barcelona plans

[sundeck sue]

My husband and I will be in Barcelona 5 nights. We've never been there before. I've pored over past posts (thank you--what a great Board!).

Our goal is to sample the different kinds of great fare Barcelona offers: tapas/pintxos, traditional Catalan, modern Catalan, molecular. I'm especially drawn to really good, local, traditional fare.

So far, three nights are set.

We have a reservation at Alkimia for one night.

One night, we'll do a tapas/pintxo stroll.

Sunday, we'll do a fish/rice lunch in Barceloneta and likely more tapas at night.

That leaves two nights unaccounted for.

On our first night, when we arrive from the U.S., I'd like to do traditional Catalan. Thoughts as to what might be esp. good? Our hotel is near the Port/Ramblas (Hotel Duquesa du Cardona). Walking distance might be nice, though not essential. I wondered about Cafe De L'academia. Your favorite in this (traditional Catalan) category?

For the remaining night: molecular is what is left on the list (Alkimia is modern Catalan, but not molecular--am I right on that?). Thoughts re Embat? Someplace else that you like more?

Many thanks.

[Parigi]

I actually would suggest that you do your tapas crawl on the night you arrive, because this style of eating is flexible and suits diners who have just arrived. You may be very jetlagged, you may have less appetite (or a lot of appetite), you may want to eat early. A tapas crawl would take care of all these issues while a sitdown traditional dinner may not. Plus your hotel is very near the Borne and Barceloneta areas which are ideal for tapas sampling right and left.
And could you tell us which night you arrive and when you leave? It seems your stay covers a weekend. Many restaurants are closed Sunday and Monday.

[sundeck sue]

We arrive on a Wednesday afternoon, depart the following Monday morning.

A Borne tapas crawl make sense for the first (Wednesday) night. Thanks for that suggestion.

Our Alkimia res. is for Thursday; and we're about to book a table in Barceloneta for Sunday mid-day (with tapas/pintxos later that night).

So that leaves Friday and Saturday--and I'm thinking we'd like traditional Catalan for one night and molecular for the other.

Thanks so much.

[caganer]

For local, traditional Catalan (though not entirely so, there are some twists every once in a while) I really like Allium in Barri Gotic - about a 10 minute walk from your hotel. It's affiliated with the Slow Food movement and features mostly local and organic ingredients and really good artisanal charcuterie from Catalunya (Vic). They keep their facebook page up to date with what they've got on hand so you can check what's on the menu before you go(yesterday they had local gambas and prawns and "skirt steak"/secreto from iberico pigs).
The menu del dia is a great value for lunch.