Competitive environments heighten ingenuity, foster creativity and demand professionalism. This economic maxim can also be applied to restaurants, of course. This is the only explanation for today’s perfect venue, one owned by a married couple who a long time ago decided to fully fuse their lives and professions, making it a lifestyle. Mireia Navarro and her husband and chef Rafa Penya from the popular restaurant Gresca have invested money but, more importantly, grey matter and ideas, in reforming their restaurant. It is not only an outlay in adding more tables; it is also a bold venture brimming with personality.
The “Gresca folks” have set up their bar next to their restaurant in the Eixample district; specifically, it’s a wine bar. Still, if we want to accurately describe it, it’s only a bar in name because what you can eat there is sophisticated, delicate, powerful and beautifully served little dishes, and to accompany them, a unique range of wines, especially French wines, most of them organic. Another bid by the “Gresca folks” that is full of personality, which allows clients to rise to a higher plane, far from the run-of-the-mill.
It is a curious, modern, U-shaped place. Gresca and Bar Gresca have separate entrances (both legs of the “U”), elongated dining rooms, and at the end of both (the base of the “U”) they are joined by a perfectly-equipped kitchen exposed to diners which serves both dining rooms. In front of the kitchen is a bar seating 6 where diehard gourmands can enjoy watching the chefs’ creations before eating them. This brilliant layout was designed by a young interior design studio, Cirera-Espinet, allowing the owners to have two venues and attend to both at once. It’s a brilliant way to not have to split themselves in two, and to ensure that they don’t miss a bit of the action in either place!
The service is professional and personalised, led by the omnipresent Mireia, and they have a sommelier who provides recommendations of wines from outside the city’s usual commercial circuits. At the “non-bar” we are covering today, the tables have no tablecloths, you cannot make reservations and the atmosphere is relaxed. You can hear background music, but it’s not too noisy, and some degree of intimacy is possible.
And the food… oh, the food! It is GOOD in capital letters. The menu is not divided into courses and comes on a single page, which takes you from less to more, from the most minimum tapa to nibble on with a glass of wine to amazing, incredibly amazing dishes served as little dishes in the guise of half-servings. We are following this order, from least to most amazing, in terms of flavour and price. We begin with “Anchovies”, “Codfish Gilda” and “Leeks with seafood cocktail”, three simple appetisers, yet they have already reached the gastronomical heights we know from Gresca.
Anchovies and Gilda
Leeks with seafood cocktail
We continue with a “Salad”, not a Russian salad. Not peas, not carrots, not your typical concoction. Light, with the potato cut into large pieces; it is a cheap dish but one you can’t skip. After that comes a “Grilled Iberian ham and Comté cheese sandwich”, pressed thin on the grill, extremely crispy and cut into a series of crustless rectangles. So far, the dishes are between 4 and 10 euros, and they have made the trip more than worth it. But hold on: the kitchen is Gresca’s, so they leave the heavy hitters for the end.
Salad
Grilled Iberian ham and Comté cheese sandwich
The next series of dishes is memorable, starting with juicy, tender “Tripe” which your typical bar cannot aspire to, a “Pork sandwich with fresh sour cream” full of contrasts in each bite, and a “Pig trotter stuffed with cabbage”, whose presentation is not suitable for anyone with major eating qualms … but its taste and power left us satiated and ready to leave behind the savoury dishes to embark on the sweets.
Pork sandwich with fresh sour cream
"Tripe"
A “Pear with coffee and whipped cream” and especially an uncommonly delicious “Torrada de Santa Teresa” were the icing on the cake in one of those dinners where you leave applauding. Creativity, precision, a reasonable price and the perfect setting: you can’t ask for more when the bill is so affordable and the venue is open 7 days a week.
"Torrada de Santa Teresa"
We applaud the “Gresca folks”. What personality, what passion, what ambition, what precision… and yet what friendliness with clients and what knowledge which truly makes local clients happy. Clap, clap, clap, clap. Bravo!
| Score | ||
|---|---|---|
| Food | Wines | |
| 74 | 85 | |
| Service | Venue | |
| 65 | 68 | |
| Price | Miguelín Stars | |
| 35€ | ||
| Per person: 4-5 little dishes and 2 glasses of wine | ||
Where is Gresca?
Address: Provença, 230, 08036 Barcelona
Telephone: 934 51 61 93
Timetable: Monday to Friday 1:30 to 4 pm and 8:30 to 11:30 pm. Saturday 8:30 to 11:30 pm. Closed Sunday.
Website: www.gresca.net