Barcelona brand in the United States. Telefèric, the restaurant group of siblings Maria and Xavier Padrosa, continues its expansion in California, a state they arrived in 2015 with the opening of a first restaurant in the city of Walnut Creek, near San Francisco, followed in 2019 by a second establishment in Palo Alto, located next to Stanford University. Both venues quickly became one of the favorite places for residents in Silicon Valley and the San Francisco Bay, attracted by their tapas, paellas, cocktail-style sangrias, and other specialties such as Galician-style octopus and torrijas.
This success encouraged the owners to also open a Telefèric Barcelona in Santa Monica in 2021 and now a new step will be taken with the opening of a fourth American restaurant in the city of Los Angeles in February 2023. Thus, the Padrosa family will already operate six Telefèric restaurants, because in addition to the four in California, there is the original restaurant, located in Sant Cugat del Vallès, and the one in Plaza Letamendi in Barcelona. Both are celebrating: they are marking their 30th and 10th anniversaries, respectively.
It all started in 1992, when, in parallel to the Olympic euphoria, Soledad Urabayen, of Navarrese origin and an art dealer, and her husband, Ramón Padrosa, decided to open a pinchos restaurant in Sant Cugat. They were pioneers in bringing this specialty from Navarra and the Basque Country to the metropolitan area, with a bar offering more than 90 varieties of constantly renewed pinchos and cazuelitas. Thirty years later, Telefèric de Sant Cugat is still in great shape and under the supervision of Soledad, who is preparing a renovation and update of the premises for next year.
Their children, Xavier and Maria Padrosa, decided ten years ago to make the leap to Barcelona, although the Letamendi restaurant did not specialize in northern-style pinchos, but in market cuisine with tapas and rice dishes as its menu highlights. From Monday to Friday at noon, Telefèric also offers a menu for 13.50 euros (plus a supplement for some dishes) which makes it an unbeatable option in that area of the Eixample.
To celebrate the tenth anniversary in the Catalan capital, the Padrosa brothers have devised the Memory Menu, a proposal that can be enjoyed only on the evenings of this October ---always by reservation--- and that includes ten representative dishes from each of the last ten years. Specifically, diners will be able to taste eight tapas and portions, plus a dessert and the iconic house cocktail, the Barceloneta Sangria. And all for 35 euros; or 45 euros if accompanied by a wine pairing.
And what does the menu include? The grace lies in being able to recover tapas that were very successful in their day, but that are currently no longer on the Telefèric menu, such as smoked salmon flavored with creamy yogurt, truffle oil and honey ---which represents the opening year, in 2012---; or the hit of 2013: a spectacular toast with caramelized foie gras grilled with cranberry jam. The menu continues with Mahón cheese fritters with lime zest and honey ---which are still on the menu--- and with the Peking duck ravioli with foie sauce, a creation that the restaurant's chef, Aziza El Bachiri, is seriously considering reincorporating into the recipe book.
Another dish that is also on the menu for being one of the customers' favorites is the oxtail cannelloni with trumpet of death béchamel. The menu advances with tender cuts of flaming sirloin, and reaches its peak with two high-level creations: the tuna taco with guacamole, chipotle mayonnaise and crispy onion ---which was the winning tapa in 2019 and 2020 at the Tast a la Rambla gastronomic fair--- and the brioche of marinated salmon tartare with lime zest, sriracha mayonnaise and caramelized hazelnut, which was the second best-selling tapa in the 2021 edition of Tast a la Rambla.
The sangria cocktail, made with cava, lemonade infused with rosemary, cherry puree and citrus, is indicative of 2014, the year in which the Padrosa brothers internationalized Telefèric with the opening in San Francisco. Finally, the dessert is triple, as it includes the famous caramelized torrija with the house's meringue milk ice cream, a mini cheesecake with cotton candy and carrot cake with vanilla ice cream and toffee.
Those who come to enjoy this celebratory menu will also be able to discover the new decoration of the premises, which has just been renovated, something that happens quite frequently, as Maria Padrosa is an interior designer. And pay attention to the paintings on the walls, with originals by Miró and Tàpies, which links to the family's other passion alongside gastronomy: art.
Paellas delivered to your home
At Telefèric de Letamendi, a promising new business line for the group was born during the pandemic: home delivery of freshly made paellas, an activity exploited under the brand Al Grano! and in alliance with Glovo, although orders can also be picked up at the restaurant itself with a 10% discount. Unlike other deliveries that serve rice in different types of containers, Al Grano! does so in real paella pans ---with the possibility of return--- which are covered with a specially designed cardboard box to prevent the rice from overcooking and ensure it arrives at the customer's table in perfect condition in just over half an hour. The same specialties served in the restaurant can be ordered, such as the arroz del senyoret with peeled prawns or a rice with botifarra, chanterelles, and caramelized spring onion, or other creations such as the pork trotters and red prawn paella, with the unique feature that there's no need to order a paella for two; it can be just for one, with prices ranging between 16.50 and 19.90 euros per serving.