SHORT LIST

Cloud 9

by El Staff

Yet again, Barcelona’s been voted the European city with the highest quality of life, but even a metropolis that borders on perfection leaves room for improvement. There are bars, restaurants and t-shirt shops aplenty, but lately more creative proposals have sprung up that somehow manage to stay alive in the dog-eat-dog business world of the Ciutat Comtal... and also scratch an itch you didn’t know you had. Here’s to some great ideas that work; we almost wish we’d thought of them.

P&T

c/ Wellington, 711

Pan & Tomàquet is the “Promised Bar” for all displaced Berliners, and a true land of plenty for the hungry and hung-over. In other words, it’s the first local to offer brunch all day Sunday for only 10 pavos. The bread, cereals, müsli, fruits and yoghurts cover about a quarter of the seemingly endless buffet table, which is surrounded by pieced-together vintage furniture and sofás. Next to fresh juices, fruity cheesecakes, warm pancakes and pan de payés: plates filled with jamón, butifarras, and cheeses, and baskets of fluffy French croissants and homemade marmalades. And, as if that weren’t enough, P&T also caters to the needs of the alcoholically challenged with a full Bloody Mary bar. Forget the pathetic tomato juice and vodka swill other places pass off as a drink. Here, you make your cocktail yourself from the eyedetonating assortment of celery salt, fresh horseradish, 10 types of hot sauce, limes, Old Bay, pepper, and more. They even have A1, and that speaks of true dedication and expertise.

La Bola

c/ Tapioles, 104

It’s the combo of a few, simple things that often does the trick. When it comes to food, fresh sardinas, olive oil, and garlic are all it takes to concoct a splendid meal. For a good night out, little more is needed than chilled beers, snug lighting, and a bartender with decent music taste. But, like adding the finishing touch of fresh parsley to sardinas a la plancha, giving people something active to do in a bar makes a hell of a difference. Pepe and Josep, the two boys from Barcelona who opened La Bola, placed a ping-pong table in its center, bought paddles for all (deposit 3€) and, two weeks into the first month, they could hardly believe their eyes to see 20+ people running around the table with a paddle in one hand and a bottle of beer in the other, laughing and cheering. Foosball next, please.

Pop-Up Collective 007

c/ Francesc Cambó, 311

During the economic crises, when designers made a virtue out of necessity and rented vacant commercial spaces on a short-term basis, most considered it just a passing fad. Shops were en traspaso anyway, and owners were glad to recover at least half of the rent as long as the temporary tenants agreed to vacate as soon as long-term leases could be signed. But now that the trend has turned viral, it’s hard to keep track of the new collabs between painters, fashionistas, and industrial and furniture designers who take less than a week to turn empty shops into vivid wonderlands where they showcase and sell their work as well as serve teas and beers to the thirsty. The forerunners of the movement in Barcelona, Collective 007, will reopen shortly, in the former electrodoméstico shop on Francesc Cambó under the motto XYZ, with wallpaper design by Draculá and furniture by Piet Hein Eek offspring, Carol C.

Kültur Büro Barcelona (KBB)

c/ Joaquin Costa, 24, 11°

Even though the continued shutdowns of independently managed artistic venues suggest otherwise, the age of miracles isn’t yet past. The KBB crew wouldn’t enlighten us to the identity of their angel investor, but was quick to assure that their new financier has a squeaky-clean record and will have no influence whatsoever on the management of the art space. Sigismond de Vajay, the KBB’s founder in 2004 and curator until 2007 (when the underfunded space had to shut down), plans to pick up where he left off, with exhibitions from international artists, concerts, performances, video art and installations (and, of course, the roof-top brunch during summer months). Get your hopes up! The RE-inauguration will feature Spencer Tunick’s latest work and a set of special making-ofs.

Thaiphoid

c/ Carretes, 992

Remember those sad old days in Barcelona when there were only about three places to eat Thai food, and all of them were expensive? Did you, like us, contemplate moving to a different country with more Pla Plamuk and less “Pumpkin Thai curry with chicken and green bamboo shoots”? Damn it, we wanted real Thai fare: cheap, delicious, and hot with green chili fire. And Thaiphoid answered our prayers. While it’s been followed by decent imitators like Thaiphoon and Thai Tanic, the ‘Phoid is the true original. After spending two years investing in food rather than décor (which is, by the way, the choice everyone should make), they’ve now managed to open up a back room that’s nice enough to take your parents to. For my money, though, I’ll still choose to rough it on the simple pine picnic tables and benches at the front, where I first discovered that there was a food God and he lives in Raval.