Eixample
Establishment
neighborhood
Petit Comitè
13 Passage de la Concepció, Eixample
Chef Nandu Jubany is best known for Can Jubany, the fine-dining restaurant he and his wife started out of a country house an hour outside the city back in 1995. In the last few years, he's come on as the "gastronomic advisor" at Hotel Majestic; their main restaurant, Petit Comitè, offers a great taste of what Jubany can do without the drive. Expect traditional Catalan food in a formal, white-tablecloth kind of setting that's perfect for a special night, like a birthday or an anniversary.
Museu del Disseny de Barcelona
Pl. de les Glòries Catalanes, Eixample
Completed in 2014 and located in a neo-Brutalist building affectionately nicknamed "The Stapler," Barcelona's new design museum brought 4 local design archives under one roof, making it pretty expansive as it goes for design collections. With its vast holdings in textiles, product design, and printed materials through the centuries, it provides a perfect entrance-level survey into the world of design, though it's the small though thoughtful permanent exhibition on Catalan product design that wins our vote with over 80 years' worth of locally-made design.
Mother
Gran Vía de les Corts Catalanes 700, Eixample
Aptly named, this is indeed the mother of all cold-pressed juice in Barcelona, having kicked off the trend in Spain back in 2014. Owner Gemma Ponsa duly spent time in California where she fell in love with the lifestyle and brought it back to Barcelona together with pastry chef Lili Figel. Together they make delicious green juices, smoothies, healthy treats, and one insanely delicious granola. We're partial to the convenience of the second outpost in Casa Bonay, but the original location is in El Raval.
Satan’s Coffee Corner at Casa Bonay
Gran Via de Les Corts Catalanes, 700, Eixample
Besides the rad name, Satan's is known for its coffee aficionado-worthy blends, thanks to the genius of master barista, Marcos Bartolomé, who comes from a line of coffee makers. In addition to this location at the Casa Bonay hotel, Satan's has a standalone café in the Gothic Quarter.
Cotton House
670 Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, Eixample
Back in the 1880’s this landmark neoclassical building housed the Cotton Textile Exchange, but these days it’s home to a stunning 83-room hotel with a moody interior, a sweeping rooftop deck, and a one-of-a-kind suspended spiral staircase. As elaborate as the lobby and communal spaces may be (the library is particularly dramatic), the guestrooms are comfortably plush yet soothing in neutral tones and modern furnishings. Batuar restaurant, which has an old school marble bar and a lush terrace, is just as good for a fancy dinner as it is for a swift breakfast pre-touring.
Casa Bonay
Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, Eixample
The pleasantly priced rooms range in size from teeny to sprawling (some even have private terraces complete with outdoor shower).
Santa Eulalia
93 Passeig De Gracia, Eixample
Historically, this 170-year-old design house has been in the business of haute couture, and while they still produce a house line for women and offer custom tailoring and suiting services for men, the lush space is mainly devoted to a handpicked assortment of big-name lines. For women, there’s Balenciaga, Lanvin, and Saint Laurent; for men, Bottega Veneta, Givenchy, and Nick Wooster.
Mar de Cava
293 Carrer de València, Eixample
With a focus on Barcelona-based designers and under-the-radar lines from all over the world, this two-story multi-purpose space (shop, gallery, and studio) offers a little bit of everything, from furniture to home décor to clothing to kids toys to art. And while the assortment is vast, the fun, modern aesthetic acts as the unifying factor. To make the best use of the space, the owners host workshops, talks, and exhibits for the local community.
Altair Bookstore
616 Gran Vía, Eixample
Hailed as the biggest travel-centric bookshop in all of Europe, 30-year-old Altair is an essential stop for slightly less app-obsessed globetrotters. In addition to multi-lingual guides and maps for destinations far and wide, the shelves here are stacked with biographies, memoirs, and specialty tomes on everything from flora to fauna to architecture.
Ninot Cuina
C/ Casanova 133 Mercat Ninot, Parada 1, Eixample
En Compañia de Lobos is a young-feeling restaurant group that also happens to operate two of our favorite restaurants in Madrid (Ana la Santa and Bosco de Lobos). This outpost in Barcelona is situated inside the recently renovated Mercat del Ninot, which has been beautifully overhauled and filled with more prepared-food options in an effort to appeal to Barcelona's younger crowd. Tall, open ceilings connect the space to the rest of the market, so despite the clean wooden walls and elegant full-circle bar, the humming of customers and activity gently filters into the space. The menu is focused on traditional Catalan food (tapas), but the thing to order is the 3-course menu of the day (just 14 euros), which serves up whatever looked good in the market that morning.
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