Victor Regás and Markel Cormenzana are the proper names behind El Puntal. Good friends and now partners, the parenthesis opened by the pandemic brought them together around a shared reflection: perhaps the functioning of food systems had some relation to the crisis that changed everything. This idea matured until it became a concrete project: to set up a restaurant that, in addition to feeding and watering its customers, could become an agent of change.
To better explain the idea, the two founders give us a clue: "Climate crisis, tourist overcrowding, and job precarity are three phenomena in which the hospitality industry has a decisive influence. Aware of this reality, our restaurant had to be able to propose a new way of acting."
A mission of this magnitude needed a strategic epicenter. For this reason, they chose one of the neighborhoods where gentrification and tourist pressure are most evident, but neither Victor nor Markel will ever be heard referring to it by the term "Born," but rather they always reclaim the genuine name of the neighborhood: Sant Pere, Santa Caterina i La Ribera.
Espai Puntal's desire to open up to the city is also expressed in its architecture. The large windows of the premises flood the room with natural light and the interior design conveys a certain air of unfinished work, leaving visible the original stone of the walls of the building, which was built in the 18th century. The restaurant's spacious terrace is not to blame for the cold weather these days, and it glances sideways at winter while welcoming the brave who do not give up on having a bite outdoors.
At El Puntal, everything communicates: on the window facing Carders street, the decalogue that synthesizes the spirit of the project can be read, in white letters printed on the glass. Among concepts such as "natural wine," "proximity," "seasonal product," and "specialty coffee," one stands out as unusual: "We create dishes with ancestral processes."
At the table, this promise translates into preserves, salted foods, grilled dishes, ferments, and also smoked items, such as the pomade butter that the restaurant serves as an appetizer. Spreadable smoke. In favor.
And fried foods? El Puntal pardons the croquette, because without croquettes there is no possible revolution, but the idea here is to moderate the immersion in oil, in favor of other lighter cooking methods.
The menu of dishes is brief and faithful to seasonality. Beyond the printed word, each week there is a dish off the menu depending on what Lorenzo Sagona, the chef of Espai Puntal, finds in the market. His cuisine is based on Mediterranean-rooted dishes designed for sharing. The chef, born in Italy and a disciple of Xavier Pellicer, is a friend of vegetables and greens, which in this restaurant are not a garnish, but a radiating core.
Although red meat is not served at Espai Puntal, animal protein does make an appearance. His lamb ingot, served with zucchini and yogurt, is an absolutely essential dish. The smoked bonito, which comes with pickled vegetables, is another triumph.
In the sweet chapter, Georgina Inglavaga, a cook forged in Teòric under the orders of Oriol Casals, now takes the reins of Puntal's dessert section, demonstrating sensitivity and technique in equal measure. Georgina is very keen on incorporating seasonal fruit into her creations, but her torrija is a sin of thought and deed.
Émilie Bouchard is the sommelier and the best possible prescriber of the natural wines that fill the restaurant's cellar. If these minimally intervened wines don't fascinate you, don't worry, because there are alternatives. The drinks menu is completed with kombuchas, craft beers, and locally produced soft drinks that align with the project's underlying idea.
Alan Farrell, waiter and embodiment of non-invasive kindness, demonstrates with his work that in Barcelona there are still front-of-house professionals who want to make us happy. At Espai Puntal you can also have a drink, and the cocktail menu deserves to be read carefully. If we take a look at the bottle shop, we will come across some ultra-local gem that allows us to continue exploring the confines of zero kilometer.
At lunchtime, the restaurant offers a lunch formula for 16.50 euros which consists of two dishes and dessert, including bread and drink. The kitchen operates continuously until dinner, where only the à la carte option is available, with an average price of about 30 euros per person.
Espai Puntal faces its second winter in full form, with the desire to continue dialoguing with the world around it and enriching the neighborhood that welcomes it, (whatever its name).