Iñaki Ellakuría
Updated Saturday, February 3, 2024-00:09
Melo Jia
In
What matters is the illusion
(Destino 2013), the best Spanish diary written in recent decades,
Ignacio Vidal-Folch
recognizes one of his perversions: eating in small Chinese restaurants in the Barcelona expansion, a bustling central district of Cartesian inspiration that was designed by Cerdá in the 19th century. I share with Vidal-Folch the taste for the impersonal familiarity and shelter that these restaurants offer to the dilettante in a city taken over by tourism and depressed by the hangover of the process. We are "Chinese men", so, from time to time, when he deigns to return from Madrid exile to his Barcelona, we usually eat at Shanghai Stories (Aribau, 73), run by a friendly anti-communist, where You can taste excellent beef with oyster sauce. Although thinking about the Chinese New Year, I recommend Melo Jia (Corsica, 250), where chef Tao, who was a member of the Chinese Olympic gymnastics team in the eighties, offers traditional food. He highlights, as unbeatable, the crispy chicken with soy sauce and chives.
Jamboree
In December 1963, trumpeter
Chet Baker
arrived in Barcelona after a difficult season in Paris and had the impression of having ended up in an "almost tropical city", where, to his relief, he could easily acquire Palfium recipes. Baker had signed a contract to perform for a time in what he defined as "a basement" - where he occasionally crossed paths with the dancer Antonio Gades - and which had been baptized with the peculiar name of Jamboree ("gathering of tribes"). , in Zulu). An underground club, in the very Italian Plaza Real, which was founded by the businessman
Joan Roselló
shortly before the emergence of the
gauche divine
of Tuset and Bocaccio, and which immediately welcomed great international musicians -
Dexter Gordon
,
Stéphane Grappelli
,
Bill Coleman
...-, until it became a European cathedral of jazz. Still a must-see for all music lovers and nightlife lovers, this Saturday offers the return to Barcelona of
Enrico Moreria
after his tour of Brazil. The Latin Grammy winner will be accompanied by
Alan Sousa
,
Antony Cruz
and
Edi Moreira
. And on Sunday, veteran saxophonist
Scott Hamilton
will take the stage
, an international reference in the style of
swing
and
middle jazz
, who together with the
Toni Solà Quintet
, will recreate some of the most famous tenor sax duels in the 1950s and 1960s .
Palau Martorell
Former headquarters of the Mercantile Credit Society and, later, of the Bank of Barcelona, the monumental neoclassical building built between 1886 and 1900 (Ample, 11), with views of the Basilica of the Mare de Déu de la Mercè, was reopened in permanent museum last year with an exhibition on
Sorolla
. Now, connecting with the Mediterranean light of the Valencian painter, the present exhibition delves into
The World of Colors
by
Marc Chagall
, a particular synthesis of Fauvism and Cubism. An ambitious retrospective that covers half a century of the anarchic work of the Russian painter, with a selection of 150 pieces, 25 of them unpublished in Spain, that explore the unclassifiable spirituality of the artist, with works inspired by the Bible and the Exodus, but also by iconic elements of Jewish tradition and popular Russian folklore that he imbibed during his childhood in the town of Vitebsk.
Belvedere
Unfortunately for drinkers, Barcelona has become the world capital of
selfie
and posturing cocktails, after
Sips
tops the list of The World's 50 Best Bars 2023 and
Paradiso
is in fourth position. Two new venues, packed with tourists, and whose offering is very far from the philosophy and aesthetics of the city's cocktail tradition - this is the best in Spain -, initially influenced by
Havana's El Floridita
and by the presence for decades of the personnel of the
North American Fifth Fleet
. That legacy of sobriety, elegance and scoundrelism, which distinguishes cocktail bars from bars that serve drinks, is represented today by
El Tándem
,
Caribbean
,
Ideal
... But above all the
Belvedere
(Pasaje Mercader, 3), where Ginès Perez, who learned his trade at the legendary
Victori Bar
, for thirty years he has been an alchemist behind the bar of a place with elegant English decoration and that has a small outdoor patio. In addition, it allows you to have lunch or dinner in the bar itself thanks to Natalia's cooking, from whose short but select menu I usually opt for chickpeas
with shrimp.