be able to find restaurants that will be able to cater to both my mother's safe and my curious palates. Because I will have no idea as to a specific schedule, I am hoping to create a long list of places to eat as back up. I am looking at other board postings and finding them helpful but there are some places that no one else seems to go to.
If you can think of just your favorites off the top of your head, that would be great! You seem very experienced in Spanish cuisine.
Thanks.