They say you should never go back to a place where you have been happy. Sam Woulidge disagrees. The secret ingredient at a legendary tapas bar in Barcelona makes every visit as magical as the first.
Jacques and I fell in love with the tiny Bar Pinotxo in Mercat de la Boqueria 18 years ago when we discovered it by chance on our first trip to Barcelona. We ate there every day of our holiday and years later, when Jacques worked at sea and we were sailing around the Med, it was always our first port of call when the ship docked in Barcelona. We would order condensed milk coffee and a xuixo – a featherlight, deep-fried pastry filled with crema Catalana. Because the mornings were sweet and we wanted them to stay that way. Much cava and many small plates of regional dishes always followed.
Last year, we took Seb there. For us, introducing our son to Bar Pinotxo was as important as showing him Gaudí’s architectural masterpieces. We were afraid that things would have changed in our 10-year absence. But they hadn’t. Everything – the food and the spirit – was exactly as we remembered it.
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