“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.

There are restaurants that serve meals and there are others that, almost without realizing it, end up serving memories. Leles gets emotional when she talks about everything she has experienced within the walls of the Las Palmeras restaurant. It is no wonder: she was born here, she grew up here, and she has been working here for more than thirty years. Her father, Gonzalo, opened the restaurant in 1970 on the Passeig Marítim in Torredembarra. Back then, the menu was simple: salads, paellas, and not much else. The promenade was different, too. "Before, palm trees reigned here. Now it doesn't look anything like that anymore," says Leles, amusingly nostalgic. In 2001, the family decided to take a step forward. They renovated the premises, updated the menu, and changed its name. Las Palmeras was a tribute to that promenade of the past. They also expanded the gastronomic offer: in addition to the rice dishes, the house's Holy Grail, they added fish and Galician meats. "When I was young, I was studying, and whenever I could, I would come to help the family. The idea was not to stay and work here, but life takes you down paths you hadn't always imagined," explains Nieves Muñoz, whom everyone knows as Leles.

The Vermilion Coast has many points in common with the Costa Brava. Coves, fishing villages, vineyards by the sea, and Catalan cuisine. But there is less overcrowding, less international tourism, and often, prices are also more competitive. From Banyuls to Collioure, this coastline of Northern Catalonia offers many ways to eat in front of the Mediterranean. On this tour, we have chosen five, including one on the plain, right by the Leucate lagoon. These are proposals that do not seek the same thing: there are those who prioritize the product and identity, those who put the landscape at the center, those who bet on international cuisine, and those who seek a more sophisticated gastronomic experience. The sea, however, is present at all tables and landscapes. Hurry up, as they are about to close for the season.

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.

The Costa Daurada is an exceptional place to walk, and even more so if the itinerary allows for a visit to a restaurant in the area. From Cambrils to Torredembarra, passing through Reus and Tarragona, the territory offers diverse gastronomy where establishments that preserve seafood cuisine and commit to local produce coexist with more modern ones that look towards contemporary cuisine and incorporate influences from all over the world.

In Galicia there are three things that, when well combined, form an almost unbeatable trident: octopus, coffee liqueur, and bread. Eduardo Pereira was lucky enough to be born in Carballiño, in Ourense, a land where these three things are not just gastronomy, but almost a way of understanding life. After knowing the secrets of Galician cuisine by heart, he decided, about fifteen years ago, to do something that, for a Galician, is almost as risky as leaving an empanada untouched: coming to Catalonia. He arrived in Barcelona eager to learn. He wanted to discover what was being cooked here, what the Mediterranean products were, and what lay beyond what he already knew. After a few years of learning, he decided to open his own restaurant. That is how Bicos was born, on Passeig de Sant Joan. The name is not accidental. "Before, this place was like a small house and, when you enter and leave home, you give a kiss. Bicos means kiss in Galician," explains Eduardo. And so, between an entry kiss and an exit one, a gastronomic adventure began between two lands that know very well what it means to eat well. It hasn't had it easy. It has gone through a pandemic and coexists with tram works that seem to have more lives than a television series. But Eduardo is happy and, above all, grateful for how the neighborhood has welcomed him.At Bicos they champion Galician gastronomy, but without pretending that Barcelona does not exist. Product and memory from there, with small gestures from here. Like some zamburiñas (variegated scallops) finished with allioli, an almost perfect bridge between two lands that have more in common than it might seem. "We want you to know where you are and to give value to the product. This is the motto of our menu," he explains. The octopus 'a feira' arrives, the traditional one, on a wooden board, with oil, salt, paprika, and the inevitable toothpicks. Without potatoes, just as it has always been eaten at Galician fairs. When the product is good, it doesn't need much more. They also make another version with prawns and suquet (stew), making the octopus travel towards the Mediterranean. There are cockles from the estuaries of Noia and Muros, opened with lemon, white wine, and bay leaf, and finished with ajada oil. And cod with allioli and a sweet touch of chestnut honey. As if joining Galicia and Catalonia on the same plate were the most natural thing in the world. And it works. Also extraordinary are the rock mussels and the lacón carpaccio. And, to finish, a spectacular board of Galician cheeses. One of those that makes the coffee able to wait calmly.The 'homesickness'

Eduardo and his partner, Marta Baliña, have achieved what they set out to do: for Galician and Catalan gastronomy to meet under the same roof. At the end of the conversation, inevitably, the word that every Galician carries built-in as standard appears: morriña. "We Galicians are always saying maybe yes, maybe no... But I just bought a flat here," he says while laughing. The land, however, pulls. Always. And Eduardo does not rule out that, one day, this story might make the return journey. It would be another bico. Perhaps the most difficult one of all.But, for the moment, it seems there is no need to worry. Between the octopus, the cockles, the cheeses and this particular encounter between Galicia and Catalonia, there is still a lot of history to tell. At least for the moment, we will continue kissing each other in Barcelona.

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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.

