1.A mirror at
Bar Pastís- Oysters with
shiso vinegar
at Tickets - A nordic
landscape with
smoked cheese
tapas at Tickets
Facing page:
The towers
of Gaudí’s
Casa Milà
hangs on her every note, drinking in the sound
of her voice in silent reverie. During the break,
I ask Magalí what it is about her city that makes
the nightlife so electric. “You’re asking a lover
of Barcelona!” she says delightedly. “The thing
about this city is that you could just be at home,
in your own bubble, but then
you go out at 2 in the
morning and immediately,
you feel the magic of the city.
For me, most of the melodies that have become
my songs have been written while biking
or walking in Barcelona. It’s an inspiring place.”
In Barcelona, music always seems to be drifting
from around the next corner. A four-minute
stumble from Jamboree brings you to Bar Pastís,
a venue the size of a living room with space for
just 22 souls. Inside, there’s an ambiance that
has remained purposefully unchanged since
1947 when it was opened by a Gallic exile as
a reminder of Marseille between the wars.
The music is mostly French chanson, while above
our heads dangles an icon that would have raised
a smile from Hemingway and his drinking
buddies: a human-sized papier-mâché green
absinthe fairy.
9PM Around the cornerfromBarPastísis
Palau Güell, an early exampleofAntoniGaudí’s
architecture. Gaudí has writtenhislegacyall
over Barcelona, and one ofthebestwaystosee
his signature up close is atnightatCasaMilà,
the modernist apartmentblockthathebuilt
between 1906 and 1912. Itisreferredtolocally
as ‘La Pedrera’, a nod to therough-hewn
building’s resemblance toanopenstonequarry.
The undulating roof is amongthebestknown
of Gaudí’s creations, havingbeenseenin
Antonioni’s The PassengerandWoodyAllen’s
Vicky Cristina Barcelona, anditscurioustowers
are put to good use in a nighttimeaudiovisual
show that tells - in suitablyabridgedfashion-
the story of the origins oflifeitself.Asimpressive
as the light show is, the realstarremains
Gaudí’s own handiwork.
10PM Gaudí’s hallucinatory concrete makes
sense here because Barcelona embraces the
imaginative. You’ll see it on the dinner plates
at Tickets, the tapas bar that emerged from the
ashes of the legendary Catalan three Michelin-
starred restaurant El Bulli. Here, they have all
sorts of bizarre and beguiling creations, such
as olives reconstituted as liquid spheres that
burst in your mouth, or a plate of marinated
beef and smoked cheese served in the form of a
miniature diorama of a frosty Nordic landscape.For all their culinary inventiveness, one of the
best dishes at Tickets is their simplest: oysters
with shiso vinegar. It’s a reminder of Barcelona’s
status as a great seafood city. Down at 1881 per
Sagardi, on the harbourfront, I eat razor clams,
turbot and yet more oysters while figuring out
how many lifetimes it would take me to save up
for one of the superyachts passing by outside.
11P M Back nearer to Casa Milà is La Pepita,
Barcelona’s quintessential tapas bar, where
owner Sofia Boixet serves up roasted octopus,
anchovies with caramelised milk, and sea bass
with strawberries. A Barcelona native, she’s able
to explain the unique Catalan approach to tapas.
“Here, it’s usual to share the starters and then
have your own main,” she says. “This way
you can start with tapas, and then finish with
whatever you feel like having most.” Sofia
met her husband Sergio when he moved from
Alicante to study cookery. “We had the romantic
idea to start a traditional tapas bar,” she says.
That means a broad marble bar, exquisite small
plates, and vermouth on tap. As she pours me
a Miró vermouth over ice and orange peel,
Sofia gestures to the street outside.213106 October 2019