The Daily Diary of a Wandering Restaurateur
Christmas in Catalunya
Happy Holidays from Barcelona (or as they say in Catalan, Bones Festes). They also say Merry Christmas (Bon Nadal). The Spanish might say Feliz Navidad, but Barcelona is only Spanish in a political sense. The region (Catalunya) has a fiercely independent streak and even the local language, Catalan, is a distinct language, not a Spanish dialect.
I heard what sounded like rain and wanted to check it out. The windows in the suite had this pleasant etched glass look to them. I wondered why ... until I opened the window!
OK, so it's Christmas Day and light rain. As you would expect in a predominantly Catholic country, much of the city is closed today. What do you do? Why, go out for a walk, of course! (We are, after all, from Seattle!)
The logical place to find a place for lunch open is around La Rambla so we did our Metro thing and found that a lot of other people had the same idea. Certainly if you are a visitor to Barcelona at this time of year you are going to need places to eat, even on holidays. We were encouraged to see there were, indeed, restaurants open. The entrepreneurial spirit was alive and well and we wouldn't have to subsist on stale candy bars from a subway vending machine!
I wanted to get away from La Rambla proper and explore a bit of the older part of the city known as the Barri Gotic. The rain gave it all a rather surreal quality as we wandered through the narrow lanes. It appears that most of the area is closed to automobile traffic and that helped preserve the mood. We were first attracted to the ceiling in what you see in the flash of color in the first row. It turned out to be a Starbucks! That almost doesn't seem right.
There are lots of eateries tucked into these back streets. One even had a line down the sidewalk as people waited in the rain for a table. We may have to go back at a less crowded time and find out why. I loved the look of Los Caracoles with its wood-fired rotisserie. The fire is stoked and the meat loaded from the sidewalk, not from inside. Gus Gregory, a subscriber of mine, tells me it has been in operation since the mid 1800s and is one of his favorite spots. We'll have to check it out before we leave ... perhaps for our anniversary tomorrow?
Small lanes opened up into surprising little piazzas ... and a few big ones. The rain had picked up a bit when we happened by a restaurant/taperia called El Pi Antic (the old pine tree). El Pi is the name given to the lone pine tree in the middle of an adjacent piazza. We had no idea about the quality of the food but were drawn in by the warmth exuded by the glow of the interior. How could a restaurant that has this warm a feel leave you cold?
I suspect this was a grand home at some point in its history. The interior was bathed in a lovely yellow light that heightened the feeling of warmth and welcome -- very attractive on a cool rainy day. Unfortunately, that's where it ended. The owner -- and through him, the staff -- didn't convey any personal warmth or caring.
The owner bustled about taking orders and dropping food on tables with minimal discussion, no smile and virtually no eye contact. He was a total functionary. As usual, we were after tapas and their food was OK but nothing special. However, given the richness of the interior, our experience could easily have merited rave reviews with just a little more attention in the kitchen and some personal attention on the floor.
Most of what it takes to make me happy is to look at me, smile at me and thank me for my business. It hardly takes any time and doesn't cost a dime, yet the returns -- both personal and financial -- are immense. It always saddens me to see hard-working operators settle for mediocre when remarkable is so easily within their grasp ... but I guess that's why I still have a job! (How about your place? Are you and your staff adding to the winter warmth or are your actions acting like a wet blanket?)
Our three hours of activity handled, we headed back to the suite hoping to find at least one bakery along the way where we could pick up some croissants for breakfast, but no such luck. Surely at least one of the bakeries on the block wil be open in the morning, at least for a few hours. We thought about heading out later for a light bite but since we didn't stop for lunch until mid-afternoon, wereally weren't hungry enough to venture into the rain and see if anything in the neighborhood might actually be open.
I'll be interested to see if the combination of walking a lot more and eating a lot less results in any weight loss. If so, great. If not, we still had a good time. And on that note, Christmas 2013 comes to an end, not with a bang but a whimper.
© 2013 Restaurant Doctor
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