Take note of the latest gastronomic novelties in Barcelona that are worth a visit
The novelties in the gastronomic panorama are constant. And in ‘Cata Mayor’ we try not to lose almost any. From our visits in recent weeks, this is the selection we have made with good restaurants you should try before the end of may.
Paco Méndez, in the company of Erinna Marciano, brings Mexican haute cuisine back to the table at 54 Mistral Avenue. “I’m going for everything,” says the chef. He has reasons, since his new restaurant inherits Hoja Santa, who had a Michelin star and was one of the best Mexicans in Europe and the world. Here we explain what is eaten at Come.
Rafa Zafra and his partners revive the stately and imposing dining room of the old Ritz (Grand Via of the Catalan Courts, 668). “Here they will live many styles“, says Rafa, with room on the menu for grills, for the sea and the mountains (the peas with cod tripe; the scallop and truffle carbonara; the ‘mongetes’ with tuna and that crispy crab cannelloni with chicken that will be a classic in five minutes), for the tribute to the Ritz, for the oysters and for the caviar (the ‘brioche’!, the sea urchin with prawn tartar!), which has become an identity, both in the Estimar of Barcelona as in Madrid This is the chronicle of Pau Arenós about his visit to Amar.
The kitchen successor of this historic eating house of Camp de l’Arpa (La Nació, 67) brings freshness after passing through a hotel school. He has a generous bar, where you can spend a long time without problems, whether or not you are waiting; and a dining room where you can comfortably use a spoon, knife and fork. And share a table, not a tablecloth (because they are individual, as is appropriate in these cases). And enjoy once they kindly plant the bottle of wine and soda (or whatever you want to accompany the agape with) on the table. Here we explain what the dishes are lunch menu, which costs 12 eurosfrom La Cuina del Papi.
Jaume Marambio and Victoria Maccarone mix Mediterranean cuisine with Asian cuisine in the place where Pakta was (Lleida, 5). It’s not Pakta, of course, but the Japanese is still on the tableware, mixed with the Catalan, with “the Mediterranean”, the cook prefers. This is an ‘izakaya’ or fricassee-flavored tavern. This is what our gastronomic chronicler, Pau Arenós, ate in Alapar.
Camarasa Fruits opens a spectacular and sumptuous ‘retro’ air space in Plaça de Francesc Macià with Diagonal in which You can still buy ‘gourmet’ products and prepared dishes for lunch or dinner. The fruit and vegetable bar at the entrance is impressive, which at night becomes a cocktail bar. Next door, the ‘rostisseria’ where you can take home, for example, a chicken roasted in a wood-fired oven. A few steps below there is another bar where they serve market cuisine dishes. And on the ground floor, frozen ‘top’, very ‘top’ sausages and a selection of even more ‘top’ cheeses that refine in their cellar. This was our ‘tour’ of Camarasa Fruits.
The site is unique: Pot Leaf, located in the cellar of the Follia restaurant. What they cook is unique: stews in a pot. Those behind are singular: Fran Baixas, Gianmarco Greci and Alatz Bilbao. One of the best-selling dishes is highly unique: chicken a la ‘màcali-mòcoli’. Everything in this chronicle of Pau Arenós is particular: this is Follia de Pot.