The Tragaluz group continues to expand, under the watchful eye of Tomás Tarruella, who knows how to bring his culinary tastes closer to trends and create -this is in his genes- spaces with a pleasant and cosmopolitan atmosphere. If in the summer of 2021 he recreated the atmosphere of Japanese taverns in El Japonés escondido and a year ago he wanted to bring the northern seas closer to the Barcelona port by opening Fiskebar in that privileged place that was previously occupied by the Maritim, now he has considered that it was time to look at Italy and go up to Diagonal, where he has chosen a quiet area next to an interior square where he has planted trees. The result is a leafy 600 m2 terrace with wooden tables and umbrellas, in front of a restaurant with a large open kitchen whose interior design is signed by Francesc Rifé Studio.
Together with Alex Duran, the chef who leads the group’s kitchens, the Calabrian Matteo Spinelli has already prepared the first menu and the suggestions of the day from the new Bosco de Lobos (Diagonal 605. Interior), a firm that was born in Madrid years ago and which is now opening in the Catalan capital. There are no tasting menus, nor menu of the day, although they are thinking of creating it, nor an offer with dishes in which meat or fish are the protagonists. The idea is to serve simple Italian cuisine, with special attention to pasta classics, good fresh salads and some Roman pizza, in order to offer an average ticket of around 35 euros. The person in charge of the kitchen is the chef from Lima, Jean Carlo Garate, Spinelli’s right-hand man for years.
We tried appetizing starters, such as the fried mozzarella ball stuffed with olives, the trevigiano radicchio salad with gorgonzola, pears and hazelnuts and grapes, with interesting contrasts, or the candied artichokes with burrata and Iberian bacon. The pasta they work with is bought from a small producer who is a friend of Spinelli’s who runs a pastry and for whom he sets the guidelines for what he wants. The Italian says that one of the hallmarks of this Bosco de Lobos firm is to serve Italian cuisine prepared with some products from his country but with the maximum of local ingredients from small producers.
Another interesting Italian where you can enjoy dishes such as bucatini alla carbonara, spaghetti with mussels, tomato and chili and, two highly recommended suggestions: tagliolini with anchovies, lemon and chili, a dish that in Consenza, the city where Spinelli learned from his grandmother to cook, takes Christmas night. And the bacuttini with oxtail ragù, excellent.
