The ever-effervescent Juanito Bayen of Bar Pinotxo
It may very well be the most famous food market in the world today. It is large, vibrant and contains an incredible selection of both fresh and cooked foods, ranging from immaculate fresh seafood to a surfeit of meat and poultry to an amazing array of mushrooms to a kaleidoscope of vegetables, fruits, nuts and candies and more. What really sets Barcelona’s La Boqueria (aka Mercat de St Josep) apart, though, aside from its premiere tourist-friendly location just off Las Ramblas, is the quality of its small kiosk restaurants, which provides some of the best breakfast and lunch bites in the city. While my son, L.J. and I were in Barcelona to experience the restaurants of Albert Adriá, we met some friends from home, who were visiting the city and took them on a tour of this famous market. Continue reading
The full elBulli experience will never be replicated. While the food was of paramount importance, the magical setting of Cala Montjoi, the paradoxically traditional decor of the restaurant space and the creative ferment of the kitchen all combined as major contributors to the full experience. Of all those factors the easiest to take away and replicate to varying degrees are the quality of the food and the creative aspects of the endeavor. Given the importance of his position as part of the creative team of elBulli, it should be no surprise that Albert Adriá has succeeded in doing just that. He has taken the creative magic of elBulli and transplanted it to Barcelona. While each of his four current restaurants (as well as the likelihood of those still on the way) carries the spirit of elBulli, none project more of that than at the 41º Experience. This small restaurant, which serves only 16 guests per evening a total of 41 courses each and is attached to the larger Tickets, originally opened as a cocktail bar and after 11:30PM reverts back to that format. Its cocktail bar origins carry over as a number of the courses come paired with specific cocktails. 41º Experience channels its progenitor (elBulli), while also being something new and fresh. It is indeed its own experience and it is worthy of the Adriá name associated with it. 
It’s tiny and it’s mostly (but not totally) classic. 
Nights like this are ones that just need to be appreciated for the something special that they are. It is no exaggeration that Gerry Dawes, my friend, traveling companion and guide “knows and appreciates Spain more than all but a few Spaniards” let alone people from other countries. That statement came from our host for the evening, Benjamin Rodriguez Rodriguez, the proprietor of the humble appearing, but fully sensational El Rincon de Jabugo situated in the equally humble, but comfortable Gran Hostal San Segundo located just outside the historic walls of Avila near the San Vicente gate. 