“Haute cuisine is dead. I am closing Table. On December 22nd I will do the last service,” announced the French chef Bruno Verjus by surprise this Tuesday on Instagram. The reason he gave was just as blunt: “I don’t feel comfortable with the fact of excluding people from my table. Because the idea of haute cuisine is to bring people to discover extraordinary food and service. But more and more I felt that I was doing things that belonged to the past. I need to move somewhere else. I want to feed people, but not just a few.” His Parisian restaurant has fourteen years of life and two Michelin stars and in 2024 it reached the third position of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.

It is a gateway to Vietnamese cuisine for anyone who wants to discover it. Or a return door for those who already know it and miss it. This is how the co-owner of Món Việt describes his restaurant. I look around the dining room and see many Catalans, of very diverse ages. Also a Vietnamese family. A few months ago I visited Món Việt, located on Sepúlveda street in Barcelona, because as New Year's approaches, they make a special menu to let us know what is eaten during Tết, as they call the holiday in this Southeast Asian country. I was impressed by the quality of their homemade food. Without going any further, they served a whole boiled chicken. It was tender and tasty. An apparently simple dish but absolutely succulent. How did they manage to make a humble meal worthy of celebration? Since then, I have followed the trail of this restaurant and have ended up getting the answers I was looking for.

It's funny when you've been in a property, let's say at friends' apartment, and you return some time later when other people live there. It's inevitable that your mind starts playing the game of differences, seeing what is there and what is no longer there. The same happens with restaurants – aggravatedly, 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 other tenants and other furniture. Today we are in a place where we've 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 chapter. They have 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.

Viviana Varese (Salerno, 1974) is a force of nature. A chef who has made her mark in a potentially hostile environment, that of haute cuisine, without compromising her values. She now runs the gastronomic offering of a luxury hotel in one of Italy's most exclusive corners, Passalacqua, on Lake Como. She also has a rebellious grill restaurant in Milan, Faak. She grants an interview to ARA at the Gastronomika congress, where she gave a lecture that left us stunned.

Dreta de l'Eixample. We are on Bailèn street, between Mallorca and València. Here a chick is the sheriff of the corner. It is the yellow and recognizable logo of Billy Brunch, which has three locations at numbers 113, 115, and 129. In addition, its vehicles can be seen parked, red and with the chick superimposed. Between the three locations, they serve 900 people on weekends, and about 500 during the week. The one in the middle of the corner, the one at 115, is the first one that opened, out of the six in Barcelona (then two more opened in Madrid and two in Seville). This first location, which was a resounding success, has just been expanded by adding a slide and a ball pit, red and yellow, which can be seen from the street. The pool was installed after the one in Madrid in the center of the restaurant was a great attraction. This one is more discreet, though. "Adults can go in, right?", the owner tells me, inviting me to try it. In Barcelona, it seems we don't dare as much and leave it for the kids and the influencers.

I was once talking to a film expert who told me that the settings of films set in the 60s, 70s, or 80s were not realistic. The reason is that these recreations sought objects from a single period, the one in which the action took place, and that in general this never happened in houses. Homes are like an archaeological site, there are many layers. I think about this when I enter Casa Natalia, in Sant Ferran de ses Roques, in Formentera. When you enter this restaurant, it feels a bit like you are in their home, as the establishment is full of objects that Natàlia Juan and Carles Abellán have acquired throughout their lives and travels.

That the iconic El Racó d'En Binu, in Argentona, was born in a hotel is no coincidence. Francesc Fortí traveled and saw that hotels could be fertile ground where a great restaurant could flourish. In fact, the hotel has not been operating for years, but the restaurant has. Catalonia is a land of good restaurants and also of great hotels – these yes, in full operation – and charming landscapes. If we put all these elements in a shaker, we will see that there are a lot of places that defend these attributes. From historic establishments to spaces that were once private and to which we can now access to have a great meal and, if necessary, to sleep there. Let's review a few.

Sometimes they ask me if I've been to this restaurant or that one and I don't remember. Then I look at it carefully and often the answer is yes. There are many bland places. Correct, but they leave no mark. This is not the case with today's restaurant, the Cooperativa de Porrera. Anyone who has been there recognizes it in a second. You remember the blue of the walls, the flowered tablecloths, the wine bottles on the table and Mia coming out with her tiara to take notes or serving a steaming dish. It's a genuine restaurant, with essence and personality.

The sea, on the day I am here, is choppy. And this does not detract one iota from the charm of the restaurant where I am, which is located right on the coast, quite the opposite. We are at Es Còdol Foradat, in Formentera. In a place with great produce and a lot of skill. And needless to say, in an unbeatable location that screams vacation from all four sides. Free time for those of us sitting at the tables, of course, because those who attend us, with a wide smile, know perfectly well what they are doing. This is one of the four (or five, depending on how you count) restaurants Nandu Jubany has on the island, and this year is its seventh season. Very close by, he has El Pecador, a more gastronomic version.

The butters of different colors like jewels, the bread cart, the impressive wine cellar, the exquisite service, the wrought-iron sculptures decorating the tables... If anyone wants to try a restaurant with class, elegance, and where all the dishes will be excellent, perfect, and well-rounded, what you are looking for is called Lasarte. This year it celebrates twenty years of existence, a not insignificant figure in current times when haute cuisine is suffering. The restaurant, located in the Monument Hotel, was Barcelona's first three-Michelin-starred establishment. Since 2017, when it achieved this, the city now has four.

