The Isabella's Group continues to grow in Barcelona. After transforming the old El Principal into the Gala restaurant, it has now reopened the historic Senyor Parellada, in El Born, under the name Carmina. These are two operations resulting from the opportunities that the pandemic has offered to companies with significant growth plans, such as the group founded by Isabella Heseltine and led by her son, Marco Garí.
Located on Argenteria street, the Senyor Parellada restaurant, which was a symbol of an era and experienced its peak during Olympic Barcelona, belonged to Ramon Parellada and announced its definitive closure in March 2021. The Isabella's Group managed to acquire the operation of the establishment as part of the sale of the Hotel Banys Orientals —where the premises are located— to the Chic & Basic chain, which has relaunched it as Hotel Chic & Basic Habana Hoose.
Now, Senyor Parellada has reopened its doors as Carmina and under the direction of chef Josep María Massó, who wants to make the restaurant a benchmark for lovers of traditional Catalan spoon dishes made with local products. The idea is to bring classic dishes, slightly updated, to new generations, such as fricandó with ceps, rock fish suquet, mountain rice in a casserole, or artichokes with romesco. Other proposals include ganxet beans with pickled partridge, gratinéed onion soup, Maresme stewed peas with black sausage, cod snout with raisins and pine nuts, or Catalan-style tripe.
The new owners wanted to preserve the traditional inn cuisine and esmorzars de forquilla, but their proposal does not want to remain anchored in the past, as they seek to offer diners "good food in a lively atmosphere and extend after-dinner conversations with cocktails and DJ music." Thus, the renovation of the premises was entrusted to the Quintana Partners studio, which also designed the striking decoration of the Gala restaurant.
"We have inherited a historic space that has almost as much weight as the cuisine in terms of tradition," explain the creators of Carmina, who have opted to "revive the splendor of the best era of this Catalan inn" by creating an atmosphere that evokes a Cuban colonial house and features a central patio with a glass roof overflowing with plants.
The opening of Carmina is not the only project that Grupo Isabella's has in its portfolio. A few months ago, the company was awarded a 20-year concession to open a restaurant in the Marina Vela complex, the marina located next to the W Hotel. With capacity for 200 diners, this new establishment will be more informal and somewhat more economical than Julieta's, the proposal that the chain inaugurated last summer at the foot of the W Hotel, on the beach, in the former Mamarosa premises.
In Barcelona, the group, which started specializing in Italian food, also owns the restaurants Isabella's, Bella's, and Harry's. The company is also present in Porto, where it opened Valentina's, and is also preparing its leap to Madrid with an opening in the Recoletos neighborhood.