Ferran Centelles, one of two sommeliers at El Bulli -- and, at 24, a baby in the world of three-star sommeliers -- agreed to guide me on a tour of his favorite hometown food spots, establishments characterized by the same combination of tradition, revolution, and curiosity that flows through the city itself.
I met Centelles's co-sommelier, Lucas Payá, 30, and they led me down a set of side streets to Múrgula, an unassuming restaurant whose chef, Rafa Clarasó, is an El Bulli alumnus.
''The best places in Catalonia are the ones where you don't feel like an outsider," Centelles said. At Múrgula, the two sommeliers were treated like family and ate like hungry college students.
The food was much closer to family style than to El Bulli, but that's nothing to be disappointed about. Clarasó's goal is to make the most of the products from the nearby Boqueria market.
''The Boqueria has 26,000 products and everything we serve here comes from there," Clarasó explained.
''It's like having an enormous stocked refrigerator at our disposal."
So where's the revolution? ''It's in everything," he said, citing one example: ''Shorter cooking times help each ingredient conserve its texture." He also pulls from his El Bulli past with innovations in timing and presentation.
For other diners, Clarasó constructed a tasting menu that included such elements as anchovy fillets over baby fried broad beans with olive oil and sherry vinegar glaze, sauteed foie gras on a fried duck egg over a bed of fried baby artichokes, bonito wrapped in Iberian ham over cabbage, and a cabbage and potato pancake known as trinxat.
For those who still had room, there was a hearty tripe stew.
We rolled out the door, and as Payá bid us adios, Centelles steered us toward a favorite wine shop.
