Congratulations. Twenty years ago, a small restaurant opened next to the Hospital Clínic. It has grown over the years, but we'll get there. Now the concept wouldn't seem innovative, but at the time it certainly was. Pepe Simôes had a bar just a few steps away and decided to open a restaurant, something well-made but informal, and call it La Taverna del Clínic. It was a pleasant place, and the menu will sound familiar because it's the model that has triumphed in Barcelona: expertly prepared tapas (nothing like a mediocre potato salad) to share. Pepe Simôes had a chef lined up, but at the last minute, the deal fell through. And that's how, 20 years ago, his son Toni took over the restaurant. And he has grown it into the landmark it is today.

From the Rosa de Fuego to the conscript revolts. Perhaps it's harder to see now, but Barcelona has always been a rebellious city. A place where not everything has to be the same. Where another way of doing things is possible. Even when the proposed changes are small, modest, but no less relevant for that. Today I'll tell you about an excellent bar-restaurant located on Consell de Cent. On a beautifully designed pedestrian street, filled with options dominated by restaurant chains. Here, in the middle of it all, like Thursday, Bar Jueves was born.

"I want it to be the place where a bricklayer working next door can come and eat," says Gerard Sans. In times when bars are becoming increasingly rare gourmetizing And therefore, prices go up even though the glasses are still Duralex; it's news that someone has taken A classic, old-fashioned bar that simply wants to serve butifarra sausage with dried beans, cod cooked in a tin, or capipota (a stew of tripe and beans) at a good price. We're at the Veracruz bar-restaurant. The previous owner was there for many years and had kept the name of an even earlier owner, so we'll never know what connection this place has with Mexico. We're on Mallorca Street in Barcelona, ​​between Gerona and Bailén. Surrounded by places to have a good time. brunchThis humble oasis opens with a Voll-Damm tap. Llach and Mishima are playing. Sans says his role model is Gelida. a place that we will never tire of recommendingAs I savor a sublime hake and prawn croquette, I sense an elderly couple behind me (if we never cross paths, dear readers, know that I'm always on the lookout): "I'll spread the word about this place, it's fantastic. If you don't dip bread, you're missing out," she exclaimed to the sea. "Listen to your wife," I think.

We're in pre-Olympic Barcelona, ​​"they'd barely even opened the Gamba del Mariscal," says Isidre Soler. It was then, 35 years ago, that they started their adventure with Reyes Lizán, his wife. Since then, they've opened the doors of the Tram-Tram restaurant (121 Carrer Major de Sarrià) every single day, despite the various crises and the many ups and downs Barcelona has seen. But they've reached 2026 with the dining room full of regular customers.

I was looking for a place to eat on Aribau Street and stumbled upon Bar Fischer. It's true that going somewhere without expectations usually works in your favor. When you walk in, you immediately see that it's a comfortable atmosphere. Then they give you the menu and the lunchtime set menu, and you think, "Hey, that looks good." At that moment, I didn't even know who owned the restaurant, or what skilled hands were behind the kitchen. That came much later.

I walk into Ca l'Estevet (Valldonzella, 46) and feel that warm, homey feeling, the kind that even the best interior designer can't create. It's a family restaurant and a landmark of Catalan cuisine in Barcelona, especially in the Raval neighborhood. It's early morning, and the whole family is already working. Pepe Cabot is wearing his navy blue smock to go to Mercabarna. He tells me his mother, Anna Ros, is at La Boqueria market shopping. Pepe's wife, Bea Puig, is printing out the day's menu, while Carla Cabot, the couple's daughter and the future of the restaurant, answers the phone. Even their daughter who doesn't work, Lea Cabot, stops by to drop off an advent calendar for her sister Carla.

"When people talk about the return of 'product-driven' cuisine, it makes me laugh. It's always been like this here; we've never strayed from product-driven cooking." Today, ladies and gentlemen, we're going to Can Bosch because we have to visit a true classic, a place that anyone who loves good food, and who isn't easily swayed by "fleeting snobbery," as Arnau Bosch describes it to me, simply must visit. We're in Cambrils, and I'm captivated by the lovely little trees at the entrance. Joan Bosch, the semi-retired patriarch, ensures they provide a warm welcome and reminds us that every detail matters here.

In this story, we pass by Via Veneto, Martín Berasategui's restaurant, Dry Martini, Tramendu, Gerard Piqué and Shakira's house, and end up in Badalona. Today we introduce you to L'Esmolet, the project of three chefs who have joined forces to raise the bar of Badalona gastronomy.

We're in one of the best-kept secrets in the center of Barcelona. A hidden gem in the middle of the busiest streets of the Gothic Quarter. What do we find? A large, peaceful garden for enjoying a vermouth, a space to eat some "amazing" calamari—as they describe it—and a lunch menu featuring a wealth of Catalan cuisine. Just as Julià Peiró entered the The house of the famous and (I'm sure you'll forgive me for writing this) one of the great incentives to watch The guest Albert Om's was to see what the inside of famous people's homes looked like. This restaurant today has the same element, because it's located inside a historic building where you really want to peek: the Ateneu Barcelonès.

