Stop Torres of the three-starred brothers opens with great expectation at the Santa Caterina Market

Barcelona"They looked like sales", one of the Parada Torres workers tells me. And indeed, we are visiting the new establishment of the Torres brothers, Sergio and Javier, just one day after it opened. The space, located within the Santa Caterina Market, is large and open-plan, measuring 440 m²and can accommodate 160 people. It is a place where a high turnover of diners is expected. The kitchen is located, framed by an immense bar that surrounds it. One side faces directly onto the market. In fact, the windows can be opened, and during the hours when the stalls are open, the bar becomes integrated into the life of the market. In the evening, when there is no longer activity at the stalls, it can be closed and operate independently. "Our parents sold the bar so that we could do fine dining, and we wanted Barcelona to have a bar with our vision," says Sergio Torres, who adds that the food has "a Torres touch." The quality-price ratio has been one of our obsessions from the start. And it's true that you can eat without spending too much. "It's the bar we owed to Barcelona," affirms the chef. With this establishment, the brothers have three restaurants: the crown jewel, Cuina Germans Torres, with three Michelin stars, the gastronomic Eldelmar, and now the popular Parada Torres. "A fun place where the food is good," summarizes the chef.

Work in the central kitchen is at full speed. Around, people are getting up, moving. Talking to one and another. It is, in short, a market bar. On the counter, small plates of esqueixada, Russian salad, escalivada, breaded prawns, garlic mushrooms, botifarra with beans are appearing, beef pepito, ham roll, anchovies, oysters, croquettes... And also glasses full of fresh beer. Here everything goes fast and there is a hubbub, but the kind that makes you feel warm. The brothers explain that they still need to finish installing the grill, which for a technical reason is not yet in operation. There, for example, they will finish the xuixo with Anís del Mono. At Parada Torres you can improvise, but they will also keep a space for reservations at midday, and a larger one in the evenings. We will have to see how they manage the space because, for the moment, the expectation has been maximum. It will also be interesting to see how it integrates into the daily life of a market as important for the city as Santa Caterina is.

For 24 years

The project is a concession that they have won by a landslide in a public tender, and that allows them to exploit the space for a period of 24 years. The Torres brothers found out about it while they were filming images at La Boqueria for a documentary by Josep Lladonosa. They were told they were late, but they put all their effort into it. It was at Santa Caterina where they used to accompany their grandmother Catalina, who was also a cook, to shop. For this reason, there was an added sentimental value. To win the tender, they presented themselves jointly with Grup Pantea (who own Público, Can Fisher and Superlocal), with whom they already share Eldelmar, one of the restaurants in the Gastronomic Balcony of Port Olímpic. A partnership that has proven to be very agreeable.