Between a kebab bar and a currency exchange, a farmhouse has opened on La Rambla. It has done so in the premises previously occupied by Baviera, which closed with the pandemic and never reopened. The new restaurant takes its name from Canaletes, the brewery that was replaced by a Burger King a little further up. With a lot of grilling, the restaurant wants to reconquer La Rambla and break with the widespread belief that the food is bad and everything is too expensive, offering a quality product and not the typical tourist traps. A menu with no watered-down sangrias or pre-cooked paellas to please not only visiting diners, but also locals who never go to the most famous promenade in their city, aware that it is no longer what it used to be.
"Before, going down to La Rambla was a party," recalls Norma Galofré, operations director of the new restaurant, "and now we live with our backs to it." To remedy this, Canaletes offers traditional Catalan recipes, always cooked on the grill, whether it's bread with tomato, patatas bravas reinvented as caliu potatoes stuffed with mashed potatoes, leeks presented as calçots or botifarra. Added to this is the porrón of wine, providing customers with a bib to avoid accidents, whether they are novices or those who never manage to hit the mark. The decoration is also typical of a farmhouse, with raffia chairs and stools, vaults, tiles and bricks. Rustic, but carefully done. "We want people to have a good time and enjoy the local culture," Galofré emphasizes.
Knowing that a good part of the public will be looking for tapas or a paella, Canaletes gives it a twist to not disappoint anyone and maintain the essence. For example, you can order a small plate of fuet, some ham, olives, escalivada or an empedrat to start. Then you continue with a hot dog, but made of botifarra and accompanied by beans and alioli, labeled as catalan hot dog, or rice, but grilled. "We will give what the tourist asks for, but we will cook it as you would eat it here," summarizes the operations manager. If for dessert they want ice cream or coulant, they can also dare with a flan, to finish with a shot of ratafía.
"We don't disguise things and we bet on quality products," remarks Galofré, to which the head chef, Germán Lérida, adds that easy-to-digest, well-cooked recipes without ultra-processed foods or fried items are prioritized. Vegetables are an essential part of the menu, not only with leeks in calçot format, but also with very soft cabbage, and eggplant, with soy sauce and honey, very crispy. Lérida, previously at Can Fabes and Masia del Montseny, coordinates the entire process at the bar, from where his guidelines can be followed while eating. With an average ticket of 35 euros, the most typical is to share starters and choose a main course, something also quite local.
Aware that the tag "a la brasa" is not excessively international, the owners of the new Canaletes translated it as barbecue, putting neon lights ---in English--- at the entrance to convince even the most distracted. In case that wasn't enough and knowing that they are in front of a place of pilgrimage for culés, they have reinforced the slogan with Força Brasa.
Open since the end of July, Canaletes' first months of life are serving to translate its offer, as well as adapting to demand. For now, among the clientele, the proportion between tourists and locals is 60-40. Owned by the hotel group Smart Room Company, the investment to launch the venue has been 500,000 euros and 18 jobs have been created.