When we think of haute cuisine, we usually imagine sophisticated restaurants in the heart of a big city. But beyond the avenues of Eixample or Born, there is another constellation that shines with its own light: that of Michelin-starred restaurants located in the regions of Barcelona. Establishments that combine culinary excellence, a connection to the land, and a way of doing things that connects with the landscape, memory, and tradition.
To discover them, we propose a tour of the province through seven outstanding restaurants in the red guide, some also recognized with the Green Star for their commitment to sustainability. These are proposals with their own personality, a contemporary vision, and a firm commitment to local products. All share the desire to reclaim Catalan cuisine with respect and creativity. In addition, their chefs explain how the Star changed their business and reflect on how they translate the landscape onto the plate.
Casa Nova: roots in Penedès and a global outlook
In Sant Martí Sarroca, in Alt Penedès, Casa Nova is the life project of chef and journalist Andrés Torres, also president of the NGO Global Humanitaria. His career ---marked by humanitarian aid and travel--- is a key ingredient in his cuisine. "Casa Nova has a lot to do with everything that has influenced my travels as a correspondent and as a person dedicated to social aid," he explains.
The menu is not limited to bringing local products to the plate. In this case, he himself cares for and works with a good part of the ingredients, from the eggs of the chickens that roam the land to the wine or vinegar made in-house. All this is possible thanks to its own infrastructure that guarantees almost total traceability, with rainwater reuse, cultivation of shiitake mushrooms, an insect hotel… Even the bread is baked in a wood-fired oven following the traditional technique of indigenous communities in the Peruvian highlands, in homage to the chef's vital learnings. "Living with communities for years makes you realize how, with very little, one can live and eat," Torres points out.
His is a cuisine without complexes, simple, but with a contemporary vision, that values essential products ---like a simple potato--- and elevates them with techniques and knowledge learned around the world. The recognition of the Michelin Guide has only reinforced this narrative: Green Star since 2024 for its commitment to sustainability and Red Star in 2025 for its gastronomic quality. "Being in the Michelin Guide puts you on the map and awakens curiosity to know what's cooking," says Torres.
True to its spirit of solidarity, these months it organizes four-hand dinners with other chefs to raise funds to guarantee meals for children in Gaza. One more proof that Casa Nova is much more than a restaurant: it is a commitment to people and to the territory.
Tresmacarrons: memory cuisine in Maresme
In El Masnou, the Tresmacarrons restaurant is a declaration of intent. Chef Miquel Aldana and front-of-house manager Núria Orra received their first Michelin Star in 2015 and have never lost sight of the essence: a local cuisine without artifice, with menus that change often following seasonality. "Here we do classic cuisine with modern techniques. A lifelong cuisine, valuing the product that surrounds us, from the Maresme region," summarizes Orra.
As a curiosity, the name of the restaurant is a tribute to the Michelin Stars. "Miquel wanted a name that people would easily remember. He worked a year in Paris, and there chefs don't say étoile, but macaron. This chef has one macaron, this other has two… We found it funny and we Catalanized it," explains the front-of-house manager, who recalls that the arrival of the Star marked a before and after. "We didn't expect it at all. We were a very small restaurant and back then we didn't even have a tasting menu, just an à la carte for regular customers. When they gave us the Star, everything changed: we had to find a team, manage many reservations, reorganize everything… At first it was complicated."
Although most of the product comes from Maresme ---such as peas, tomatoes, strawberries or white eggplants---, they also collaborate with producers from other nearby areas, such as a small farmer from Moià who provides them with wagyu beef. "It's not always viable to have everything from here, but we always work with local producers, people with whom we have had a relationship since day one."
A bond they also maintain with DO Alella, uniting wines and local products to reinforce taste memory. "One day a client told me: 'This sauce is between my mother and my wife.' That's exactly what we are looking for: classic memories of Catalan cuisine," concludes Orra.
Can Jubany: cooking the land from Osona
In Calldetenes, in the heart of Osona, Can Jubany goes beyond a restaurant: it is a Catalan farmhouse that vindicates traditional cuisine with a contemporary spirit. At the helm is chef Nandu Jubany who, since 1995, has recovered the agricultural heritage of the house to make it beat in every dish. On his farm, he grows vegetables, herbs and cares for a small chicken coop, guaranteeing direct learning from the land. "We make Catalan cuisine, not very elaborate, but with a lot of flavor; the kind that grandma or aunt used to make, experienced around a table with people you love," he explains
Pork and truffle are two of the region's products he works with the most. "We bet on truffles and we are a place to come and eat them, and also to try game," he adds. As a curiosity, Jubany is one of Núria Orra's mentors and, furthermore, he began his career with Toni Sala, who also has a Star in Olost. "When someone does it well, the whole territory raises its level," he points out. "That's why we have to be grateful to places like Sala, Bocatti or the old Ànec Blau in Vic."
Can Jubany received its first Michelin Star in 1998, a distinction it has maintained ever since. "The first six months a lot of people come, but they are clients who come here one year and go to another award-winner the next; most don't stay," he explains when asked about the impact of the recognition. "However: thanks to the Star, our people valued us more and our regular customers felt like participants." This is no coincidence: the philosophy of the project is to recover the original meaning of the word "restaurant", that is, to restore everyone who crosses the door.
A tour of other references in the province
Beyond these three establishments, haute cuisine unfolds with its own personality in various points of the Barcelona regions. In Sagàs, Els Casals is a model example of self-sufficiency and respect for the natural cycle of food: a farmhouse that cultivates, raises, and transforms, with Oriol Rovira's cuisine as the guiding thread, and which also holds a Green Star for its sustainable coherence.
Also with double recognition ---Red Star and Green Star--- shines the Lluerna restaurant, in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, which breaks stereotypes with an elegant, clean, and environmentally committed proposal, under the gaze of Víctor Quintillà.
In Olost, the Sala restaurant, with chef Toni Sala, persistently maintains a Star earned years ago thanks to a discreet, honest cuisine faithful to the Catalan essence and quality product. And in Sant Fruitós de Bages, within the Món Sant Benet complex, the L'Ó restaurant, led by chef Ivan Margalef, stands out for a creative and sophisticated cuisine, connected to the wine-growing landscape and the heritage of the area.
The constellation of Michelin Stars illuminating the regions of Barcelona demonstrates that haute cuisine does not understand central geographies. From Maresme to Bages, from Alt Penedès to Osona, chefs have managed to transform the landscape into a dish and the gustatory memory into an experience. All share a Star because they fulfill what Michelin distinguishes above all: high-level cuisine, impeccable technique, and an identity that leaves a mark.
More information at: www.barcelonaesmoltmes.cat/ca/gastronomia