Culture, Education, Science and Community

Commerce and markets. Fifth edition of the Barcelona Restaurant Awards.

The jury for the Barcelona Restaurant Awards recognised the restaurant Petit Comitè, in L’Eixample, La Bodegueta de Sant Andreu, Rasoterra and Passadís del Pep, in Ciutat Vella, and the Hermós fish bar at the Mercat de la Llibertat. There were also special mentions for the Restaurant 7 Portes and the chef Fermí Puig.

Created in 2017, the Barcelona Restaurant Awards pay tribute to the talent, commitment and innovation that define the city’s restaurant sector, and recognise the contribution of establishments to the identity of the city and the welfare of its neighbourhoods and communities.

The winners in the various categories of the fifth edition were:

Gastronomic quality: the restaurant Petit Comitè, in L’Eixample, was chosen for what the jury described as “an authentic gastronomy reference where the experience is a synonym of culture and emotion”.

Neighbourhood integration: recognition for the work of La Bodegueta de Sant Andreu, where “home-cooked food becomes memory and identity, consolidating the establishment as a meeting point and celebration of authentic flavour”.

Sustainability: the winner was Rasoterra, in Ciutat Vella. The jury highlighted the establishment’s “declaration of love for the land, biodiversity and commitment with the planet”, with a culinary project that inspires us to look after what is around us.

Table service: this award was for the restaurant El Passadís del Pep, in Ciutat Vella, and in particular Modesto Baena, one of the outstanding waiters in the team at the restaurant, taking care of  “each detail with an unparalleled devotion”.

Barcelona market restaurant: the new award, created to recognise the quality of gastronomy projects by bars and restaurants at municipal markets, went to Hermós, the fish bar at the Mercat de la Llibertat.

The jury also gave two special mentions: one to the Restaurant 7 Portes, founded in 1836 and regarded as an authentic institution in the city, and the other for the recently deceased chef Fermí Puig, a key figure in the city’s gastronomy, a “pioneer and inspiration for Barcelona’s gastronomy”.

The jury for this edition of the awards was made up of the Councillor for Commerce, Restaurants and Markets, Raquel Gil; the director of the City Council’s Commerce, Restaurant and Food Services, Manuel Vázquez; the representative from the Barcelona Association of Sustainable Restaurants, Roger Pallerols; the TV3 food expert and journalist, Tana Collado; the expert in tourism and the restaurant sector, Eva Ballarín; the director of the magazine Cuina, Judith Càlix, and Marleny Colmenares, from the Directorate for Commerce, Restaurant and Food Services as the secretary for the jury. The awards ceremony was held at the Antiga Fàbrica Damm.