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

Barcelona adds a new guide to decide where to eat, have a coffee, or end the day with a drink. But, this time, the recommendations do not come from anonymous inspectors or user ratings, but from the city's chefs themselves. byChefs has chosen Barcelona for its first launch in Spain, incorporating it into an international network already present in eight cities.

The proposal starts from a simple question: where do chefs go to eat and drink when they are not in their restaurants? Based on the professionals' answers, the platform creates different rankings that seek to map the gastronomic landscape of each city from the perspective of those who are part of it.

To build the Barcelona selection, byChefs has counted on some of the most recognized names in local gastronomy. Oriol Castro, Eduard Xatruch, and Mateu Casañas, from Disfrutar; Paolo Casagrande, from Lasarte, and Sergio and Javier Torres, from Cocina Hermanos Torres, have participated, in addition to other chefs from different generations.

And the recommendations are not limited to haute cuisine. The guide divides Barcelona into different categories, from haute cuisine restaurants and more informal proposals to places for breakfast, cafes, and bars. Enigma tops the haute cuisine ranking, ahead of Disfrutar and Cocina Hermanos Torres, while Gresca occupies the first position in informal cuisine, Granja Elena in breakfasts, Nomad Coffee Bar in cafes, 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

Cafeterias and cafes

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

In addition to the general ranking, byChefs allows consulting the choices of each of the participating chefs. Each chef has their own profile where the establishments they recommend can be seen, so the user can directly follow the preferences of a specific professional.

Thus, for example, whoever wants to know which are the favorite places of the three chefs from Disfrutar can consult their joint selection, while followers of Paolo Casagrande or the Torres brothers can discover their personal recommendations. The establishment profiles also indicate which chefs have chosen them.

The rankings are calculated based on the votes of the participating chefs, and the platform assures that it applies rules to limit possible conflicts of interest, especially when voting for their own restaurants or establishments linked to the same restaurant group.

From Dubai to Barcelona

byChefs was born in the United Arab Emirates in February 2026 and, in a few months, has gathered more than 500 chefs from all over the world. Barcelona is the eighth city to join the project and the first in Spain.

The platform aims to reach 50 of the world's main gastronomic capitals and build an international guide based on the recommendations of local chefs. In Barcelona, the result can already be consulted on the platform, with the rankings and personal selections of the participating chefs.