Lisbon is an exciting city that will leave you wanting to come back and explore deeper, a place that calls to you even from across the Atlantic.
Mussels, razor clams, cockles, barnacles, baby sardines, squid, octopus, tuna belly, anchovies. Packed in olive oil, preserved in escabeche sauce or simply canned in brine. Some people claim that the conservas can surpass fresh seafood in concentrated flavor. And they say that the seafood ages in the can and improves over time, much like fine wines.
The bars listed here transcend fashion and serve the good stuff night after night. These aren’t the only cocktail bars in Barcelona, or necessarily the most famous, but for timeless classic concoctions this is where you might start.
Despite being the big city in the heart of Catalunya, a major wine-producing region itself with 12 separate DOs, Barcelona has traditionally reserved the good wines for restaurants and boutique wine stores. The scene is changing, slowly.
Restaurants
The two most important things when visiting wine country are good wine and good food. In Rioja the confluence of local and regional ingredients and refined cooking techniques trickling in from the nearby Basque Country has created a culinary landscape that matches the depth of the local wine culture.
Barcelona’s casual ethos and market cuisine have birthed a new version of haute cuisine. For years, some of Catalonia’s best chefs have been serving diners at the bar, no tablecloth, and by now names like Gresca and Dos Palillos are legendary in Spain. It’s now the most exciting time to eat in the Ciudad Condal (City of the Counts) in years.
