- Address : off. del Paralelo, 164 08015 Barcelona
- Cocina : snacks and saucers
- Obliged : nori casserole with foie gras and eel
- Vino : extensive menu in variety and quality
- Service : professional and attentive
- Local : modern dining room with terrace
- Final price per person : 100 euros (without wine)
“I am a chef from Rubí who has been working in this profession for twenty-five years.” This is how Oliver Peña, chef, leader and soul of the Teatro Kitchen Bar, introduces himself. This restaurant is in the same location where Albert Adrià’s much-missed Tickets shined. We are aware of the difficulty of separating the Kitchen Theater from the Tickets, but Oliver has been able to provide his own stamp that highlights his talent and personality.
The meal is designed and planned like a play with different acts. We are in the stalls ready to learn the argument of Oliver’s solid and successful career. The curtain rises on the terrace with a well-poured glass of Estrella Damm. After this preamble we begin the first act in which almost everything is based on finger food (finger food). We tried dishes and snacks that surprise us as much as they amaze us: taco de quelitas km 0 (a plant of Mexican origin that is also grown in our country); cannoli catalano (a nostrada version of the Sicilian classic); regañá of leek with Oliver’s mother’s romesco recipe; tuna bun and omelet eggs; crispy bull niguiri; crust and shrimp crystal; beef piccolo; mochi of Catalan chicken and, to finish this wonderful start, we tried the fabulous nori casserole with foie-gras and eel. We take advantage of the intermission to talk to you about the first bottle of wine we had: Gran Caus red 2019 from Can Ràfols de los Caus del Macizo del Garraf. A wine with fruity notes, fresh and with a complete and pleasantly long finish.
We return to the main stage with a tomato salad, kalamata olives and crusty bread and with theaguachile of lemon fish. Second act, time for hot dishes: Ràpita prawn roll; Korean-style octopus with a perfect texture; together of neck bacon, Arabic lamb tacos and, finally, a truffled longuet with Pallars and Molí de Ger cheese. For this entire sequence, Agostina Fernández, director and sommelier, recommends a bottle of Els Pics 2021 from the Mas Alta del Priorat winery, a seemingly simple wine that brings great pleasure. The long personalized work that Oliver has prepared for us has allowed us to taste the two successful recommendations that Agostina has made to us. Don’t worry, the three of us return home by public transport.
The work culminates with a sweet double scene: tropical millefeuille and thecaramel cookie salted caramel and peanut ice cream. While we are still tasting the fantastic Priorat wine we talk about the quality of the cuisine at the Teatro Kitchen Bar and we highlight that there is a preparatory work behind it that is probably not visible, but that is noticeable when you put most of the ingredients in your mouth. snacks and tastings prepared by the restaurant team. Oliver is the chef, but he also acts as a prompter to explain to each viewer the personalized plot of his performance. “At this moment I have a great work group that has evolved very positively. Now I am happy, I have the peace of mind that I had always sought. The cooking I make is tastefully what I want,” says Oliver, acknowledging the work of all the actors and actresses. of distribution with the forcefulness that knowledge and experience gives it.
At the Kitchen Bar Theater a sublime play is staged with a main actor who shares the stage with a quality and perfectly executed product. We left the script and Oliver was the one who improvised, incorporating small gastronomic pieces in a performance that, for us, would be the winner of this year’s Butaca award.