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YOUR NEXT DESTINATION 34 / AIRBALTIC.COM Barcelona gastronomy’s promised land TEXT BY UNA MEISTERE, WWW.ANOTHERTRAVELGUIDE.COM | PHOTOS BY AINARS ERGLIS

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Page 1: YOUR NEXT DESTINATION Barcelona · 2019-02-04 · YOUR NEXT DESTINATION 36 / AIRBALTIC.COM Freedom, and Creativity”, on view at Palau Robert until February of next year. This show,

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34 / AIRBALTIC.COM

Barcelonagastronomy’s promised land

TEXT BY UNA MEISTERE, WWW.ANOTHERTRAVELGUIDE.COM |PHOTOS BY AINARS ERGLIS

Page 2: YOUR NEXT DESTINATION Barcelona · 2019-02-04 · YOUR NEXT DESTINATION 36 / AIRBALTIC.COM Freedom, and Creativity”, on view at Palau Robert until February of next year. This show,

The alma mater of the culinary artsThough a couple of weeks have passed since I returned from Barcelona, I still see a moving scene in my mind’s eye – two elderly ladies elegantly seated at a table covered with a white tablecloth, visibly savouring the arrival of their meal. More precisely, I picture them as part of a performance, imagining them at El Bulli – the legendary restaurant, a star of the contemporary culinary stage, that closed its doors last July. Wholly in thrall of the mythic and iconic, the ladies I envision would sit and smile whilst one plate was exchanged for another, the contents becoming an endless stream of surprises. Their hands folded solemnly in their laps, they would watch other hands deliver what is now no longer available – this would only be a scene from the exhibit “Ferran Adria and El Bulli – Risk,

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BALTIC OUTLOOK / APRIL 2012 / 35

Bad luck, somebody has already taken the Anothertravelguide brochure about Barcelona, but don’t worry, all the information is also available at ANOTHERTRAVELGUIDE.COM in cooperation with airBaltic.

Barcelona is in some sense the ideal city. A city containing a little everything, it has beaches, hills, around 320 days of sun each year, its own variant of the Champs-Elysées – the Passageo Gracia – a charming medieval old town, the Barri Gotica, with its cosy taverns and small shops (and an enticing Mediterranean chaos). Then there’s the alternative district Raval with Pakistani immigrants, pickpockets and ladies of the evening, incongruously joined by art lovers flocking to MACBA, Barcelona’s museum of modern art. There’s Gaudì and there’s the latest symbol of the Catalonian capital – Torre Agbar, a steel and glass tower designed by the renowned French architect Jean Nouvel. This is an open-minded, cosmopolitan, and intensely democratic metropolis. It is also blessed with a human scale – you can get almost everywhere on foot. Until last March, you could even walk naked. Not long before the last city council elections, however, competing with the socialists (who lost), the Catalan nationalists who won decided that some limitations were necessary – it’s no longer permissible to wander La Rambla, the principal tourist artery, naked, half-naked, or in a bathing suit. You are still allowed most any attire – meaning no full nudity – on the city’s beach, in nearby bars, and along the promenade. Even this minor insistence provoked protests, as if it were a major human rights violation. Though one can no longer strip down entirely, don’t worry – this is still a city open to most an idea, even if it’s crazy. One of the main fields for experimentation is that of gastronomy.

Page 3: YOUR NEXT DESTINATION Barcelona · 2019-02-04 · YOUR NEXT DESTINATION 36 / AIRBALTIC.COM Freedom, and Creativity”, on view at Palau Robert until February of next year. This show,

