French chef Romain Fornell has taken the helm of the new brasserie Le Grand Café Rouge, with chef Franck Radiu leading the kitchen, to offer classic dishes of traditional French cuisine, in a distinguished venue, on the ground floor of the luxurious Antares residential tower, with access from Rambla de Prim, at the beginning of Diagonal.
Le Grand Café Rouge, spanning over 400 square meters, has a capacity for 120 people (60 indoors and 60 on the terrace). A la carte or with a midday menu ---from Tuesday to Friday and changing weekly--- there is space for the most popular cuisine, such as onion soup or rock fish soup, or mashed potatoes ---"the best in the world," Fornell boasts--- presented as a side dish. It also offers the French chef's most personal proposals, among which stand out the pâté en croûte (duck magret, foie, sweetbreads, and mushrooms) and the rock fish bouillabaisse, pommes fondante and rouille, whose presentation with a puff pastry layer pays homage to fellow French chef Paul Bocuse.
A "modern" brasserie, as Romain Fornell himself describes it when talking about his latest gastronomic venture in Barcelona. The two-Michelin-starred chef has been working for years in the Catalan capital with restaurants such as Caelis, in the Ohla hotel, where he also manages the rest of the dining offerings. He simultaneously runs Café Turó, Casa Tejada, Épicerie, and Tejada Mar.
Le Grand Café Rouge restaurant is divided into three spaces: the main dining room, from which you can access a mezzanine with a private dining room for six people; l'empreinte or chef's table, a bar with views of the kitchen to watch the preparation of dishes, and a terrace, which will open next spring.
The Antares Tower
The luminosity of the restaurant, thanks to the glass walls facing the street, is complemented by the structural elements and interior decoration of the premises in an intense red, chosen by architect Odile Decq, the same color as the balconies of the upper floors of the ostentatious residential building, the Antares Tower, 28 stories high. In her first housing project and her first work in Barcelona, Decq has opted for undulating forms in the restaurant and the homes that create a pleasant structure and the combination of white, black, and red "because it is the color of Barcelona; Miró, Picasso, Gaudí… all have used red a lot," explains Odile Decq. "At the same time, it represents their energy and their passion for architecture," adds the architect.
The residential building, owned by Shaftesbury, is located at number 1 Plaça Llevant, at the beginning of Diagonal. Its commercialization has already begun. The building comprises 88 homes, eleven of which have shared services, ranging from 98 square meters to 386 square meters, and with private terraces from 16 square meters to more than 160 square meters. The residences, with one to four bedrooms, have entered the market with a price ranging from 850,000 euros for those of almost 100 square meters, up to eight million euros for a spectacular penthouse, with 360-degree views of the sea and the Barcelona urban landscape.
The tenants of the building will have a set of services that include two swimming pools ---one indoor and one on the building's rooftop---, a gym, a private cinema room and a wellness area ---with jacuzzi, massage cabins, an area for meditation and yoga---, and on the ground floor a landscaped area that begins with a vertical garden in the access hall and connects with a paddle tennis court, among others.