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BARCELONA, Spain - I am sitting with a Spanish friend at Origens,a tiny, jam-packed Catalan restaurant in the newly gentrified El Born neighborhood. "You haven't been to Barcelona," she says, "until you've eaten toast the Catalan way."
Diana reaches over to my starter plate and peels the skin from a garlic clove. Like an artist wielding a burnishing instrument, she rubs the garlic into a length of toasted bread. She then takes a halved tomato, rubs the pulp into the garlic-polished toast, pours olive oil on top and completes the matter with a sprinkling of salt.
I take one cautious bite, then a passionate one. The bread melts in my mouth, priming me for the next course.
Although Spanish cuisine is renowned for paella and snacking on tapas (bite-size portions of snails, pork, hard-boiled egg, calamari, sausage, pimentoes and other appetizers), Catalan fare is little known outside of Spain. Born in Catalonia, one of Spain's 17 autonomous regions, Catalan food, like the language, is notably different from that which is Spanish.
Common dishes include fricando (veal sauteed in tomatoes, garlic and onions) and escudella (a heavy broth made with meatballs, carrots and sausage). The meat used to make escudella stock also is served as a second course. Catalan food is hearty and efficient.
But as far as local restaurants are concerned, Origens is a breath of fresh air. For one thing, the service is prompt and attentive. Having returned to Barcelona on three or four occasions since my first visit, in 1989, I have patronized a number of lackluster eateries where the "wait" staff compelled me to do just that.
Origens also provides something rare in Barcelona's restaurant culture: extended operating hours. Most restaurants are open from 1 to 4 p.m. for lunch, close, then reopen from 9 p.m. to midnight for dinner. But Origens opens at 12:30 p.m. and does not close until 1:30 a.m. It's a break in tradition that many diners welcome.
Until recently, a sit-down dinner before 9 p.m. was a rare event in Barcelona. Locals staved off hunger by visiting one of the city's omnipresent bars and ordering a bocadillo. This time-honored sandwich is a less-appetizing version of the aforementioned toasted garlic bread, often topped with cheese or an omelette.
But a new crop of cafes features light meals throughout the day and night. Sandwich & Friends, for example, serves salads, mini pizzas and an eclectic collection of 59 hot and cold sandwiches, which are rolled, double-decked or made with freshly baked baguettes. My favorite is the rolled Jaume, a combination of chicken, sweet corn, mushrooms, Edam cheese and bechamel sauce.
Until a few years ago, dining in El Born was a limited experience. The neighborhood once was a wholesale market area, and its narrow, winding streets were crammed with plain shops selling canned goods, seed, textiles, eggs, tuna, sardines, anything a retailer might need to purchase in bulk.
When Barcelona was named host of the 1992 Olympics, it began a citywide renovation that has not let up. El Born is a newly hip neighborhood. Ancient buildings that housed textile shops now boast fashion boutiques, trendy bars and a plethora of restaurants featuring Japanese, Italian and Moroccan cuisines.
Although the neighborhood and the city have changed dramatically, I hope one tradition remains the same: the menu del dia. Because Spaniards tend to eat their largest meal at lunchtime, most restaurants offer this menu of the day. The three- or occasionally four-course feasts are special to diners on a budget.
At Taira, the best Japanese restaurant in El Born, I enjoyed a four-course menu del dia: miso soup, maki roll, a large bowl of rice smothered with chicken and mushrooms in teriyaki sauce, and chocolate ice cream. A glass of wine was included with the meal, which cost about $8.50.
For an upscale lunch, a friend and I wandered into Little Italy Ristorante. Three elegant courses and a bottle of wine for two cost $12 per person.
My favorite lunchtime hangout is Restaurant L'Economic. The aptly named Spanish institution drew a cost-conscious crowd long before El Born became Barcelona's restaurant mecca.
Hidden beneath a stone arch at Plaza de Sant Agusti Vell, L'Economic boasts an $8.50 menu del dia. Diners choose from a shifting lineup of five entrees, which can include seared chicken, grilled salmon steak and grilled cheek of veal. Included in the meal are fish soup and mixed salad. The food is simple. The confines are pleasurably cramped. The service is fast and furious.
But now I am sitting at Taller De Tapas, a 4-month-old culinary gem in the heart of El Born. Unlike traditional tapas bars, which are casual at best, Taller De Tapas is upscale, and it's open daily from noon until midnight.
Handsome wooden tables surround the gleaming wooden tapas bar where I am perched. My server delivers plate after plate of delicious treats: marinated anchovies, fried artichoke shavings, grilled asparagus blades, cured Iberian ham canapi, spinach with pancetta and chickpeas, fried potatoes with garlic mayonnaise and hot paprika sauce.
My plates range in price from about $1.40 to $5.25. That's relatively expensive, compared with the menu del dia, but they say you haven't visited Barcelona until you've eaten good tapas. I feel I have finally arrived.
IF YOU GO
These restaurants are in El Born, near Barcelona's center.
Taller De Tapas: L'Argenteria, 51. Noon to midnight daily. Call 93-268-8559.
L'Economic: Plaza de Sant Agusti Vell, 13. Lunch only. Closed weekends. 93-319-6494.
Origens: Carrer Vidrieria, 6 - 8. 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 a.m. daily. 93-310-7531.
Taira: Comercial, 7. 1 to 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. to midnight Tuesday-Sunday. Closed Monday. 93-310-2497.
Little Italy Ristorante: Rec, 30. 1 to 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. to midnight Monday-Saturday. Closed Sunday. 93-319-7973.
Sandwich & Friends: Passeig del Born, 27. Noon to midnight daily. 93-310-0786.
- Elliott Hester is author of Plane Insanity: A Flight Attendant's Tales of Sex, Rage and Queasiness at 30,000 Feet. He gave up his day job to travel around the world for one year. Contact him at megoglobal@hotmail.com or visit www.elliotthester.com
Final stop: Coming home?