Tour Barcelona with Tavernita Chef Ryan Poli

SPANISH REVIVAL: The city is abuzz with new food and urban energy, appealing to a younger generation

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(Left) Gaudí’s Sagrada Família; (top right) a whimsical dish at Tickets; (bottom right) a room at Eurostars Cristal Palace
 

RYAN POLI’S BARCELONA ADDRESS BOOK

The Boqueria Market

STAY
For an ocean view, I recommend Hesperia del Mar (Espronceda 6, 34-93-502-97-00, hesperia.es; doubles from $130), although the waterfront is a little out of the way. I prefer to stay in the Ramblas area so that when you step outside you’re where you want to be. Both the Hesperia Metropol (Ample 31, 34-93-310-51-00, hesperia.es; doubles from $142) and Eurostars Cristal Palace (Diputació 257, 34-93-393-09-70, eurostarscristalpalace.com; doubles from $209) are well priced and in the center of things.

EAT AND DRINK
At Moo in the Hotel Omm (Rosselló 265; 34-93-445-40-00, hotelomm.es), I ate edible terroir and desserts based on perfumes—weird, but it worked. At Alkimia (Calle Indústria 79; 34-93-207-61-15, alkimia.cat), Jordi Vilà pushes forward Catalonian dishes with some modern thinking. 3 Food People & Music (Carrer de Còrsega 231; 34-93-419-33-55, 3fpm.com) is a sexy little tapas restaurant with elevated presentations. At El Quim de la Boqueria in the Boqueria Market (Rambla 91; 34-93-301-98-10), you will wait for a spot at the counter, but the cuttlefish with fried egg is worth it. Tickets (Avinguda Paral•lel 164; ticketsbar.es) is El Bulli–style fun applied to tapas; a little bonsai tree came to the table with cotton candy tangled in its branches. The Adriàs’ next-door bar, 41˚, is a slightly easier reservation.

DO
Park Güell (at Carrer d’Olot), designed by Antoni Gaudí, is a great place to escape the hustle and bustle of the city, bathe in the sun, read a book, or people-watch. Once you’ve been there, you’ll be able to pick out Gaudí buildings as you walk around Barcelona. Plan to spend at least half a day at his awe-inspiring Sagrada Família (Calle Mallorca 401; 34-93-207-30-31, sagradafamilia.cat); take the tour of the church and make sure to go up to the roof. In the afternoon, walk up Las Ramblas and sit in Plaza Catalonia to soak everything in. Barcelona’s leisure beaches were built for the 1992 Olympics and there are better ones in Spain, but what I like about them are the little cafés. Order a clara: It’s half lemon soda, half beer, and super refreshing on a hot day.

SHOP
You could spend days wandering around the Boqueria Market (Rambla 91; 34-93-318-25-84, boqueria.info), which has every kind of food stall you can think of, from fresh seafood and olive oil to candy. Vila Viniteca (Agullers 7-9; 34-93-310-19-56, vilaviniteca.es) is the number one shop in Barcelona for wine, hams, and specialty foods. Carrer de la Riera Baixa, a single block in the El Raval neighborhood, is devoted almost entirely to funky secondhand shops; it’s one of the best spots in the city for vintage and retro clothing. In the Gothic Quarter, Les Bambes del Gatuqui (Comtessa de Sobradiel 1; lesbambesdelgatuqui.blogspot.com) is great for vintage accessories.

Photography: (Sagrada Família) irabell/istockphoto; (Tickets) Sergi Vicente Puig; (Boqueria Market) Gunnar Knechtel/Die Zeit/Laif/Redux

This article appears in the May 2012 issue of Chicago magazine.

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