The new high-cuisine Italian restaurant that has taken root on Paral·lel

BarcelonaIt's funny when you've been in a property, let's say at the apartment of some friends, and you return some time later when other people live there. It's inevitable that your mind will play the game of differences, seeing what is there and what is no longer there. The same happens with restaurants – to an aggravated degree, I would say – because Barcelona's voracity for opening and closing businesses is greater than that of Saint George's dragon eating sheep. So you often go to places where you've been before, but with different tenants and different furniture. Today we are in a place where we have been when it was called Tickets, when it was called Teatro (a more modest change, as it was as if someone from the family had taken it over) and now, it's called Osteria Condal, and it's starting a new phase. They've done extensive renovations and, if it weren't for the fact that it's on the same corner of Paral·lel, we wouldn't recognize the space. The investment has been significant. We see it in all the details, from the menus to the imposing open kitchen.

Osteria Condal is the project of the Orobianco group. They have the restaurant of the same name as the group in Calpe, where they make precise Italian cuisine. Thanks to Paolo Casagrande (the chef of Lasarte, one of Barcelona's three stars) managed to consolidate themselves with a Michelin star in the Valencian Community. And it is with him, therefore, that they have decided to undertake this project in the Catalan capital. Casagrande validates the gastronomic proposal, but the head of the kitchen is the young Andrea Fiori, a Roman who has worked in various high-level kitchens, such as Da Vittorio, near Bergamo, or Lasarte itself. They defend the term “Made in Barna” that we see in various watercolors he has made to the Daniel Zlota. If you look closely, the paintings contain many clues that place us in this new chapter. We see Venetian motifs, by Casagrande, Red Square in Moscow, in reference to the Orobianco group, which is Russian, the Colosseum, by Fiori, the tile for sommelier Marc Dot, or the Floralis Genérica, the Buenos Aires sculpture, appealing to the native Argentina of the maître d' Agostina Fernández. From the old restaurant, we will find the strawberries, now painted white, and a Virgin Mary, which they have kept.

'Panzanella', 'linguina', and 'fregola'

They like to emphasize that they are a Mediterranean restaurant. The sea is everywhere, also on the ceiling, where we see waves and a drop-shaped lamp. The food, however, leans mostly towards the transalpine country. We have Tuscan panzanella to start. Panzanella, which is a dish for using up leftovers, is usually much humbler than this refreshing version with an intense tomato flavor. It's a good tribute and whets the appetite. They offer a menu that shows the level of cuisine, which is frankly very high. It costs 70 euros, and includes dishes such as squid tartare a la carbonara, corn curd with crab and salicornia, linguine with tomato and clam pil-pil, or a succulent charcoal-grilled pigeon. All the flavors are 100% recognizable. They are part of the register of Mediterranean flavors, but the execution is far from that of a casual place. They also have dishes to share and order à la carte (the menu dishes can also be ordered individually). The sharing platter of fregola marinera is noteworthy, this Sardinian wheat semolina accompanied by seafood and fish, which in my case was mackerel. As for desserts, the most noteworthy is the greedy tiramisu airbag. The puffed technique of the airbag already existed in their previous restaurants, but usually in savory dishes. As a nod, they reproduce it, but fill it with tiramisu.

They also focus on cocktails. There is a fun drink offering in this regard. In fact, the cocktail bar has its own space that can be visited without the need to eat. When the terrace opens later, it will also include a menu of snacks. However, you will have to wait for that. As for the wines, there are many references. There is a lot of Catalan wine, and perhaps it is the only resort where Italy does not win by a landslide. There are also less common wines, such as bottles from New Zealand. The average ticket is between 90 and 110 euros. It is a very good restaurant for a celebration or for a day when you want to treat yourself. With careful details, from the bread with Kalamata olives that you dip in Batea oil, to the petit fours that conclude a complete meal.