Two honest guys lead a vibrant neighborhood

They opened on the night of San Juan in 2013, surviving a pandemic that was deadly for people's lives and for many food businesses. They have a loyal following that always fills the pleasant space with retro decor, and they've found the perfect balance between what you eat and what you pay for. As a presentation letter, it's not bad.

This restaurant on Rambla del Poblenou is led and managed by Amós Martínez (from Valencia, a Barcelona fan, and a Catalan wife and daughter) in the kitchen, and Jerome Misan (with a French mother, an English father, a Valencian partner, and Catalan children) in the dining room. They met while working at the Diagonal Zero hotel for five years before deciding to start their own project.

We are looking at a menu of thirty fixed dishes, with new options added daily depending on the market and seasonality. Let's start with dried meat of wagyu; razor clams with citrus fruits; fresh red shrimp (small, but very tasty); and peas with scallops. All dishes are meant to be shared and enjoyed. For this first part of the meal, we enjoyed a bottle of Sassó, a Xarelo from Finca Parera in San Lorenzo de Hortons, recommended by Jerome. We continued with a dish of scallops with prawns and vine shoots; a pork cheek croissant with a fried egg; and Galician beef loin with foie gras. For this second part of the lunch, we enjoyed a bottle of Pater, a red Garnacha from Ficaria Vins de la Figuera. There are three desserts on the menu, and we tried them all: cheesecake; coulant of chocolate and lemon pie with vanilla ice cream.

Amós, with the invaluable help of Mengen Wu (a Catalan chef of Chinese origin), is able to adapt his cuisine to the customer's taste. His cuisine is unpretentious, respectful of the product and its cooking, flavorful, and well-prepared. Jerome, for his part, conveys his bonhomie throughout a dining room that changes from day to night. During the day, a calm atmosphere prevails, with more family and business lunches, contrasting with the controlled and fun jumble of the evening.

We sat down with the protagonists of the 58 hit (on the door there is a sign in French that says Fifty-eight). Jerome was the driving force behind creating their own project: "I thought we were wasting our time with the hotel and that we could create a restaurant tailored to our needs." And Amós recalls: "When Jerome showed me the vibrancy of Rambla del Poblenou, I believed our project was possible." Jerome adds: "We found an abandoned apartment and sensed it had a lot of potential for what we wanted to do, and we were also lucky enough to receive the last license for that stretch of street." As you can imagine, they put all their efforts into renovating the premises and decorating it, but they didn't lose any sleep when it came to choosing a name.

The pandemic took a toll on them, but they reinvented themselves and have once again become a benchmark in Poblenou with quality products and very reasonable prices. They've found a great balance between what diners eat and what they pay. Two honest, professional guys with a business vision that dignifies a neighborhood full of life and contrasts.