The historic Font del Gat restaurant reopens with a picnic area spirit

There was a time when the weekend plan for many Barcelona residents included going up to one of the city's numerous fountains and spending time eating or drinking something, chatting, dancing, or simply contemplating. One of them was the Font del Gat, immortalized in its popular children's song. Now, the iconic restaurant located in Montjuïc reopens its doors reclaiming the nature of the fontades, these gatherings around a fountain that brought together neighbors, friends, and also strangers.

The Grup Confiteria has been in charge of bringing the emblematic establishment back to life, closed for four years due to the pandemic. The group, specialized in historic restaurants and cocktail bars, has transformed Puig i Cadafalch's modernist building into a space where music, gastronomy, and popular culture will go hand in hand. La Font del Gat joins Grup Confiteria's venues, which in its decade of trajectory has acquired and renovated 25 historic restaurants and cocktail bars, including Paradiso, recognized as one of the best cocktail bars in the world.

So much so that the 700-square-meter venue aims to host daily cultural and leisure proposals, ranging from live concerts on Wednesdays with La Fontada Musical to dishes from city restaurateurs paired with music on Thursdays, in Sopars del Gat. On Fridays and Saturdays, the garden will take center stage, with a Musical Vermouth and an outdoor proposal with music, drinks and, once night falls, live music and outdoor dinners. In addition, twice a month, cinema sessions accompanied by signature cocktails will be scheduled, with the aim of recovering the essence of the place as a meeting point.

This essence is also reflected in the gastronomy, which returns to those gatherings around the fountain and the fire. Meat skewers, grilled fish and vegetables; rice dishes prepared by guest chefs and a regular menu with typical dishes such as croquettes, coca de recapte and Russian salad. Thus, the new proposal aims to "absolutely respect the popular spirit that the space exudes," according to Lito Baldovinos, who founded the group in 2014 with Enric Rebordosa. The group will do so with a price of 23 euros for the skewer menu, and 21 for the rice menu.

"For us, leading the opening of the Font del Gat is a very important milestone due to the heritage and cultural legacy that the space represents in the city," highlighted Baldovinos, whose group now has about 300 employees. To preserve this inherent legacy of the Font del Gat, the proposal goes further, and Grup Confiteria plans to form a petanque team and organize popular games that bring the space closer to the leisure plans of Barcelonians of the last century, seeking that spirit of a picnic area and a meeting point for Barcelonians.