Rafa Zafra's new restaurant at El Palace will be called Amar Barcelona

Rafa Zafra already has a name for his second restaurant in Barcelona. A few weeks ago, the chef's agreement with the owners of Hotel El Palace Barcelona to open a new restaurant in the space previously occupied by Romain Fornell's Caelis became known, and it has already begun to be renovated to host the Sevillian chef's project.

The new establishment will be called Amar Barcelona and is expected to open its doors in spring. It is a name that alludes to the Estimar Barcelona and Estimar Madrid restaurants and also to Zafra's passion for seafood products. "Amar Barcelona is to love the sea, the Mediterranean, our cultures and traditions," they point out from El Palace.

The emblematic lounge where Amar Barcelona will be located, characterized by its large lamps, is being adapted to "combine modernity and tradition, in a casualization of luxury that can be enjoyed in the dining room as well as on the palate," they explain.

Rafa Zafra will inaugurate this new project together with his partner and director of Estimar Barcelona, Anna Gotanegra, daughter of a prominent family of fishermen from Roses; and the Argentine chef Ricardo Acquista, a disciple of elBulli, executive chef of Heart Ibiza and a regular collaborator of Zafra for more than ten years.

Born in Seville, Zafra has lived in the kitchen since he was a child, with his family, who ran the old Posada de Alcalá. He studied at the Heliopolis Hospitality School in Seville and completed his experience working in the kitchens of great chefs such as Tristán, in Mallorca, and Arzak, in San Sebastián, in addition to having attended several pastry seminars with Paco Torreblanca.

At Hacienda Benazuza, he began his relationship with the Ferrán and Albert Adrià brothers, a circumstance that marked a turning point in his career. At just 26 years old, he won and kept two Michelin stars and 2 Repsol suns. In 2010, he collaborated with the Adriàs in the opening and development of their new venues in Barcelona and that same year, he became a gastronomic advisor for Oasis hotels, working in Spain and Cancun. Currently, in addition to the Estimar restaurants in Barcelona and Madrid, he manages Casa Jondal, in Ibiza.

Hotel El Palace is the oldest five-star hotel in Barcelona and, since 2011, it has belonged to the Algerian billionaire businessman Ali Haddad. With 120 rooms, the establishment is currently managed by Friedrich von Schönburg, son of Maria Luisa of Prussia and Count Rudi, who upon taking office became the youngest director in Europe of a grand luxury five-star hotel.