byChefs arrives in Barcelona: where do the city's chefs eat?

Barcelona has a new guide to help decide where to eat, grab a coffee or end the day with a drink. This time, though, the recommendations don't come from anonymous inspectors or user reviews, but from the city's own chefs. byChefs has chosen Barcelona for its first launch in Spain, adding it to an international network already present in eight cities.

The idea starts from a simple question: where do chefs go to eat and drink when they're not in their own restaurants? Drawing on the chefs' answers, the platform builds a series of rankings that aim to map out each city's food scene through the eyes of those who are part of it.

To compile the Barcelona selection, byChefs has drawn on some of the best-known names in the city's food scene. Taking part were Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch and Mateu Casañas, of Disfrutar; Paolo Casagrande, of Lasarte; and Sergio and Javier Torres, of Cocina Hermanos Torres, along with other chefs from different generations.

And the recommendations aren't limited to fine dining. The guide divides Barcelona into different categories, from high-end restaurants and more casual spots to breakfast places, cafés and bars. Enigma tops the fine-dining ranking, ahead of Disfrutar and Cocina Hermanos Torres, while Gresca takes first place in casual dining, Granja Elena in breakfasts, Nomad Coffee Bar in cafés and Dry Martini in bars.

Barcelona's rankings

Haute cuisine

1. Enigma
2. Disfrutar
3. Cocina Hermanos Torres
4. Alkimia
5. Dos Palillos
6. Koy Shunka
7. Lasarte

Informal cuisine

1. Gresca
2. Ultramarinos Marín
3. Glug
4. Alkostat
5. Bodega Bonay
   6–7. Paco Meralgo
   6–7. Shunka

Breakfasts

1. Granja Elena
2. L’Atelier
3. Origo
4. Mantequerías Pirenaicas
5. Brunells
6. Morreig
7. Escribà

Cafés and coffee shops

1. Nomad Coffee Bar
2. Hidden Coffee Roasters
3. SlowMov
4. Cafés El Magnífico
5. Three Marks Coffee
6. Brunells

Bars

1. Dry Martini
2. Sips
3. Paradiso
4. Bar Bodega Gol
5. El Xampanyet
6. El Vaso de Oro
7. Bar Torpedo

Each chef's recommendations

Alongside the overall ranking, byChefs also lets users browse the choices of each individual chef who took part. Each chef has their own profile showing the venues they recommend, so users can follow a particular professional's preferences directly.

So, for instance, anyone wanting to know the favourite spots of Disfrutar's three chefs can check their joint selection, while fans of Paolo Casagrande or the Torres brothers can discover their personal recommendations. Each venue's listing also shows which chefs picked it.

The rankings are calculated from the votes of participating chefs, and the platform states that it applies rules to limit potential conflicts of interest, particularly when it comes to chefs voting for their own restaurants or venues linked to the same restaurant group.

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From Dubai to Barcelona

byChefs was launched in the United Arab Emirates in February 2026 and, within a few months, has brought together more than 500 chefs from around the world. Barcelona is the eighth city to join the project, and the first in Spain.

The platform's goal is to reach 50 of the world's leading food capitals and build an international guide based on the recommendations of local chefs. In Barcelona, the results are already available on the platform, with the rankings and personal selections of the participating chefs who took part.