Girona for food and nature lovers

For sure, I've saved Rocambolesc ( https://rocambolesc.com/es/ ) for a visit. They look super creative and ice cream & sweets is always a winner!

From their "about":

Rocambolesc is the result of a sweet obsession and a touch of creative madness. Jordi Roca, always irreverent and playful, and Ale Rivas, passionate about cooking since childhood, imagined a place where ice creams could be much more than ice creams: little adventures that awaken memories, smiles, and the desire to be surprised.

The story begins with a dessert cart from El Celler de Can Roca that we wanted to take out onto the streets of Girona. The regulations didn’t allow it… and so the first Rocambolesc ice cream shop was born, a space to bring this sweet and fantastic universe to life.

Our ice creams are born from everything that inspires us: a trip, a landscape, a childhood memory, a sound, an unexpected aroma… Any stimulus can become a Rocambolesc ice cream. And the toppings? They’re our way of completing the game: details that turn each ice cream into a unique experience.

Over time, Rocambolesc has built its own personality, always true to freedom, creativity, and fun. Our ice cream shops aim to be a parallel world, a place where adults and children alike can get carried away by fantasy and sweetness.

Rocambolesc is fantasy. For children and adults. For anyone who wants to play, dream, and lick their fingers

You can also eat at one of the Roca restaurants: NORMAL. We've booked for September..

We highly recommend eating at La Fabrica for breakfast/brunch. The food is amazing and beautiful, and the interior is covered with all things cycling. The owner used to be a professional cyclist. We loved it so much, we went twice.

Will you have access to a car? Since you are looking to visit more nature spots and off the beaten path places a car is handy in this region

Thank you, these are great suggestions. Yes we do have car access. I have heard about Besalu and Lake Banyales.
Has anyone taken a cooking workshop or visited one of the cheese farms?

Great! in that case if you have a car that opens up some more options, for a foody outdoor experience that's a bit off the beaten path for foreign tourists I can suggest some time in the Baix Emporda region (just east of Girona), which I would describe as the "Tuscany of Catalonia". Imagine rolling green hills, ancient ruins, wine and olive groves, rice fields, medieval hill towns etc.

This area is totally off the radar in terms of foreigners but very much loved by locals. I was there with friends over the summer and we had a wonderful time, including exploring the preserved Ancient Celto-Iberian town of Ullastret (complete with intact 2000 year old walls). A little north you have the ruins of an ancient Greek colony called Empúries. Excellent onsite museum with a beautiful blend of historic architecture and natural beauty.

For lunch in the area we ate at "Mooma" which is a rural cider house with vast apple orchards, the onsite restaurant is excellent featuring elevated "farm to table" versions of the local cuisine - you can read more here https://www.barcelonafoodexperience.com/blog/mooma

If you are interested in a way cheaper menu budget, you should visit 8x7 in the city center. Specially, the weekly menu. Reservations required. And in case you're looking into the higher end, why don't you try a paella onboard with costabravaboat.com