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Freedom, and Creativity”, on view at Palau Robert until February of next year. This show, which will travel to New York and London, begins here in Barcelona; the virtuoso of culinary arts and the luminary of late 20th and early 21st century restaurants began life in Catalonia, and Barcelona is above all the capital of Catalan cuisine. El Bulli was recognized as the best restaurant on earth for five years in a row, receiving pretty much every imaginable award and renowned the world over as the most unusual culinary adventure one could possibly enjoy. In some sense it is among the few fresh legends the globe has had to o!er in our postmodern chaos – El Bulli not only led to a global explosion in extraordinary cuisine; it changed the relations mankind has to food. Ferran Adria, the conductor of this explosive music of taste, is a Spanish genius of gastronomy and one of the most influential people in the world of cooking. The exhibit at Palau Robert o!ers insight into both the history of the El Bulli phenomenon as well as a grand tour of the world of the senses. The tour begins with a thoroughly romantic story – the love of a German doctor and a young Czech girl against the background of the ruins of the Second World War. They met in war-torn Berlin in a brief, intense romance. When he was captured by the Soviets, she saved him. Then they were married. In the 1950s, they bought land on the Costa Brava for 10 000 marks, on a cli! above Vala Montjoi, and opened a small beachfront bar, naming it after the local bulldog. The locals called it Hacienda El Bulli. Hans was a gourmet, and in the 1960s he invited French chefs down to Spain – the small bar soon obtained its first Michelin star. When the marriage broke up, he moved back to Germany. Meanhilw, young Ferran Adria had heard of the place from a ship’s cook whilst serving in the military. At the time, he didn’t know the value of a Michelin star – though El Bulli would earn three once he came to run it. Adria took over El Bulli at age 25, in 1987. His goal was as simple then as it is now – conjuring up culinary creations that are neither variations nor interpretations but something completely new, not copied from old recipes or created ever before. In 1994, Adria came up with a concept that turned received ideas about cuisine on their heads – the priority was not particular dishes but techniques and visions that would turn eating into a bright adventure. The fundamentals of Adria’s art involved intricate play with the physical and chemical properties of foods. Complicated manipulations, barely to be believed, resulted in a cuisine with unutterably di!erent

textures and forms, providing a unique experience and tastes that had hitherto been utterly unknown. One of the most remarkable aspects of Adria’s alchemy is that few things taste like what they look like, giving the adventure unexpected turns. If, in the past, eating would at best involve the stimulation of all five senses, then El Bulli stimulated a sixth, drawing it out of another world. The otherworldly aspect included guessing exactly what it was that you were eating, the uncertainty of it calling forth metaphors, irony, analogies, and even traces of childhood memories. Technology and poetry, a striving for stylistic purity, and total freedom within a creative process were the hallmarks of El Bulli. The restaurant had only 15 tables and 54 seats. It was open for only half the year, from April to December. Tables were reserved a year in advance. There was no menu – El Bulli served tapas, providing about 35 unpredictable appetizers over the course of four or five hours to every diner. The exhibit allows you to watch the innumerable foods invented at El Bulli in a seemingly endless series of small TV screens. You’d need at least half a day to see all of the inventions come into being in miniature. Adria was always famous for his perfectionism, and most of the creations require absolute attention to the tiniest details of proportion in their ingredients and arrangement. One of the most unusual things on exhibit is a glass table bearing countless ceramic replicas of what went into the food, some composed upon plates so that you can decipher every part of the composition. Only the most stellar creations ever reached the diners’ tables. Adria gave lectures at Harvard and received a slew of honorary degrees, including a doctorate from the University of Barcelona. In 2007, Richard Hamilton – a loyal client of El Bulli – invited Adria to stage a solo exhibition at the 12th Kassel dOCUMENTA. The El Bulli exhibit’s adventure ends with a waltz – the farewell dance of the chefs at El Bulli. One can’t really call it the end, however – in 2014, El Bulli will be reborn in another form, as a centre for culinary research and innovation.

El Bulli for mere mortalsIn reality, El Bullihasn’t actually disappeared – it has simply taken on another life. The Adria brothers (Ferran’s brother Albert being a genius in the realm of pastries) opening a new tapas bar in Barcelona last year. It’s called Tickets, and there’s also a cocktail

The El Raval neighbourhood Santa Caterina Market (Mercat de Santa Caterina)

Page 4: YOUR NEXT DESTINATION Barcelona · 2019-02-04 · YOUR NEXT DESTINATION 36 / AIRBALTIC.COM Freedom, and Creativity”, on view at Palau Robert until February of next year. This show,

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bar called 41, next to it. Once again they were pioneers – this time not only in gastronomy, but also in transforming an entire neighbourhood. The Poble Sec district where Tickets is located is known for its proletarian past, stretching back into the 19th century. The factory chimneys of La Canadenca still stand, and the area still retains part of its industrial aura – but as with any such quarter, once a place is a!ected by the alternative scene in a certain degree, total transformation cannot be far behind. In the 1940s, the main artery in Poble Sec, Paral-lel Avenue, was known for its nightlife, lined with cabarets and bars. The shine came o! – but current plans call for restoring Paral-lel to its former glory as the Broadway of Barcelona. After fifteen years of silence, once of the iconic cabarets opened its doors – El Molino, Barcelona’s take on Paris’s famous Moulin Rouge. Tickets is only about twenty metres beyond it, on the other side of the street. It opens precisely at seven, but there is no chance at all of wandering in – you definitely need a reservation, which can only be obtained via the Internet (exactly at midnight), at the restaurant’s homepage. In theory, 80 places are up for grabs. The waiter later tells us that the reservations are snatched in a few seconds – the mythical character of the place