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Formentera concentrates in a few kilometers a surprisingly varied gastronomic offer: from Mediterranean cuisine and good rice dishes to more daring proposals, beach restaurants, establishments with decades of history, and beach bars where a cocktail can end up extending the afternoon until dinner time. Eating there is not cheap – here, "economical" is always a relative concept – but not everything forces you to make the bill the main concern of your vacation. More than a ranking, this is a guide to know where to go depending on what the day calls for.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Declared the European Region of Gastronomy in 2022, Menorca has much more to offer the visitor than its calm lifestyle (slow life), its virgin coves, its horse festivals or its international art galleries. Menorcan cuisine is also full of appeal, and not just for its usual references to lobster or cheese. It fills the visitor with what local restaurateur José Bosch calls emotourism: emotional, sensory tourism. The offer is as growing as it is diverse. We recommend below some proposals so that, if you visit us this summer, you can know where to eat in Menorca:

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The Terres de l'Ebre are popularly known for their natural richness. Marked by the Ebre River and with a delta that is unique in the world, many describe this area of Catalonia as a national treasure. However, it is also a territory with a unique gastronomic offer, both in terms of dishes and the locations of the restaurants themselves. There are places located in the middle of the sea, businesses with Michelin stars, wineries with more than two decades of history, or even an old mill that cultivates the products that will be used later in the kitchen.

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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.

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The sea breeze is that wind that blows from the sea towards the land, especially in summer and during the hottest hours. The increase in temperature that the land experiences causes the air to rise, and the vacuum left by this process is filled by the breeze coming from the sea, fresh, pleasant, and with a taste of salt. Feeling the sea breeze is a pleasure in itself, but it can be even more intense if we accompany it with a good meal and a good wine. Enjoying a good dinner near the sea allows us to caress happiness, and in Catalonia, the Valencian Country, and the Balearic Islands, there are extraordinary corners to put it to the test. This article collects seven terraces with a sea flavor to enjoy the coast of Tarragona.

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There are people who have the talent to make you feel expected. Jordi is one of them. It's not just a way of serving tables or learned cordiality; it's also a way of looking, listening, and always finding the right word. In his restaurant, hospitality is not a gesture: it's a way of understanding life. That's why, when you cross the door of Can Facundo, you feel like you've been there before, even if it's your first time.

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The most veteran readers will possibly remember Will Kane, played by Gary Cooper in High Noon (1952), or John T. Chance, played by John Wayne in Rio Bravo (1959), two of the most emblematic sheriffs in the history of American westerns. These two acting legends masterfully brought to life fictional sheriffs that many Catalans discovered at the cinema or through the first television sets. But today we want to tell you a very real story: that of Pedro Ruipérez, originally from Murcia and adopted by Barcelona.Pedro was an eccentric character and a passionate actor. He liked to dress up as a sheriff, with two toy guns and the characteristic badge of the American guardians of the law. He adapted the word sheriff in his own way, turning it into his nickname and, at the same time, the name of the restaurant he opened with his family in 1959. Initially, it was a small fish and seafood shop, but it soon transformed into one of the most iconic establishments in Barceloneta.When, in 2016, Belinda Wicksteed and Eduardo Iborra acquired El Cheriff, they were very clear that they wanted to preserve Pedro's legacy, maintaining its essence and neighborhood soul, while incorporating a nautical and elegant aesthetic. The ones in charge of materializing this transformation were two of their sons, Teddy and Benji, a photographer and an architect, respectively. Today, this gastronomic temple is run by Alexia Iborra, another of the family's daughters, and her husband, Ferran Bas. In charge of the dining room, we find Adrià Barberà, a young man with a clear vocation for service who enjoys helping diners turn a good meal into a memorable experience. And we can assure you that he achieves it.Let's set aside the battles for a moment to talk about food. We'll go with a sure bet and choose two of Cheriff's most emblematic dishes: the shellfish platter (with Galician clams, mussels, cockles, and razor clams) and a magnificent lobster rice prepared by Ejaz Iqbal, the restaurant's head chef. Twenty-three years ago, he learned the original recipe from María de los Ángeles “Nini”, Cheriff's daughter. It should be easy to find good rice in Barcelona, but reality forces us to admit that it's not always the case. That's why we want to acknowledge the merit of cooking one of the best rice dishes in our region. Cheriff's rice dishes continue to be its great emblem and stand out for their unmistakable flavor, with a characteristic smoky touch achieved thanks to its final finish in the Josper oven.To finish, let's taste a Catalan cream with ladyfingers. We pair the whole meal with a bottle of Iura, a red wine from Priorat made by the Atavus Vines winery in Gratallops.We chat with Adrià so he can explain the latest news from Cheriff: “We defend the essence of Pedro Ruipérez's cuisine by staying out of contemporary culinary trends. We want to keep alive the traditions, recipes, and unique characteristics that have made Cheriff an iconic restaurant”. It's time to leave, but we do it after they serve us, with the porró, a sip of well water. It's a brandy with a secret touch and a story behind it. When you go there, ask Adrià to tell you about it. History, gastronomy, and life in Barceloneta in its purest form.

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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.

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