Spearheaded by a talented new guard of chefs and hospitality guns, Barcelona has emerged as a foodie epicentre, offering everything from Michelin starred greatness to restaurants that have been in the same family for generations. Delicious highlights the mouthwatering Catalan eats that are a must for every Spanish itinerary.
“I’m not just serving food, I’m serving culture as well,” says Mexico City-born Paco Méndez, the head chef at the Michelin-starred Hoja Santa in Barcelona, Spain. Together with its twin restaurant Niño Viejo, Hoja Santa presents a modern take on Mexican food, representing the gastronomic traditions that involve elaboration and complexity.
A Barcelona dining heavyweight, Enoteca Paco Pérez is a two-michelin-starred restaurant honouring contemporary Mediterranean cuisine. Take in the beachfront views as you graze on a 10-course dégustation, inspired by Peréz’s travels, including the likes of “sea cucumbers, Thai memories and shrimp”.
One of the most exclusive gourmet restaurants in Barcelona, ABaC, with its brilliant revisionist Catalan cooking by chef Jordi Cruz remains a firm favorite with local and visiting gourmands. In the sleek, light-filled eatery, which has been awarded two stars by the Guide Michelin, Cruz’s dishes—sweet corn taco and foie gras with mole ice cream, tartare of battered squid rings with citruses—are served in clean, modernist compositions.
With a striking minimalist design and fusion cuisine, Cinc Sentits (Five Senses) is one of the most sought after tables in Barcelona. Chef Jordi Artal serves creative dishes ranging from his Foie Gras “Coca”, a thin pastry crust, balsamic-glazed leeks, burnt-sugar shell and chives to the Lamb Saddle, with hazelnut cous cous, licorice and espresso reduction.
If you enjoy Japanese cuisine and the spectacle of superb nigiri and sushi prepared in front of you, then this one-starred michelin restaurant is the place for you. There is an open-view kitchen standing in the middle of one of the dining rooms. The passionate chef is known for preparing Japanese dishes with a creative touch, which he manages to cleverly combine with the cuisine and products of the Mediterranean.
Lasarte – Barcelona’s only three-Michelin-star restaurant – offers distinctive cooking of the very highest standard. The original and imaginative cuisine bears the innovative hallmark of the chef, Martín Berasategui, with dishes including “La Trufa”, an explosion of earthiness, with fermented mushrooms and collard greens and citric risotto with cockles and sea urchins.
Alkimia boasts a striking design, with an avant-garde nod to the maritime world and a brand-new “unplugged” concept that complements its main gastronomic dining room. The contemporary cuisine (based around locally sourced ingredients) is sublime, with a twelve course tasting menu at €120, offering excellent value for hungry gourmands.