is cultivated as carefully as that of El Bulli. Arriving is part of the adventure – a crowd teems at the entrance before Tickets opens, and while waiting you get a show through the windows, the team of twenty receiving its last instructions before the hour strikes. The interior and the waiters’ uniforms are in homage to the “Broadway” past of the neighbourhood. It’s like a carnival. The entryway is like that of a circus, with the maître d’hôtel, wearing a top hat, checking reservations under a sign that says TICKETS in lights. Hams and strings of onions hand nearby, as they do in any classic tapas bar. There are also TV screens showing scenes from El Bulli’s vanished kitchen, and kitschy golden Chinese cats wave hello. The lamps look like they’ve been taken from a Christmas tree. The crazy decor lets you know that this is definitely not El Bulli – you can relax, and the place is far bigger, with 123 seats. This is not a place that accentuates status. You can consider it a kind of El Bulli taken o! its pedestal and made available to a broader public. In terms of what’s on o!er, however, nothing is di!erent – the challenging, extraordinary cuisine hasn’t changed one bit. It may be that the Adria brothers simply needed to cut loose from the formality of their famous restaurant. Instead of o!ering the

City panorama from the rooftop of the Hotel 1898

The W Hotel’s glass tower resembles a sail and has become a new symbol of Barcelona

Page 5: YOUR NEXT DESTINATION Barcelona · 2019-02-04 · YOUR NEXT DESTINATION 36 / AIRBALTIC.COM Freedom, and Creativity”, on view at Palau Robert until February of next year. This show,

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summits of the culinary arts to a select few, any snobbishness has been abandoned in order to get rid of the myth that fabulous gastronomy is only meant for the elect. Just as great music isn’t confined to opera houses – neither is unbelievably creative cooking. Both brothers were in attendance when we were there – Albert in a white chef’s uniform, Ferran in an everyday suit; unlike at El Bulli, his constant presence isn’t necessary. They chat with the customers and seem completely at ease in the carnival atmosphere. Though Tickets does have a menu, unlike El Bulli, it is best to surrender to the surprise, as it is called – that way you will savour about three hours’ worth of marvels, about half of them reincarnations of hits from the legendary cli!side restaurant. The surprise starts with green olives – which turn out not to be olives at all, though the jar they are taken from does indeed look exactly like an olive jar. “You have to eat these in one bite,” the waitress says – such suggestions accompany most of the dishes, including advice on which instruments to use when eating each food. Though the slightly quivering olives that aren’t olives taste like olives, they have the consistency of quail eggs – it’s like eating a liquid olive encased in a thin membrane, and strangely thrilling. Then there are slices of tuna belly painted with Iberian cured ham fat, with bread sticks – the waitress warned us to eat the bread sticks separately, not mixing the tastes. There are cod skin chips and oranges in olive sauce, razor clams with ginger oil, cayenne pepper and lemon air, miniature “airbags” stu!ed with Manchego cheese and Iberian bacon... but the names are one thing

and the experience another. What happens to your senses is impossible to describe. You think you’re eating one thing – but it turns out to be somehow exactly opposite. The play of texture and various intricate, clever pranks make you feel as though each dish is an entire symphony. You are sometimes warmly caressed and refreshed simultaneously. Even supposedly simple things like lamb ribs melt in your mouth. Though each dish follows the other as though in an endless succession of acts in a theatre, they are perfectly balanced in taste and in quantity, so that you are never, ever bored and are actually drawn deeper, as if by the intrigue of a thriller. You can endlessly distract yourself, too, staring at the cotton candy tree, for instance, where cotton candy floats like clouds in the branches decorated with fruits. Then there is the performance taking place at the tables all around you. I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a space so charged with such positive emotions for such a length of time. Diners are as thrilled as joyful children by every marvel that arrives – and doubly thrilled when they taste it. You can dine here for hours, but the intensity of the flavours does not diminish. The textures and tastes come in waves. When the evening is over, it is as when the curtain falls on a perfect performance. You can soar above the earth, it seems – and afterwards you will never doubt that gastronomy is a true art. It is – and here it is a great art indeed.

