It’s true what he says, that it can be overwhelming to be in this country for any kind of culinary investigation. Whether you’re here to learn to cook, to study wine, or simply just to eat, you soon realize that truly visionary people are mixing the ‘unthinkable’ with the highly ‘traditional.’
Just below my apartment balcony are several restaurants that are always full of people. They have fancy fusion names and fancy fusion menus and none of them are appealing to me. But stuck between Picus and Petit Bankok is LA NOVA FONTANA, a dinner gem that takes simple ideas very seriously.
For 2 – 5 euros you can order a ‘slice.’ There are no whole pizzas here because each slice is a carefully composed thin crust with any infinite combination of toppings, folder over, and wrapped in thick paper that you can take “para llevar” or to stay.
Rows of long tables fill up at lunch and dinner. Since we’re in Gràcia there is hardly any Castellano spoken here, but they do offer a dual menu for the non Catalán customers. Most people here are families from the neighborhood, a younger crowd on Friday and Saturday nights getting ready to go out.
They offer cañas (beer on tap), of course, as well as wine. Mostly I was just impressed by the options… Queso de Cabra con Roquefort y Manzanas (I’ll let you translate that); Jamón curado con piña; or just a simple Margharita.
On the other side of town, in El Born, is a restaurant that blew my mind the first time I came to Barcelona (thanks nana!) and would totally humble all you other so-called foodies reading this blog. It’s called Comerç 24 and head chef, Carles Abellan, uses molecular gastronomy techniques he learned while studying with Ferran Adrià at El Bulli. Adrià is probably the most famous person every to pick up a knife, and his El Bulli (which is about an hour North of Barcelona) is rated #1 restaurant in the world.
At Comerç24 you have the opportunity to enjoy very traditional dishes like, in its more familiar Italian name, ‘Prosciutto Melone’ except its served two ways. First, as the traditional strip of cured ham in a piece of fresh melon. Beside it on the plate you have ham, cut in strips, fried and glazed and served with a frozen melon jelly. Abellan calls this dish Mélon y Jamón, Origen y Evolución. Or you are welcome to try the Tasting menu of tapas, which we did, for 54 euros, which includes things like: Cuttlefish with artichoke and pine nuts,which sounds tradtional, but the fish was sered in two ways; first, as a scoop of ice cream that sat beside, second, a warm fish foam. The dish of Macadamia nuts was covered in gold dust, and the Ox Tail stew was one of the richest and most delicious things I’ve ever put into my mouth, probably because it had cauliflower cream and truffles in it.
Abellan recently opened Tapas24, which I haven’t visited yet. From what I understand the chef here gets too take a break from his scientific experiments and serve tapas in their ‘traditional’ form. There is certainly no shortage of incredible Tapas bars around town, Quimet Quimet (which I wrote about in an earlier post) and El Vaso de Oro in Barceloneta (I’ll write about that one soon) are two of my favorites so far.
Sorry I forgot to include pictures in this post, I was too busy enjoying my food 
Ok, THAT was fascinating. Can you believe I actually got all caught up in that video– ME– the “I don’t care about food” lady! Thanks for posting that.
I want a slice!! That sounds DANK!!!!!
Spent my 21st birthday at El Bulli with my girlfriend. Unreal for sure you should make the trip up.
Checked out any restaurants in Poblenou? Sick neighborhood. Have fun. Blog is great.