It doesn`t take long for a visitor to discover that eating in Barcelona isn`t a sometime thing.
The late starting times for the midday meal (2 or 3 p.m.) and dinner (10 p.m. for the fashionable) startle Americans. But Catalonians don`t suffer because they don`t limit themselves to fixed meals at fixed times.
Residents delight in telling new friends from abroad the litany of daily dining. They count off the meals and little meals and snacks one by one, tapping a different finger for each, often reaching the second hand.
They launch the day with something light, fruit perhaps. Then in midmorning they partake of a snack involving coffee plus pastry to ward off premature hunger before the ritual midafternoon lunch. Late afternoon may be cause for another snack, and there`s always time for a tapas-a little snack, or two, or three-and wine before dinner.
If eating the local food ranks just below lining up for customs inspection on your list of favorite activities when abroad, start the day sampling from a broad array of buffet food offered each morning in hotel dining rooms. Later, look for the familiar signs that announce the presence of an American fast-food chain.
In my view, however, there is only one way to deal with the Catalon passion for food and dining, and that is to surrender to it.
For a light and fast start there are coffee bars in nearly every block. The coffee is always made to order and can be the intense jolt of espresso or a luxurious coffee with milk. In addition to breakfast pastries, small sandwiches are likely to be available from midmorning. No one lingers long.
As the ritual of going home for a family meal at midday fades, the tapas bar is becoming popular for a quick, light lunch with friends. The same food is available in the evening, but the customers are more likely to live nearby. Unlike other Spanish cities, Barcelona does not have an area in which tapas bars are found in profusion. Instead, they are scattered about the city. The ambition of a bar`s fare and its prices usually reflect the neighborhood. During the obligatory stroll down the Ramblas, if it is daytime, be sure to turn into the magnificent Bocqueria market to observe profusion of Catalan seafood and produce. The reawkening of pride in Catalon culture has led to a celebration of Catalan cooking and Catalan chefs.
In the restaurants, concentrate on appetizers and seafood. The regional wines, especially cava (sparkling wine) and the still whites, are very good and well-suited to the uncomplicated and subtly flavored food.
Barcelona natives don`t like to go to bed. More than a few bars and nightclubs don`t warm up until 1 a.m. or later, and some serve quite decent food. But by then you, as I, may just have had enough to eat for one day. In any event, keep in mind:
Ca l`Isidre (Les Flors 12; 441.11.39). A tiny temple of gastronomy featuring superb Catalan ingredients. Best dessert selection in the city.
Botafumeiro (Gran de Gracia 81; 218.42.30). As lare and as clubby as a Chicago steakhouse with the best (and priciest) seafood in Barcelona.
Siete Puertas (Passeig d`Isabel II 14; 319.30.33). A charming antique restaurant beside the port (more than 150 years old) with a superb paella and Catalan classics that weren`t made yesterday.
Pinocho (in the Boqueria; 318.25.84). Daytime fare at a counter in the famous market tapas that features tapas and impeccable soups and stews made with pristine ingredients from the neighboring merchants.
Jose Luis (Diagonal 520; 200.83.12). An upscale bar with an extensive display of tapas in a neighborhood of chic shops. It features a variety of beers.
Ticktacktoe (Roger Lluria 40; 318.99.47). A starkly modern bar and nightclub with a serious kitchen. Late service.
