When did you start coming here?
“When it opened in 2008. I’ve always
liked hanging out in the Raval district,
although for a long time there wasn’t
anywhere truly special to eat, so I was
very happy when Albert Raurich
opened Dos Palillos just around the
corner from the MACBA [Museum of
Contemporary Art]. Albert was head
chef at El Bulli for seven years and his
Japanese wife, Tamae Imachi, was
sommelier. We were all great friends,
but they made a formidable team.
When they set out on their own it was
obvious it was going to be something
really special.”
What’s the appeal?
“It’s split into two: a sort of working
man’s bar contrasted by this very sexy
restaurant that you enter through steel
curtains. It’s all very dark, red and
sultry, almost like a secret dining room.”
Who comes here?
“Everyone and anyone. The place is
packed with a really interesting,
international crowd – fellow chefs,
journalists, politicians, musicians.”
What’s your order?
“Everything! The quality of their
cooking is impeccable, and it would be
madness to do anything else. The
dishes change so I let them take the
lead, but they do an amazing fresh
seaweed salad with molluscs,
anglerfish liver in sake, hot oysters from
the Delta de l’Ebro and Cantonese-
style Iberian pork [the tasting menu is
from €75-€90].”
What keeps you coming back?
“When you’re a chef, you need a place
to call your own in-between hours. This
is my place – I go either very early or
very late, sit at the bar and catch up
with my old friends. That’s when the
magic happens.”
Albert Adrià was his brother’s right-hand
man at former world’s best restaurant, El
Bulli. Since its closure in 2012, he’s been
making his own mark with several
restaurants: Tickets, 41º, Pakta and
Bodega 1900. His new Mexican,
Yauarcan, will open around the corner
from Dos Palillos in March
Albert Adrià
Top chef
AS TOLD TO
TARA STEVENS
PHOTO
CARLOS HERNANDEZ
EATS AT
DOS PALILLOS
9 Carrer d’Elisabets
08001 BARCELONA
+34 93 304 0513
dospalillos.com
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T H E R E A L R E G U L A R S