A gourmet universe and the secret restaurantTo be hungry in Barcelona is as impossible

Tickets – a new tapas bar opened by the Adrià Brothers

Page 6: YOUR NEXT DESTINATION Barcelona · 2019-02-04 · YOUR NEXT DESTINATION 36 / AIRBALTIC.COM Freedom, and Creativity”, on view at Palau Robert until February of next year. This show,

as being thirsty while standing under a waterfall. There is probably no dining scene in any city to equal this one. Moreover, fine food is available in every budget category. Not far from Tickets, there’s one of Barcelona’s best tapas bars, Quimet & Quimet. Small as a pocket, it’s been in the same family for four generations. Wine bottles and artefacts line the walls, all the way to the ceiling. The culinary procedures take place standing up, shoulder to shoulder. Some come to chat, whilst others savour glasses of house cava. All of the tapas are on display behind the bar – tuna, anchovies... every imaginable seafood. Ham, marinated vegetables, cheese, bread... everything you ought to find in a true, traditional tapas bar. Everything is delicious, and wine is served in small glasses carelessly pushed across the bar. No matter how hungry and thirsty you might be, you’re unlikely to spend more than 15 euro here. If, however, you want to eat seafood with such seriousness that you may not want to see the sea after dining, there’s La Paradeta. Kind of a cross between a market and a classic cafeteria, it is unique to Barcelona but has three locations. At astoundingly low prices, you can eat until you drop. La Paradeta is also an adventure – one location is behind the Santa Caterina market. You’ll easily find it because there will be a queue outside. There are no waiters and there is no interior design to speak of – just a massive counter packed with pretty much anything that moves underwater. You stand in line and point, as you would in a market. Most of the clientele consists of locals. What you order can be fried in oil or grilled. Then it is bagged and weighed, and handed to the

cooks. You get a number. You find a table and wait for your number to be called. There’s a whirlwind of activity all around, as though you are in a busy port. Everything is quite simple – and simply delicious. Barcelona has not been immune to the rage in secret restaurants spreading across Europe. Pop-ups and supposedly secret addresses that really aren’t secrets are in fashion. It’s kind of like hide and seek for grownups. Finding such a place can give you a feeling of accomplishment. What the pop-ups have in common is their unusualness in location and their individuality. The harder they are to find, the greater your sense of accomplishment when you do will be! The harder it is to get in – the more enticing the place. Urban Secrets began this trend in Barcelona, and Tintoreria Dontell is one of the most popular addresses. From the outside, it seems to by a dowdy dry cleaners’. There are a couple of jackets and an ironing board in the window. There’s doorbell that’s di"cult to find, and no one will hurry to let you in. Someone eventually responds... but won’t hurry then, either. You’ll get a door code at last, and suddenly you’ll be in a trendy restaurant with something of a nightclub’s ambience. The menu is limited and the cooks are obviously fond of experimentation. There are terrific appetizers like tuna tartare and there is a good wine list... but it’s not exactly a place you come to for great cuisine. You come for the adventure, and it’s rather like a game of not knowing what’s behind di!erent curtains. Just don’t get sad if you do encounter other tourists – after all, it’s hard to keep a good secret... especially if

The Adrià Brothers – Ferran and Albert

Page 7: YOUR NEXT DESTINATION Barcelona · 2019-02-04 · YOUR NEXT DESTINATION 36 / AIRBALTIC.COM Freedom, and Creativity”, on view at Palau Robert until February of next year. This show,

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Nicolas Estrada is a jewelry designer. Although he was born in Columbia, Estrada has called Barcelona home for the last twelve years now. His book, “New Rings: 500 Designs from Around the World”, came out last year and features 591 rings created by almost 300 of today’s best jewelry designers. Radical, innovative, gorgeous, challenging, conceptual, abstract – are just a few words that describe this visually colorful story about the ring: as both a work of art, and as a symbolic object that reveals something about its wearer. Estrada’s works have been exhibited in galleries in Europe and America, and just last year he happened to participate in the exhibition “Conceptual Jewelry”, held by the Riga jewelry gallery “Putti”. In speaking about Barcelona, the designer says that he loves the city most of all for having allowed him to do what he

