If people worked with half the enthusiasm and energy of Montserrat Molla, we could achieve whatever we set our minds to. The most curious thing is that I discovered the extraordinary work of this farming family from Calonge in Bilbao. I was visiting a highly recommended wine bar, Taska Beltz, and a very lively young man offered me a Catalan wine: "We only have it here and at El Celler de Can Roca," he said. I thought he was pulling my leg. But no. A few days later, I had the good fortune to meet Josep Roca. And he confirmed that at El Celler they have the wine from Mas Molla. His eyes lit up and he told me: "You have to go there! They are real farmers!" And now it is I who tell you: go to Mas Molla to buy wine and fruit. And if not, you will also find them at the Sant Antoni Market and the one in Palamós. They are surely the Catalan family that has been working the same land in the same place for the longest time, from 1338 until now, almost 7 centuries.

On the north coast of Formentera, in the center of the island, we find es Pujols. It is a tourist center, with a long beach and a promenade lined with small wooden boats and restaurants. The first of them all, located in a privileged corner spot, is called Fandango and today we will stop there.

The hosts that symbolize the body of Christ are made of wheat flour and water. And wheat has gluten. This means that a part of the population, coeliacs and those sensitive to gluten, cannot consume them. How do these people manage if they are devout? Well, the Church has not always made it easy for them.

The chef Rafa Zafra, from Seville and an adopted Barcelonian, has a pile of successful restaurants. But a few weeks ago he had to close the restaurant with his most popular cuisine located on Via Augusta in Barcelona. "Per Feina has been the most exciting project of my life. My mother used to punish me by sending me with my father on the truck. I didn't know that deep down I loved it. The truck bounced and then we stopped to eat a menu of three starters and three mains. And I was the happiest child. As an adult, I wanted to do the same, but updated," explains the chef on the day he presents another popular project: the Masia Tibidabo restaurant, at the top of the amusement park.The establishment was first located in Poblenou, on Ciutat de Granada street, but at the end of August last year it decided to move it to the upper part because it had many difficulties in making the nights profitable. In the new location, the restaurant gained a surname: "Per Feina / Per Plaer" (For Work / For Pleasure). In this case, in addition to an economical menu, a more substantial meal could also be had. Even so, it has not been enough to keep the business afloat. "I wanted to keep the prices, cheap, and the restaurant was working. We had two hundred people every day, but we invoiced 4,000 euros. And that's a table at Estimar. Or at Jondal [the restaurant Rafa Zafra has in Ibiza], I don't even need to say. We had a whole team working and running for that," explains the chef.

“Never leave us!”, a gentleman shouted. “Return!”, “Hospitality!”, “Main festival!”. The public shared what they thought of when they thought of Motel Empordà. We are at this pilgrimage site on its 65th anniversary. On June 4, 1961, Josep Mercader inaugurated this temple of good cuisine and culture just outside Figueres. Culture understood in a broad, generous, and deeply rooted way.

The managers of BSM, the municipal company that manages the Tibidabo amusement park, have described it as a "crazy idea" and a "dream come true". The fact is that they have wanted to reinforce the gastronomic offer of this leisure space for some time. Enrique Tomàs and Christian Escribà are already present. Soon, it will be the turn of Albert Adrià, who cannot yet specify what, but they are already working on various proposals. In fact, it was Adrià himself who recommended Rafa Zafra to take charge of La Masia Tibidabo, the project that is starting this Friday and which they presented today to authorities and civil society.

The Pedralbes Palace was dressed up to award the distinctions with which the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition (ACGN) each year rewards the talent of our land. More than 550 people gathered and enjoyed a dinner together offered by chefs Romain Fornell and Òscar Manresa.

The Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition has recognized ARA journalist Trinitat Gilbert with the Néstor Luján prize for gastronomic journalism for her series of articles "The foods we eat, in detail". In these reports, Gilbert delves into lesser-known aspects of very common foods, such as cured meats, yogurts, fish, or olive oil. The jury has highlighted "its ability to combine rigorous dissemination, gastronomic culture and journalistic criteria, as well as a consolidated career in different formats and media". Two years ago, the prize also went to a collaborator of ARA, in this case to writer Empar Moliner and her eagerness to promote Catalan wine.

“From the entrance, you can tell this restaurant wasn’t built to be a three-star Michelin”, says Disfrutar’s chef Oriol Castro with his usual honesty, and Eduard Xatruch adds: “We didn’t have a dime or an investment fund behind us, we had to trick the bank and the landlord”, he jokes, because among those listening to him is the owner of the premises, Sandra Mira, who explains that this place – before the restaurant opened in 2014 and forever changed the history of Catalan gastronomy – was a warehouse for La Casa de las Mantas. “Do you know how much space was needed to store duvets, blankets, pillows...?” She quickly saw that the chefs were honest people eager to work, so she rented them the space. Perhaps she believed more in Oriol Castro, Mateu Casañas, and Eduard Xatruch than they did themselves, because in the original design, the bar at the entrance was meant to serve tapas. And in the basement below, they wanted to put a large room “for large groups and communions”, says Xatruch. They ran out of money, and they never built that room. Luckily. Because when they had to expand the cellar and build the kitchen to develop the creative part, they needed that space. “The clients wrapped us up”, they say. They explain that the first part is inspired by Miró’s mosaic; when you cross the kitchen, into the pottery kilns, and once in the large white room, in Cadaqués, where they opened their first restaurant together: Compartir.

