There are so many movements in the hospitality scene that keeping up to date with Barcelona openings is almost as difficult as finding out about closures, which are often regretted after some time has passed, because they tend to occur in silence. And the bad news is followed by that feeling of guilt for not having frequented that place that we liked more, doing our bit to keep it alive.
In that now usual dance of openings and closings, often due to lack of replacement, this 2023 has been especially hectic. Large investors remain attentive and the supply of establishments with more desire for profitability than soul and with bland cuisine is growing. However, they are also attentive to the places that are left empty by professionals in the sector who maintain the hope of starting up and opening businesses in which the clientele is satisfied with both the gastronomic offer and the hospitality.
In the chapter of closures, one of the last that will leave us in 2023, at the end of the month, is that of the small and emblematic seafood restaurant Camarote de Tomás, which before saying goodbye (these days they cannot cope with the customers who want to say goodbye ) already has relief. They tell us that it was kept by someone from the sector who sat down for dinner one night and after dessert showed interest in purchasing it; someone who prefers not to give details of what it will be like or what he will offer when he returns. “In any case it will not be the same because it was a unique place,” explains Nacho Matías, one of the sons who always combined his work in the textile sector with helping his parents. The brothers have convinced their father, Tomás Matías, that it is time to take it easy, take care of their health and enjoy retirement. “My mother, Montse Clavé, left her job for a few days to lend a hand in the kitchen waiting for a cook to arrive and she still jokes that she is still waiting for him.” El Camarote de Tomás, says the son, closes with the feeling of having had a loyal clientele and that the owners of it, Tomás and Montse, have given their all to serve the best product. “And no one gave a damn because we were next to a seafood restaurant as renowned as the Rías de Galicia.”
Alberto García Moyano, lawyer and author of the portal Sometimes I See Bars, who has contributed as a businessman to the recovery of old wineries that were going to disappear, explains that during the pandemic many long-standing establishments managed to endure the vicissitudes, but have succumbed to this second bout of inflation. “This rise in prices and the lack of margins has taken away some established classics that have not withstood the new blow.” For García Moyano there are those who have reached retirement age, and have far surpassed it, like Montserrat Sabadell, from Brusi, who had no replacement. He also points out a trend that is increasing: chefs who stay in establishments that are too small to manage personally. “They prefer to manage alone or with minimal help than to continue working for someone else.” Houses like Cal Bonete, in Les Corts, like Castro, in El Clot, like Bodega Vendrell, in Eixample, or O’Pote in Plaza Letamendi are some of those that have lowered the blinds this 2023, as they have done others as well-known as the Pinotxo de la Boqueria, which has reopened in the Sant Antoni market or the Pla de la Garsa, which will soon do so in new hands. These are closures that coincide with those of much shorter-lived establishments such as Tamae, opened by Albert Raurich and Eugeni de Diego, Fat Barbies or Bar Yeti, which had begun a second life in the hands of the Bonanova family in 2022.
But the past year also leaves numerous openings that reflect the variety of trends in Barcelona restaurants. From betting on spectacular venues, such as the Azul Rooftop Barceloneta, with views of the city and the sea, by Romain Fornell, to something that is becoming more and more common: the association of several chef friends or restaurant managers who want to unite forces. An example is Brabo’s partners with the grill cuisine of Rafa Panatieri and Jorge Sastre who had already started their successful pizzerias Sartoria Panatieri, or its neighbor Tangana, in which student and teacher (Àlex López Lamiel and Josep Maria Masó) They teamed up to offer good dishes. This is also the case of Mantis, an alliance of several young people who decided to do haute cuisine with the financial help of the family, or of Mae, a commitment from other friendly partners.
The new developments also reflect the success of small wineries, such as the one opened by Eugeni de Diego under the name Colmado Wilmot, or Solera by Kim Díaz (from Bar Mut) with his partners, now also owners of Pla de la Garça, among others. premises they have acquired. One of those partners is Enric Rebordosa, who also shares a new project with Omar Díaz (Bar Omar), the successful Hijos de Javier, where Víctor García (former Plata Bistró) cooks, which could be the beginning of a family saga of bodeguillas. Professional colleagues who share friendship are increasingly encouraged to share adventures, in the same way that some chef-owners see the best option for continuity in the involvement of their head chefs in the business. It is something that chef Albert Raurich confirmed a few days ago, delighted to have applied this formula in his Dos Pebrots.
The bars continue to succeed, and proof of this is the new Rabbit’s, which has been welcomed with great enthusiasm by the neighboring clientele of Ganduixer Street, in search of a place with atmosphere and good dishes. They also like establishments with the appearance of a traditional tavern and with an offer of moderate prices, as is the case of the old Bodega 1900, for the moment converted into Taco Méndez, by Albert Adrià and Paco Méndez, or, with an appearance reminiscent of this place, the aforementioned Solera, one of those projects promoted by Kim Díaz.
Friendship and complicity are repeated in the case of the new Vraba, with its sights set on the America’s Cup, the ambitious bet of the Coure chef, Albert Ventura, who has entrusted the development of the menu to his great friend Jordi Vilà, who In turn, he has just opened his second Va de Cuina store next to Ninot, where he triumphs with his version of escudella street food. Or complicities between father and daughter, like those that have led Quim and Paula Marquès to light the stoves of Santa Magdalena, in Gràcia. There they claim traditional simple cuisine, “like the one we ate at home when we were little, unpretentious but tasty and with the desire to keep alive a recipe book in danger of extinction.” They have had an excellent reception, like the rest of the aforementioned establishments that opened during 2023 that has also been busy in the gastronomic field.
