Q – We will be leaving in two weeks for Barcelona, where we intend to spend three days before joining a cruise. We really appreciate great food and were wondering if you have any tips?
A – You will be visiting one of the world’s most vital and important restaurant cities. Barcelona’s culinary influences have not spread worldwide, so we are taking your question quite seriously. No one should visit Barcelona without first laying out a culinary map with most meals planned in advance. The world’s most important food movement led by the world’s most respected chef are all centered in Barcelona and Madrid. To go to Barcelona and not dine well would be like going to India and failing to see the Taj Mahal. And now that the dollar has recovered nicely against the Euro, all the more reason to splurge.
You should definitely make a reservation at Cinc Sentits, the best restaurant currently for Catalan cuisine. It is in the Eixample neighborhood. Order the Tasting Menu.
Another fine restaurant, more experimental, in the same neighborhood is Restaurant Embat. This is a where the best chefs in the world try to have lunch.
The hottest restaurant, this week, is Dos Plillos in the off-center Ravel neighborhood. You walk in through a Tapas bar where patrons have thrown napkins on the floor, along wioth toothpicks, as is the custom. But walk through tot he back where El Bulli’s former chef du cuisine Albert Raurich is in charge, and you will be offered the kinds of contemporary gastronomic fare that made El Bulli the “World’s Best Restaurant: four years running. (It has since closed because the Chef/Owner Ferran Adria got tired of turning friends away).
Only rank tourists fail to eat at least once perched atop a stool at Barcelona’s famed Boqueria Market. The stalls here are filled with some of the world’s finest produce and locals know that there is nothing fresher than dining at one of the stalls for as drink and some small plates. Do try the Serrano ham. There are several great food stalls but we are partial to Pinoxto. True Foodies head to Laurene Petras’ mushroom stall in the back of the market.
Another “insiders only” must do stop is Cal Pep in El Born. This is the freshest Mediterranean seafood tapas available anywhere and it is also an authentic Catalon experience. Sit at the long counter with the locals.
Gersca in L’Eixample, is a great choice for lunch because the menu is entirely based on what looked best in the market that morning.
We love Fonda, a new French Brasserie from chef of the moment,Carles Gaig. This is modern Catalan cuisine and it is rather approachable for Americans. Highly recommended.
Arola in the Hotel Arts us run by Adria disciple Sergio Arola and, despite its high cost, diners love the incredible tapas served in a sophisticated and beautiful setting by a superb staff. If you are staying at the Hotel Arts this is a no-brainer.
Comerc 24 is a winner in the Born-Ribera neighborhood. Another famed Adria disciple, Carles Abellan, creates molecular miracles and amazing tapas in a modern setting.
That should be sufficient for three days.
