Xerta Restaurant

"If Xerta looks fancy, that’s because it is. Gentlemen in sharp suits and ladies with purses that look like they cost more than college tuition come to this restaurant surrounded by a terrarium-like garden for the over-the-top, seafood-forward tasting menus. The food, made with ingredients from the Delta del Ebro region south of Barcelona, is worthy of Willy Wonka’s factory: rice dishes emerge from a miniature thatched house with a smoking chimney and caviar-topped tuna sashimi is served on a bed of dry ice. You can try the highlights of the 8- and 11-course dinner (€105-€162) in a more down-to-earth format during weekday lunch, €45. It includes a selection of fresh-as-it-gets fishy snacks—like mussels, eel, or tuna, depending on what's available at Delta del Ebro market, followed by a rice option, a meat or fish dish, and dessert. It also includes bread, water, and two glasses of wine per person, because, Spain. " - isabelle kliger

"If you’re unfamiliar with the natural bounty of the Ebro Delta, a visit to this restaurant in Barcelona is a must to savour the flavours of a region that has been declared a World Biosphere Reserve.Accessed via the lobby of the Ohla Eixample hotel, Xerta boasts a contemporary dining room with views of both its vertical garden and the kitchen. Chef Fran López, who trained and worked for three years with French maestro Alain Ducasse, showcases the flavours of his home region, providing guests with an opportunity to discover its superb gastronomy (eel, oysters, rice etc - 90% of his ingredients are sourced from here) from a creative perspective. An interesting footnote is that Xerta is the first European restaurant with a Michelin star to receive Kashrut kosher certification!" - Michelin Inspector