Barcelona, a la Drive
I remember the editorial of Tyler Brule in that The liveable cities index of Monocle in 2010: “Barcelona is one of the most beautiful capitals in Europe, but his attitude is anything but attractive. Relax, you are not French! We are also bored that you are the destination for foreigners and drunks. It may be financially beneficial, but it's time to let it go." I could not agree more. Our endearing, exhausted and empty Barcelona* is constipated, opaque and grey.
And yet it's hard not to try one more time. It's hard not to return a hundred, a thousand times to Barcelona. This is the story of a reconciliation in 24 hours and a handful of reasons to keep loving her:
1) I returned to Catalonia as a gastronomic chronicler and Barceloneta was already painting its sand the color of farewells on tiles and mahogany. Travel is tiring and the A2 is -many times- a dentist's waiting room. But what a hotel, mon dieu, what a hotel. to the point: the Hotel Arts It is perhaps the best hotel that I have known -and I have known quite a few- in Spain. Floor 32, this view. A private lounge bar for the latest suites, private cook, an epic breakfast and impeccable service. And it is that a hotel is service, discretion, space and adventure. When will others understand?
The Hotel Arts: when will others understand?
2)Breakfast at Olivia. And dawn. Breakfast -I'm tired of repeating it- is the best moment of the day. During breakfast everything is fine, the voices are still warm and the world lands under your feet with the soft drip of caffeine. Breakfast is - let me state it - the last refuge of courtesy , of silence. During breakfast we are still people and in Barcelona -that's how it is- there is a wonderful offer of cafeterias like El Olivia, where the pa amb tomàquet is exemplary and the coffee is hot as hell, black as the devil, pure as the angel and sweet as love
3) Ring. Too long without going back to the Arola and a faultless excuse: to meet the new cook, Miguel Angel Mayor . An impeccable resume (elBulli, Mugaritz, Dacosta) and a brave, rogue and sincere proposal : a menu without a menu and without plates, everything at the center and vertebrate in tapas and snacks. Without fear. A fun gastronomic game under the sun of Barceloneta: tear peas with espardenyes, Kimchi red prawn and Dashi infusion, liquid hummus, quail tagine, octopus ceviche, flowers, vegetables, light and smiles... Truly, a surprise , an unexpected surprise. If they give him a chance - I hope they do - this guy will go very, very far. At the time
Outdoor dining room of the Arola restaurant
4) Grace. Always Grace. It is unavoidable. When I get angry with Barcelona I always go back to Passeig de Gràcia and halfway through the walk we are already forgiving each other. I know it sounds topical, banal and even offensive - with which it is falling - but a morning of shopping is well worth a mass and a hundred pardons. The route begins in Santa Eulalia (Passeig de Gràcia, 93) the inescapable Santa Eulalia, living history of fashion in Spain and pioneer of luxury, legend has it that Amancio Ortega -owner of the building- spends long periods in the attic of the tailor shop . He could plant a Zara, but no, put up with Santa Eulalia. I hope it lasts forever.
They say that Amancio Ortega spends a lot of time in the attic of the tailor shop
5) Paco Pérez wine bar. Back to Arts. After a Manhattan at the Frank's bar, it is the turn of Paco Pérez, a brand new Michelin star whose speech is the avant-garde and revision of Catalan seafood cuisine (whose intellectual and gastronomic epicenter is his Miramar restaurant in Llançà). Enoteca cuisine is profoundly savory, essential: pumpkin gnocchi with truffle (magistral), stewed morels, Iberian bacon and “espardenyes”, citrus meunière sole or the black forest. A tasting menu of 110 euros (with complete pairing 170) and an overwhelming setting behind its light, its whites and its horizon. I know I shouldn't do this, but they pay me to get wet: if I have to choose - and in this life you have to choose - I'll stay with Arola.
6)Barcelona. The bikes. They will say what they want: hipsters, moderns, flower-eaters and claptrap. But civility and intelligence translate into respecting your surroundings, taking care of your home. And that is not palpable anywhere like in Barcelona. It is also a very dog-friendly city. Like Traveler.