This began with Maria Antònia Ribera, a housewife with ambition, and with Aunt Nievecitas and her expertise in making Valencian rice dishes. Without these two women, we wouldn't be here, 25 years later and with over a million and a half rice dishes served. We are at the Arrosseria Xàtiva located in Les Corts, one of the three that Àlex López, son of the founder, has in Barcelona. The others are found in Gràcia and Sant Antoni. This year is one to celebrate because the rice restaurant his mother founded a quarter of a century ago is turning 25.

Today we are stopping at a corner of Carrer Ferlandina and Carrer de Sant Vicenç in Barcelona. A corner of the world that reminds us of the city that used to be. And that always will be as long as places like Bar Agustín keep raising their shutters every day. It is a space to have breakfast or lunch, to converse with the person next to you, to build community, to find out what happened to the woman who runs the tobacco shop, to discuss the news, to argue about football, to drink from a porró, and to mingle with people who are not in your circle. It is opened every day by Carles Tarrasón Monte, the son of Agustí, who has worked there forever. What time does it open? "It depends on the queue at the bakery to buy bread," he tells me. Things are not rigid here, but at approximately 7:30, Carles begins to serve his community with a very subtle sense of humor and a kindness that can be seen from miles away. Carles has the characteristic of making everyone feel like a lifelong friend, even if you have just arrived at his bar five minutes ago. He knows his regulars and knows what everyone likes. The bar is not very big, and its marble tables fill up quite quickly at lunchtime to have the homemade lunch menu, which costs between 15 and 16 euros depending on the dessert and coffee.

“The power of the dining room” has been one of the first presentations with which the Gastronòmic Fòrum Barcelona has just begun, which is taking place at the Gran Via venue of Fira Barcelona, and will last until Wednesday. Throughout these days we will find out which is the best artisan panettone and best chocolate panettone in the country, who wins the innovation award, as well as the chef of the year in Catalonia. Directed by Pep Palau and Josep Alcaraz, the Gastronòmic Fòrum Barcelona combines the debate on the restaurant profession with food exhibitors.

The second Sunday of September marks the celebration of the Mare de Déu de Paller festival. We go to the sanctuary for lunch. It is right in the middle of the Cadí-Moixeró Natural Park, three kilometers from the town of Bagà. In this unique space, nature shares the spotlight with a chapel from the year 1747 and a restaurant led by Esteve Vivó, which, if you wish, guarantees you a totally Berguedà meal.

We recently said goodbye to L'Hermós, the fish bar at the Mercat de la Llibertat in Gràcia. However, we have been celebrating a premiere for a few weeks now. From those ashes, a robust project has been born in the same spot: Seny. A huge scorpionfish welcomes us. It is painted on the wall, black on white. It is the work of Max amb X, a tattoo artist. When the stall is closed, however, the scorpionfish doubles, as it is also reproduced on the shutter in negative, white on black. Seny is the new fish restaurant-stall-bar by chef Carles Ramon (Barcelona, 1986).

Eva and Alberto share almost everything: life, work, and also a way of understanding Gràcia, the neighborhood where they live and where three years ago they decided to open a restaurant. They have been a couple for thirteen years, and when they started looking for a place to set up their own business, they were clear: they wanted to create what they felt was missing in their neighborhood. "There is a lot on offer here, there is everything, but we noticed that there were no restaurants that felt like home. And we decided to create it ourselves," explains Eva.

If you have had the luck to visit Japan, you may have experienced the feeling of seeing that there are many things that escape you. And instead of feeling overwhelmed by the situation, you feel the comfort of knowing that you find yourself in a complex cultural framework in which you are ignorant and that, even if you were to stay there to live forever, you could never fully unravel it. An ancestral sediment that goes beyond understanding and for which you can only feel respect and admiration. This happens with millenary cultures. That is why, when I set foot in Axpe, in Atxondo, to visit the Txispa restaurant, suddenly it makes a lot of sense that Basque and Japanese culture have understood each other so well. The Basques are one of the oldest and most resilient peoples in the world, and here Tetsuro Maeda has found his home.

Ten years ago, Guillem Salazar and a friend of his decided to start a gastronomic project in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. Covid caused a lot of damage and changed the mindset and priorities of many people. Ignasi, his friend and partner, decided to take another path, and Guillem was left alone at the helm of the project. Today he is the owner, leader, and chef of Debut, a very personal proposal that has the support of a great team.