We begin a five-week journey through Brazil with gastronomy as the common thread. If I tell you to close your eyes and imagine a restaurant in Brazil, it's possible your mind will take you to Rio de Janeiro. It's a magnetic city and a unique enclave in the world. However, despite being the most popular image, it's not representative of a large part of the country. Gastronomically (and sociologically), what does Rio have to do with the miner cuisine of Minas Gerais, the Bahian cuisine of Salvador, or the ancestral cuisine of the Amazon? Very little.

The new restaurant in Poblenou catches the eye as soon as you pass by. Located at Pujades street, 133, it occupies a single ground floor. It's part of one of those blocks of houses in the neighborhood that used to be cheap. In fact, through a side door, you access the interior of these narrow streets full of plants and their own life, away from the hustle and bustle of the main street. But let's return to the main street, we find a polished façade, cream-colored with painted letters that say: Finca Nebot 1924. The Nebot family used to be there then, hence the name, which its current owner, Leo Chechelnitskiy, wanted to revive as a tribute.

We are at the Baix Llobregat Agrarian Park, amidst tomato plants and under a blazing sun. "We have planted 540 varieties of tomatoes," says Jaume Torras, owner of SoulBlim. He grows and supplies fruits and vegetables for the restaurant industry (he previously had a market stall and sold to individuals through his website, but for several years now he has only worked for professionals) and has recently become part of the Catalan Academy of Gastronomy and Nutrition (ACGN). Today he presents his project, we taste all kinds of tomatoes, we discover things we didn't know and confirm others we suspected, like the fact that many tomatoes have tougher skins than ever. Why?

It was during the pandemic that the Ferré family realized things had to change. “Sometimes without realizing it, inertia takes you to a place you don't want to be. When we stopped, we had time to think, and that's when we realized we had lost the essence that our father had set,” explains Sílvia Ferré. She is the owner of the iconic Gothic restaurant Els 4 Gats together with her three brothers Lluís, Ivan, and Òscar. Four brothers to tame Els 4 Gats.

It is called Torre Glòries. For many Barcelonians it will always be the Torre Agbar or other popular names inspired by its shape, such as the suppository. And it is the only building that allows you to see the entire city of Barcelona, 360 degrees. The reason is that it is in the center planned by Ildefons Cerdà, in Plaça de les Glòries. Designed by the French architect Jean Nouvel, his intention was to emulate a geyser, as it was to be for the water company. Now it is an office building, but the 30th floor and the entire top cap, at 125 meters high, have been enabled as a privileged viewpoint.

“A restaurant should not be opened out of enthusiasm, nor kept open out of pity”, says Rafa Zafra, who recently closed the restaurant Per Feina in Barcelona. We are at a round table organized by The Fork on profitability in gastronomic businesses. Its participants, Nandu Jubany, Rafa Zafra, Carlota Claver, and Gary Llempén, have very different businesses, but one thing in common: they work and make money. “A restaurant that works earns between 250,000 and 300,000 euros a year,” says Zafra. All of them exercise transparency and share advice that can be useful to anyone who wants to enter the restaurant business. Let’s list some of the learnings they shared along with data from a study conducted by The Fork.

Four generations of Batlló lived on the third floor of Casa Batlló, this modernist gem on Barcelona's Passeig de Gràcia designed by architect Antoni Gaudí that amazes everyone who visits it. The descendants of the Batlló family had lived in this apartment for more than a hundred years, until 2019, which is why had been preserved with an "exceptional authenticity" and now, the property has been opened to the public and you can have a meal there, after a meticulous renovation, in which all the original elements have been respected and restored – even a previously unknown handle designed by Gaudí has been discovered–. In the renovation, the talent of Italian architect and designer Paola Navone, from OTTO Studio, was chosen to make a proposal that was respectful of the place where it is located, but at the same time revised, as in the green mosaic counter that welcomes you.

Budget, time, knowledge, and experience. This is the blend that has made the Perelada winery possible, a RCR project that 22,000 people visit each year. It cost 47 million euros and took 20 years to complete. "A winery that will not go out of fashion," says Perelada's oenologist Delfí Sanahuja, who has been present in each phase of the winery's construction, inaugurated in 2022. "I knew zero about architecture, and they knew zero about wine. Now I could be an RCR intern after two decades with them," the oenologist jokes, "we understood each other very well," he affirms.

On April 20, 2024, the Banco de Boquerones group took over a historic restaurant in the city of Barcelona: Casa Leopoldo. And this Sunday they will close its doors, as communicated by the group's owner, Bruno Balbás, on the restaurant's Instagram. The iconic establishment in the Raval had been through a lot since its charismatic owner, Rosa Gil, passed away. It had a new period of splendor when chefs Òscar Manresa and Romain Fornell took over, but the project was cut short by the pandemic. Afterwards, a Chinese family took over, who served Asian food and dispensed with some of the architectural elements that had made the place very recognizable. This venture did not work out, and it was then that the Banco de Boquerones group – owner of other restaurants such as Casa Ràfols, Can Framis, and Casa Lolea – took on the challenge. Their intention was to bring back the original gastronomic proposal and serve the classic oxtail. In addition, they personalized two private rooms, one dedicated to Rosa Gil, and preserved the table dedicated to Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, accompanied by a commemorative plaque.

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.