Toni Cano creates in Barcelona the restaurant brand Jacqueline, which he will export to America

The street Enric Granados has become the epicenter of new restaurant trends in Barcelona, with a diversity of establishments adapted to different audiences and budgets. One of the latest concepts to open in this reference nightlife hub is Jacqueline, a glamorous three-story venue located in a newly constructed building and where three proposals for leisure, gastronomy, and live music coexist.

At first glance, what stands out most about the venue is its astonishing decoration, and it's no wonder, as Jacqueline's interior design, inspired by art nouveau, is the work of the prestigious American studio Rockwell, which makes its debut in the Barcelona restaurant sector with this project. For the opening of this exclusive multi-space, which has been opening in phases, an investment of 2.5 million euros has been allocated, as explained to The New Barcelona Post by Jacqueline's promoter, young entrepreneur Toni Cano.

Son of Antonio Cano, director and owner of Grupo Sutton, Toni Cano is very knowledgeable about Barcelona's nightlife sector and already has experience in venues that combine dining with drinks and entertainment thanks to Gatsby, also belonging to his family's group. Jacqueline, however, is a personal project, financially unlinked from Sutton, and which he promotes in alliance with three New York partners linked to the real estate sector.

"Jacqueline is my first project outside the family; I started promoting it before the pandemic, with the idea of doing something different within the high-end restaurant segment, where there is a lot of competition. With this venue, what we want is to differentiate ourselves with a unique space where the experience is paramount," explains Cano.

According to the entrepreneur, Jacqueline does not end at the restaurant on Enric Granados, but is a new restaurant brand conceived in Barcelona with the aim of expanding it internationally, especially in the United States. "My New York partners have created Jacqueline Fund, an investment vehicle whose mission is to expand the brand and create a new global concept that allows Jacqueline to be replicated in several cities," he advances.

According to Cano, Jacqueline has already started looking for a location to open in Madrid and, subsequently, will jump to the United States, with an inauguration, presumably, in Miami and with the idea of also being able to reach New York someday.

"Due to the pandemic and the delay in the supply of some materials, it has taken us a long time to be able to open this first establishment in Barcelona. We started discreetly in November and, really, we are very happy with how these first months have gone. We have suffered, but now Jacqueline is already a success: we are growing between 30% and 40% each month and with the new spaces that we will open, such as the Champagne Bar, activity will still skyrocket even more," highlights Cano.

Jacqueline has an area of 500 square meters distributed over three floors that house the main restaurant, a restaurant with live music (The Dinner Club) and a cocktail bar named Champagne Bar which will open after Easter. Externally, the venue attracts attention for having a large wooden and glass modernist-style doorway. Upon entering, one encounters a winding spiral staircase and a large bar counter that gives access to the restaurant, whose decoration leaves no one indifferent. The bar at the back of the premises is particularly striking, crowned by a palm-tree-shaped structure made of bronze metal and green mirrored glass.

"The design concept of Rockwell Group for Jacqueline is a dazzling tribute to the 20th century, high culture and the best entertainment. It blends art nouveau details and spontaneous, graphic and surreal forms with key elements of this century's painting," explain the design and architecture firm founded in New York by David Rockwell. With an office in Madrid, Rockwell also worked in Barcelona on the design of the Nobu Hotel and in the Spanish capital has just signed the interior design of the new JW Marriott hotel located in the central Plaza Canalejas.

The main restaurant has capacity for 80 diners and, in addition, this back bar functions as a sushi bar for eight people that applies the omakase concept, which in Japanese cuisine means putting yourself in the hands of the chef, that is, letting him choose and prepare a personalized menu based on the fresh products he has at any given time.

In the underground floor is The Dinner Club, where dinners with live music by emerging and international artists are offered, although the space also becomes a cocktail bar with DJ sessions until three in the morning. The Dinner menu is the same as Jacqueline's, but it is a livelier space, especially designed for couples, as the tables are for two people. "Each floor is designed for a specific moment; the Dinner is a more intimate and romantic space", explains Toni Cano, who warns that the minimum consumption to enjoy the live music show is 65 euros. The performances take place from Wednesday to Sunday, with two passes, that is, two shifts, starting at 7:30 p.m.

Finally, on the upper floor there are designer toilets that are also Instagram fodder and the Champagne Bar, a cocktail bar that will open this April and aims to position itself as one of the best in the world. "We want to be part of The World's 50 Best Bars ranking," says Cano, referring to the international classification that, precisely, is led by the Barcelona cocktail bar Paradiso. At the helm of the Champagne Bar will be Sergio Pardo, "a young promise" in the world of bartending, trained in the also Barcelona-based Dr Stravinsky. "The common thread of the Champagne Bar will be that all cocktails will contain champagne as an ingredient and that we will have all kinds of champagne brands, some made by small producers," says the owner.

In the kitchens of the Jacqueline restaurant, which offers an internationally inspired menu, is chef Dani Padró, trained at the Hoffman school in Barcelona and who had worked at the Hotel Palace. To start, there are cold starters, from oysters and caviar to a red prawn and stracciatella tartare or red tuna, not forgetting Iberian ham from the Extremaduran dehesa or hummus with smoked eel and Kalamata olives. The octopus causa limeña, sea bass ceviche or matured meat steak tartare with a touch of cured yolk and anchovy mayonnaise are other proposals offered by Jacqueline.

Also highly recommended are the cecina croquettes on creamy foie gras, grilled scallops, or the artichoke confit in green sauce with fine clam and hake kokotxas. As main courses, there is pasta, bluefin tuna, roasted turbot, confit suckling pig, lamb shoulder, or grilled wagyu beef, among other proposals, which can be combined with different side dishes, such as the Jacqueline French fries, with parmesan and truffle. Soon, the establishment will also offer a brunch every Sunday from one in the afternoon to five in the evening.