We were already in tomato injury time –they are practically the last ones of the season–, and Roger Viñas has used them to prepare a wonderful gazpacho. He tells me that people don't ask for it much, even though the tomatoes are from Xavier Carbó, from the Mas Rabassa agricultural estate, in Sant Genís de Palafolls. "If only they knew," I say to myself. And the lamb meatballs? They are from Cal Tomàs, in La Pobla de Segur. Meatballs made of lean organic Xisqueta lamb served with a bread and garlic sauce. A perfect dish: for its quality and the values it conveys. You will find all of this on Passeig de Sant Joan in Barcelona.

What a discovery, dear readers. I arrived there because a restorer expert in spoon cooking recommended it on Instagram. I thought: "If he says so, it must be tasted". It is a small, simple, and charming place in Barceloneta. Finally, I have a favorite spot to go eat rice in the seaside neighborhood. A new establishment, since it is only a year and a half old, but it feels like a restaurant that has always been there. Ideal for those who like to dip bread, for those who slurp shells and do not mind getting their fingers dirty, and for people who know that eating is so important that time must be dedicated to it. This week I present to you the Casa Maians.

Gerard's life changed twice before he reached adulthood. The first, at 12 years old, when his parents decided to leave Barcelona and move to Mexico to start a new life there. The second, at 17, when he discovered what he wanted his future to be. He started an internship at Tezka, a restaurant advised by Juan Mari Arzak, and there he understood that cooking was much more than a job: it was his place. He stayed there for a year without earning a single penny. He didn't care. He had found his path. Tezka was his first school. The second came at the Spanish embassy in Mexico; he had gone only for a period of three months and ended up staying for three years. Afterward, he returned to Spain and passed through Arzak and El Bulli, two of the great kitchens that would mark his way of understanding gastronomy. But Mexico was still waiting for him. He returned there to open Biko, a restaurant that would end up becoming one of the 50 best in the world.

Very close to Plaça Osca there is a charming tavern. Casual. With a nice patio in the back, very cozy. Like "a Balinese space without Buddhas," they describe it. And with an offer that you will not find anywhere else. Catalan cuisine with an Indonesian finish. I ended up there without knowing anything about it, other than that it was called Bitxo. And once I had the menu in my hands I said "hey, we are in an interesting place." It didn't take me long to figure out where the talent came from. And then I understood everything.

“I am a painter!” This is how Laia Armengol, the visible face and soul of the new Beirut, defines herself. “I have gone from spending many hours in silence, alone, still, painting, to not stopping moving, surrounded by people and chatting non-stop”.

Autumn is one of the most attractive times to discover the Garrotxa. The colors of the Fageda d'en Jordà, which Joan Maragall immortalized in one of his poems, the paths of the volcanic zone, charming villages like Santa Pau or Besalú, and postcard landscapes like those of the Vall d'en Bas or the Vall de Bianya make the region an especially suitable destination for a getaway. And, after walking, one of the best ways to end the day is to sit down at the table.

“We are just getting the stall started,” says Ton Díaz. In a corner of the Ninot market in Barcelona’s Eixample district, Tonet del Mercat—or just Tonet—has been set up for a few weeks now. It bears Ton Díaz’s name because he is the axis around which this project revolves, based on nose-to-tail cooking, such as offal and other meat by-products. “This week we are adding sweetbreads and kidneys with sherry and onions,” says a thrilled Díaz.

Virgilio Martínez (Lima, 1977) is one of the most renowned chefs in the world. His restaurant Central, in Lima, was considered the best in the world in 2023. It was a milestone that no one had ever achieved in Latin America. And he achieved it by placing at the center the ingredients used in all the ecosystems and altitudes of Peru. Many of them, safeguarded by indigenous communities. “When I was a child, they told me that these people were poor. Later I understood that they were rich,” says the chef. In addition to Central, he has the Mil restaurant, where he cooks Andean cuisine at 3,800 meters, and a multidisciplinary knowledge center called Mater. Martínez speaks to ARA at the Andorra Taste congress, dedicated to high-mountain gastronomy, where he was awarded the career achievement award. An award previously received by Michel Bras, Gastón Acurio, Ferran Adrià, and Carme Ruscalleda.