You walk into Âme and the first thing you see is Pachi Rodríguez at work. He never stops, but moves with grace and diligence. The restaurant is elegant and welcoming, with small details and no stridency. I'd heard it was well worth a try, and I was very interested in trying this dish from a Venezuelan who learned the basics of French cuisine and then fell in love with Catalonia.

At a table are two men. They look like father and son. Let's say the father is around sixty, and the son, tall as a saint, is around thirty. They talk animatedly until their plates are brought. In a small pan, macaroni with a roast of three meats, gratinated with cheese, arrives. It will be for the son. And in a shiny casserole dish, some cheeks and tendons braised with chickpeas and mushrooms. They uncover the casserole. The man is ecstatic. He lets out an onomatopoeia he couldn't reproduce. The young man looks at the macaroni, his eyes shining. They stop talking. They bury their heads in their containers. They dip bread with relish as if eating against the clock. When there's nothing left in the pan and casserole, they pick up the conversation where they left off.

What is Chambacú and what does it mean? The simple answer is that Chambacú is a newly opened restaurant located at 185 Muntaner Street in Barcelona. But if we go beyond the surface, putting that name on a restaurant is quite a statement of intent. Chambacú was the neighborhood of Afro-descendant slaves in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, when they regained their freedom. It was the place where people living on the margins and displaced by armed conflict resided. For years, it was an island owned by former Colombian President Rafael Núñez, who left it as an inheritance to his driver. Over the years, this water-filled land grew with shanty towns. They used rice husks and garbage to gain land. It was one of the poorest neighborhoods in the country, and in the 1970s, the settlement was eradicated and its residents relocated.

In principle, the year begins in January, but we all know that the year goes with the academic year and begins in September. So we're taking advantage of the new season to review the new releases we should pay attention to. We've already talked about some of them in detail; you'll find articles about others soon.

"Kresala has a name linked to the Basque culture. Translated it would be saltpeter, but from a more mystical perspective, it also signifies the fusion between man and the sea. It speaks of the people who struggle every day at sea to earn a living and that white cloud of protection that covers them. Because the Cantabrian Sea is a wild sea. Basque culture has always been focused on the sea. They arrived in the Americas before Columbus. They were whalers. And cod. The salty foam of kresala It would be like a pagan god." This is explained by Iñaki López de Viñaspre, chef and founder of Sagardi Group, in the restaurant they have opened on the Gastronomic Balcony of Port Olímpic and which is named after the protector made of saltpeter: Kresala.

If you've ever visited Ultramarinos Marín, on Balmes Street in Barcelona, ​​you already know what kind of bread they serve. Everything we found there was made by the restaurant's team. Cold cuts, anchovies, pickles, romesco sauce, or one of the best aiolis in our Catalan region. It's a restaurant for food lovers who understand that what they serve can't be eaten anywhere else. But until now, there was only one thing they served that they didn't make: bread.

The chef at Safor has no one to compare him. Because Ricard Camarena broke the mold. Just when you think you've got the hang of it, he surprises you. A note that might seem dissonant moves the game board, and you realize the score is going in a different direction. This is because he's a person with two very distinct melodies resonating within him. On the one hand, his head is a jazz quartet. Creative, he works from intuition, from what he feels will be right even if he can't verbalize it. He imagines flavors, textures, combinations. In his mind, it's very clear. And then, through a privileged sense of smell and taste—and hours and hours of development in the restaurant—they lead him to translate into the physical world what he feels inside tells him will be right. It's his artistic side.

Many Catalans will have visited Hispania, the iconic restaurant in Arenys de Mar. That's why I've decided to title this article about the luxury of returning. Especially if you haven't stopped in for a while. And if you've never been, it would be a forgivable sin that you can remedy (as I have), as you'll see that even if you hadn't set foot there, it's a place that connects directly and seamlessly with memories of other establishments that also made you happy. It will take you back to your childhood, to tastes that are part of the fundamental pillars of Catalan cuisine. Whether you're part of the first group or the second, going to eat and enjoy would be the best tribute to "the housewives," Paquita and Lolita Rexach, who are no longer in the daily routine but have guided their successors well, just as their mothers once did for them.

"I'm happy because I make authentic food from my hometown of Xi'an. It's exactly as it is there," the easygoing chef Zhengyu Liu tells me. "Before I opened, people told me that if I opened a restaurant like this in Barcelona, ​​without adapting the tastes to the locals, only Chinese people would come, but I said, 'Let's try it.'" At this point, we look up at the dining room of West Street Restaurant (Cartagena Street, 335), and it turns out that not a single person is of Chinese origin among the people standing there with their heads in their bowls while eating their famous noodles.

You only have to sing the song to know that La Font del Gat is one of Barcelona's iconic spaces. Since the pandemic, this popular spot hasn't been open to the public, and only private events were held. Until now. Just a few days ago, it was launched by the Confiteria Group, specialists in restoring historic sites and polishing them. The owners' desire is to maintain its spirit while updating it. Lito Baldovinos, founder of the Confiteria Group, tells me that together they've done everything. Just a day before opening, his mother was still painting boards. I ask him what offer they have in mind, and he's crystal clear. He wants this to be—in his words—"one of the best." picnic area".

It goes without saying that bookstores nourish the critical spirit, the thirst for knowledge, and, ultimately, the soul. But today we'll tell you about a bookstore that also nourishes us in the most prosaic, honest, and direct way possible: + Bernat.