Long before the restaurant existed, the people of Barcelona gathered at popular banquets to quench their hunger and thirst together. Those of Montjuïc were famous and, later, those of Les Planes; where the star dish was almost always rice. Later on came those eating houses that we now consider historic (Can Culleretes, 7 Portes, Los Caracoles and a long etcetera) and little by little the spirit of the banquet was lost.
With the intention of recovering it, chef Sergi De Meià has returned to Barcelona with the opening of Banquet (remember that in 2022 he closed the restaurant with his name that he ran when he had not even been a year old). He wants to defend in this establishment the memory of Catalan cuisine with reasonable prices and he does it from a location crowded with tourists, that Raval near La Rambla that seems to have forgotten what was his.
Banquet occupies the space of the old Sagarra, which for 20 years also served Catalan cuisine to the faithful parishioners of the neighborhood with very pleasant views of the Plaza dels Gats and an air of a French bistro that in the redesign of the new premises (signed by Carlos Martínez Interiors) have wanted to preserve.
There is Milanese rice on the menu because, as De Meià explains, “modernity now is looking for the rare bird” and not many know that this is how the most Barcelonan rice was prepared in the past. Or at least that is how José Rodissoni detailed it in his culinary treatises, or the journalist and gourmet Néstor Lujan in his writings; whom the chef has read carefully for this opening.
There are also traditional stews such as rabbit from Baldomar a la Empordà that pays homage to the figure of Joan Cabau and the now-defunct Agut d’Avinyó restaurant; medieval sauces that appear in recipe books such as Sent Soví (see, for example, the one that accompanies the Tavascán trout tartare, made from apple and vinegar) or fried snails with allioli and roasted tomato, a true delight.
They include up-to-date classics such as the highly refined cod brandade that they serve or the Barcelona-style cannelloni, always made from local products and as organic as possible, since De Meià is among that group of chefs who promoted the Italian slow food movement. in Catalonia.
Among the desserts, we recommend trying the músic 2.0, a summary of all the desserts of Catalan cuisine.
Heading the kitchen at Banquet are the chefs Pau Olivés, who has spent years with Sergi de Meià, and Àlex Clotas, who had previously worked at Casa Guinart. The room is run by Claudia Gómez, who is in charge of guiding the diner in the choice of wine. She does so through an interesting letter that has a large number of proximity references.
