Embers, Catalan product and a new space: El Corte Inglés revolutionizes the Gourmet Club
The department store on the Diagonal allocates more than 750 square meters to the new proposal that incorporates a gastronomic bar with its own kitchen
BarcelonaWhile Barcelona's gastronomic offer is shifting towards market trends, with all kinds of foreign restaurant proposals appearing in corners of the city, there are those who keep up with the trends with a firm commitment to local, proximity, and quality cuisine. El Corte Inglés Diagonal is one of the defenders of this commitment, and it demonstrates this with the inauguration of the new Club del Gourmet. An opening that is a true statement of intent: more than 750 square meters on the fifth and final floor of the shopping center located at the confluence of Avinguda Diagonal and Plaça de Maria Cristina, destined to offer specialized gastronomic shopping and a tasting space.
Until a few months ago, the Club del Gourmet was located in the semi-basement of the department store, where it functioned as a select space for wines, sweets, savory products, and national and international specialties, beyond the traditional supermarket. Now, reinvented and in an improved location, it offers a new shopping concept halfway between a supermarket and a French-style market, with a new charcuterie that catches the eye before it reaches the mouth and that opens the door to the second great novelty of this space. Next to the shopping area is the tasting area, with the new Barra del Gourmet, equipped with its own kitchen and with a gastronomic offer based on the same products available at the market.
From the shelves to the table
Alexandra Castillo, head of the Club del Gourmet in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, explains that the idea is to have a bidirectional flow at the bar: "Everything that is at the bar can be bought in the shop." And, conversely, as explained by Marc Miranda, restaurant manager of the new Club del Gourmet, "any product from the market can be requested to be plated and consumed in situ".
Both acknowledge that it is a concept that has already been developed in other parts of Spain, but not in Catalonia, where the hot bar and its own kitchen allow offering "new suggestions every day according to the market and seasonal references," explains Miranda. The jump from the basement to the top floor also allows for a considerable expansion of service capacity. "We are going from 30 to 160 diners," details the restaurant manager. There are 75 seats inside and 80 on the outdoor terrace, where until recently several food trucks were installed.
Regarding the purpose of this new space, the Barra del Gourmet team explains that it is designed for all kinds of occasions, "both for dates and family lunches and even events," always within the center's business hours. In winter, the hours are from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. from Monday to Saturday, and in summer, from 9 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., in addition to the specific holidays when it is open.
The Josper grill, the jewel in the crown
Jacky Duclos is the chef responsible for this new gastronomic space. Originally from a town near Reims, in France, he opens the doors of the kitchen to us in his eighth year at El Corte Inglés, after having passed through the kitchens of the Torres brothers, the stoves of French gastronomy, Reus, and even Switzerland.
The kitchen is presided over by a Josper grill which, Duclos explains, allows for both meat and fish to be prepared over embers. Among his recommendations are "a burger, a seasonal burrata, or a T-bone steak with the right amount of salt with potatoes and salad," three options that summarize the bar's proposal: a recognizable cuisine, based on the product and designed for different types of diners.
Where fashion, excellence and tradition converge
A few meters from the gastronomic space, more than 2,500 references rest in the aisles of the Club del Gourmet, 500 of which are local products. This is one of the commitments of this space, in the words of Alexandra Castillo, who assures that the intention is for "local products to have their space and recognition".
There are wines and sparkling wines from all the denominations of origin of the territory, exclusive products from Casa Cacao, the sweetest proposal from the Roca brothers, sweets from Bubó and, alongside the local product, a selection of international products. From Godiva chocolates to English coffee biscuits, including preserves from the north of Spain, which complete an offer designed to combine local references with proposals from abroad.
And there are also the rotating spaces, which change every week, every fortnight or every month depending on trends and gastronomic novelties. The idea is to incorporate new proposals into the offer and give prominence, for a certain time, to different products and cuisines. These days, for example, Japan takes center stage, with products such as yuzu, the lychee sodas that have gone viral, and different varieties of ramen noodles.
Thus, the new Club del Gourmet combines in the same space two ways of approaching gastronomy: discovering new products on the shelves and sitting at the table to taste them. A proposal that focuses on the local product without renouncing the trends and tastes that arrive from abroad.