The Ter river is born in a spring in Ulldeter (Ripollès) and flows into the Mediterranean. Very close to the Gola del Ter there is a restaurant founded in 1961 by the Xicars family. In this location, converted into a hostel restaurant, there used to be a farmhouse where Josep Xicars' great-grandfather lived, trying to cover basic needs to help the family grow. "At eight years old, I was already peeling potatoes. The shower was a basin and we had to go to the fields to relieve ourselves. My father turned it into what it is now, and I have followed in his footsteps," comments Josep, feeling the weight of the passing years.We are in a pleasant place that is part of an enviable environment. "The river is life", as was claimed in the early 2000s in the Terres de l'Ebre in an environmental and territorial protest. The sea is right nearby. The clientele is mostly local, with some visiting practitioners of the noble sport of golf. Within a radius of very few kilometers, we find Empordà Golf and Golf de Pals, two highly renowned golf courses.We don't play around, but we really enjoy discovering places where one can eat well, wherever they may be. Knowing the virtues of the restaurant (fish, seafood, and good rice dishes), we begin the meal with some Gillardeau oysters, some steamed rock mussels with orange vinaigrette, a plate of sand eels, and an exceptional jig-caught squid. The wine that accompanies us is Els Boscals, a 2023 black garnacha from the Boscals valley, in Les Gavarres.Once we have finished the first courses, we move on to the second, in the singular. We play it safe and order a Pals rice with lobster. Everything is perfect: the ingredients, the flavor, and the cooking are at their optimal point. We can only say good things about it. For dessert, puff pastry with angel hair and communion wine, coulant of chocolate and nougat ice cream.Waiting for relief

Josep is a peculiar guy, with good conversation. We sit in the dining room, where there are paintings representing his father. “My father started by doing a bit of everything. He worked as a cook, he was a fisherman, a hunter, he had made the tables himself... He lived basically off the river environment”. Josep is not a professional cook, he is one out of necessity and because life has brought him here. “Well, for me, just like for my father, I have always liked to eat well, and that is the main basis for knowing how to cook. If you know how to eat well, you will know how to cook well, because that is the best way to satisfy the diner. You want the best for them”.He is nearing his seventies and is eager to retire, but for the moment he cannot find anyone to replace him. In the meantime, he enjoys the satisfaction of a job well done and the recognition of his customers. Sooner or later he will leave it, and we hope that life grants him many more years of health so he can live without working and enjoy a rest that he has earned since, at the age of eight, he started peeling potatoes in the family business.We, as long as we are at the foot of the canyon, will return. There are meals and people that become unforgettable.

These are major festival days in the city (with the permission of Santa Eulàlia). So, I am taking the opportunity to make a list of highly recommended restaurants in the city of Barcelona. A question I am asked very often is “what is your top 10 restaurants in Barcelona”. I am not a big fan of rankings. Besides, there are too many factors that make them impossible to compare. To go with a partner? To celebrate an anniversary? To go with children? What budget are we talking about? So, take this compilation as a handful of restaurants that I encourage you to visit.

At the Andorra Taste congress, dedicated to high-mountain cuisine, a large group of chefs comes together to define what this cuisine made at altitude is. They ask themselves what territory is, what tradition means, and, ultimately, a space for debate is generated to help grow the gastronomy of the small country in the Pyrenees and of the chefs from other territories present. In a round table held at the idyllic Borda del Pi titled "From territory to identity" and moderated by Benjamin Lana, director of the congress, the chefs present made several statements that may be controversial. We review them in the form of a list:

The RíasKRU restaurant in Barcelona (c. Lleida, 7) "is not for sale for more than two million euros despite what a real estate agency says," states manager Borja Iglesias, who adds that he has asked the agency to remove the advertisement stating that it is for sale, and that, if they do not do so, they will take legal action." It is a fact that this year marks forty years since the Rías de Galicia was inaugurated by the Galician couple Cándido Iglesias and Purificación García. Later, their three children took charge, but during the covid pandemic they took the restaurant into insolvency proceedings, and it was bought by businessman Manuel Lao, the current owner.The RíasKru is the fusion of Rías de Galicia, which is located on the ground floor, and the Espai Kru, on the first floor, both specialized in fish and seafood, and both restaurants have marked an era of fine gastronomy in the city of Barcelona.