The Tast a la Rambla 2026 is about to begin. It will start this Thursday and last until Sunday. We recommend going on Thursday or Friday, as they are the quieter days. What will we find there? Well, 30 restaurants and 6 pastry shops with small dishes that cost 6 euros each.

Welcome to Mineral. This is undoubtedly one of the openings of the year and, if all goes well, it could become a landmark restaurant in the city of Barcelona, as Gresca is, for example. It has absolutely everything to succeed. Or at least I hope so, for the following reasons.

"Bars are churches and we are parishioners," says Javier de las Muelas, owner of Casa Fernández (carrer Santaló, 46). This was the first restaurant, he opened it in 1989, and today, after a slight renovation, he has called all the press to present us this venue that continues to retain its usual essence. He explains that one of the "brilliant ideas of the interior design people" was to suggest removing the iconic mural from the restaurant on carrer Santaló. Obviously, the restaurateur refused. It is the work of the designer Carlos Rolando. A benchmark who died in 2016. "There's no question of removing the mural, it's a sign of identity. We are in an era where establishments are Port Aventura style, everything is made of papier-mâché. We want to give value to what is already 37 years old," De las Muelas states emphatically. And he recalls that venues must have soul, be welcoming and be part of people's daily lives. For him, they are one of the antidotes to one of the great evils of our society: "I like to insist on this because one of the big problems we have is loneliness".

"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.

Can Lluís, in the Raval neighbourhood of Barcelona, is a symbol of the change the city is undergoing. So we visit it to see the state of the establishment, as the series Ravalejar, by Isaki Lacuesta and Pol Rodríguez on HBO Max, has just premiered, and in November it will arrive on 3Cat. It so happens that Can Lluís was the restaurant of Rodríguez's family, a historic venue from 1929 from which Peret spread Catalan rumba, where Vázquez Montalbán used to dine, or where Leo Messi stopped by during his first years in Barcelona.

From June 1, the day of the gala in the Nordic countries, the Michelin Guide has decided to dispense with the Green Stars. It is an award given to restaurants that excelled in sustainable and environmentally responsible practices. In Catalonia, there are 15 restaurants that enjoy this distinction. While it is true that last year the French guide had already begun the withdrawal by eliminating the category filter on the website, it is now that, through a press release, it has finished making it disappear, as it considers that the distinction has already had its run and has already been "amortized", according to the guide's spokesperson in Spain.

I’ve heard that the Massana restaurant in Girona is celebrating three pieces of good news and I want to go there to be able to explain it and, of course, to eat some of its classic dishes again. While I’m there, a woman comes in and says: “Hello, Pere! I’ve come to book a table.” And Pere Massana greets her by name and diligently notes down the customer’s request. This lady could have booked online or by phone. But she preferred to come in person and was served with a smile. This establishment demonstrates once again that the human factor is – and always will be – unbeatable.

Berlin is a city that the more you visit it, the more it enchants you. It is diverse and open-minded. Full of nooks and crannies where it reveals its character, making it a kind of bubble in the middle of Germany. That is why it has been the chosen place for people who came from much more conservative regions to build a home there. This is explained to me by the cook René Frank, chef of the renowned restaurant Coda. A restaurant "that could only be in Berlin". Thanks to his knowledge of the city and that of the people who are part of the Coda team, we are about to visit places to subsequently make a list of the most recommendable ones. From cafes, cocktail bars, pastry shops, and, of course, where to eat a good René Frank, chef of the renowned restaurant Coda. A restaurant "that could only be in Berlin". Thanks to his knowledge of the city and that of the people who are part of the Coda team, we are about to visit places to subsequently make a list of the most recommendable ones. From cafes, cocktail bars, pastry shops, and, of course, where to eat a good currywurst or a kebab, two of the most representative and popular dishes.

What a great discovery. A bar for everyone: recognizable cuisine, popular prices, and a good atmosphere among regular patrons and newcomers alike. Take note because if you go to Tarragona, it's a must-stop for a hearty breakfast or lunch. Welcome to Bar Cortijo.

There was great expectation to know what the scientist Ana Gago-Martínez, professor at the University of Vigo, researcher in analytical and food chemistry, and director of the EU reference laboratory for marine biotoxins, would explain. This is because the increase in cases of ciguatera poisoning, which is contracted by ingesting certain fish, has required significant effort from administrations and the scientific community to manage a potential health problem that, until a few years ago, was not unique to us in Europe. In her presentation at the "Encuentro de los Mares" congress in Tenerife, Gago-Martínez asked for the public to be informed, but without causing alarm. We will try to summarize the key points of a potential risk, to comply with what the scientist requests.

The Romans said that the sea belonged to no one and that fish had no value, but this is not so. At least not in the world we have built. To see the oceanic dimensions of blue natural capital, let's take an X-ray based on figures provided by the scientific community at the Encuentro de los Mares conference held in Tenerife this week.