A few weeks ago I wrote what I guess you could call a slightly negative critique on a brunch my boyfriend and I shared at an overhyped American fusion restaurant in el Born. The experience was everything we did not want on that day. Prices too high for ingredients too cheap, carelessly prepared and served…
The coolest kid on Carrer Girona these days is Malpaso, a gourmet Mexican spot sporting a funky menu, which fuses local favorites with classics from the Yucatán. That means a combo of vermutería snacks to “picar” out of tin, with stuff like tortilla soup with crunchy corn and a cake made of de-spined cactus and veggies fresh out of the…
On a Monday evening in early autumn we found ourselves in Sant Antoni an hour before our showtime, so we stopped by at Fàbrica Moritz for dinner and a bottle of freshly brewed beer. The scope of this place has always fascinated me. It’s a ginormous beer-themed amusement complex, featuring a brew room lined with towering stainless steel tanks in the…
I’ll be the first to admit that my expectations of Picnic Restaurant in el Born had perhaps been a bit too high from the beginning. I had heard so many stories of its wonderful brunch menu, its charming atmosphere and hearty morning cocktails that when my beaux and I made plans one Sunday morning to check it out I slipped my…
Poblenou has always kind of reminded me of Miami’s art district. Both are on the outskirts of the central buzz. Both feature massive, industrial-chic loft spaces, studios, artisanal coffee brewers, craft beer, palm trees and a beach nearby. Both neighborhoods serve as cradles of innovation and provide a great environment for culinary creativity. That means food trucks. I…
We strolled through Saint Germain des Prés and I daydreamed of a life there. The librairies, cafés, vintage cinemas seduced me and I pictured myself a Sorbonne girl running off to class with a backpack full of books ´n autres choses. Some day maybe… For lunch we chose a brasserie named Café Bonaparte, which faces a…
We found classic French fare at a bistro named Le Mesturet, somewhere between the tourist-jammed Louvre complex and the more business-oriented Opera quarter. It’s a typical old-school Parisian spot with a small bar near the entrance, an intimate dining room with tasteful wooden furniture, a green awning over its doors, monogrammed china. All that good stuff.…
On La Rue des Rosiers in the Le Marais district of Paris’s 4th arrondissement folks have plenty to be excited about. And around a place called Chez Hanna there’s a particularly palpable hush, like the chilled silence of a site where something important has happened. People sit on the curb or stand around with palmsful of pita overflowing with…
In my experience, food is more fun with a story behind it. Sure, a ham ‘n’ cheese sammie with store-bought cold cuts and pre-sliced Bimbo can hit the spot just fine during a 30-minute lunch break on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. But how vastly more entertaining it is to take a bite of something born…
Sziget Festival blew my socks off this year. I was very impressed. It seems like this massive, weeklong, multicultural party gets bigger and bigger each year. If you’re a music lover (or, more generally, if you don’t hate a good time) and you haven’t been before, go. Take a train, plane, car to Budapest, then the boat or…
That Best Bite 