Insider’s viewA city in which to find yourself

someone says “don’t tell anyone”! In 2009, the culinary stage got a new arena in the form of the gigantic W Hotel, with 473 rooms. Another neighbourhood was reborn. 26 storeys high, it was designed by Ricardo Bofill, who also designed the airport. The glass tower resembles a sail and has become a new symbol of Barcelona. The locals call it vela – the sail. It’s located at the southern end of Barceloneta beach, in a former industrial zone. It’s also the first hotel in the city with direct access to the Mediterranean. The vast plaza tiled with white stone has become a favoured place to gaze at the sea... or at the skaters,

who flock here in droves. Stylish bars and restaurants have sprouted along the promenade. Their atmosphere and location has made them instantly popular. One is called Gallito, and it’s hard to imagine a nicer place for lunch. The beach is only a few steps away, and the architect Frank Gehry’s “fish”—part of the 1992 Olympics complex – shimmers across the cove. There plenty of sun, plenty of good food, no formality at all and receptivity to anyone and anything. The only care you have, or should have, is to keep an eye on your possessions. Pickpockets in Barcelona are artists, too.

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has always wanted to do, not what others have tried to force upon him.“Before I came to Barcelona, I did what everybody expected of me – I had to be a businessman, head a company, drive a certain car and live in a certain neighborhood. I came here to get a master’s degree in marketing... and I became a jewelry designer. This is a city without limits –

you can do what you want to do. In my opinion, Barcelona is a wonderful place for people to find themselves. Because it has everything – artists, businessmen, rich people and very poor people – all of the colors. A rapper next to a yuppie. Naked people and people dressed very expensively – nobody judges you, nor do they pay you undue attention. And they also don’t worry themselves about why you’ve come here. Barcelona is very small, but at the same time, you can meet people from all over the world here. Colors, languages, almost always sunny... It’s really easy to get around, and Barcelona itself is in a very strategic location: in 45 minutes, you’re already in the mountains; a bit less, and you’re at the seaside. It’s also a very convenient place to live. Housing rental rates, for instance, are much better than in Paris, London, New

Page 8: YOUR NEXT DESTINATION Barcelona · 2019-02-04 · YOUR NEXT DESTINATION 36 / AIRBALTIC.COM Freedom, and Creativity”, on view at Palau Robert until February of next year. This show,

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York or Tokyo. You can find anything to suit any budget. If you come here with the wish to experience the best seafood in all of Spain, you’ll get it – but of course, at a corresponding price. But if your wish is to have a great lunch for seven euros, you can also get that in Barcelona. Tra"c jams in Barcelona never last more than half an hour. But the most fantastic thing is that the city is in a constant state of renewing itself. Right now, for example, there’s an active war on cars – and a campaign to popularize public transportation, bicycles and motorcycles. There’s a really good public bicycle network – Bicing (www.bicing.cat) – the bicycle stands are adjacent to metro stations and bus stops. So, all you have to do is get out at your metro stop, take a bike, and continue on with your daily errands. If you have just 24 hours to spend in

Barcelona, go to the Old Town and just let yourself get lost. For me, it is still the most beautiful part of the city, in spite of all of the tourists; I’ve lived in this city for twelve years already, and I always discover something new: a street that I didn’t know about; a building that I’ve never seen before. It’s a very magical and very beautiful part of the city. The best time to go to Barcelona is at the end of May, beginning of June. It’s already warm (the swimming season o"cially starts on May 15), there aren’t that many people around, and the prices are still relatively low. Or, come at the very end of summer – in September. August is extremely hot, but at the same time, a really good month as well: the city is practically empty; the locals have all gone on holiday. Only the tourist spots are operating, it’s easier to get around, and the city has a completely di!erent – un-rushed – rhythm.” BO

Nicolas admits that he is most in love with the Barcelona that is a little bit anarchistic, a little bit underground, and definitely – not expensive. These are a few of his favorite spots:

Some of the best tapas: Quimet & QuimetPoeta Cabanyes 25, 08004

Best pizza: Bella NapoliMargarit 12, 08004

Great restaurants with a lunch menu:El Sortidor – Placa del Sortidor; www.sortidor.comEn Ville Barcelona - Carrier Doctor Dou, 14; www.envillebarcelona.es

A great restaurant by the beach:Gallito – Passeig del Mare Nostrum, 19; www.gallito.es

A good bar for drinks and hamburgers:Apolo Diner – Vila i Vila, 60 – 62; www.apolodiner.com

A loud and lively nightlife can be found at Carrer de Blai: “this street is in Poble Sec, the neighborhood in which I live. It’s always loud here, there are always people about, and everyone is always in a great mood. It’s kind of a meeting place – with mostly just locals; tourist rarely wander in. The most fascinating thing is watching the interactions – between those that have lived here for generations, and those who have moved here just recently.”

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