Inopia | Barcelona - Find. Eat. Drink.

Barcelona, Spain

[Note: as of July 31, 2010, Inopia is no longer open. It is to be replaced by Lolita which will continue to serve some classic Inopia dishes, but Albert Adria will no longer be involved.]

What

Unpretentious, superb tapas bar.

Why

Owned by the brother of chef Ferran Adria, who is also the pastry chef at El Bulli.

Inopia | Barcelona [Closed]

June 17, 2009

By now, anyone who visits Barcelona and has a list of the worthwhile tapas joints has probably heard of Inopia. There are a number of reasons it is so renowned, including that it’s owned by El Bulli chef Ferran Adria’s brother, Alberto. Add to that, it was featured in “Spain On The Road Again” with Gwyneth Paltrow and company, and it’s been written about by every blogger and journalist who loves food and visits Barcelona. Don’t let the last two reasons stop you from giving it a try.

It’s hard to pick the right time to go, since the place packs up early. On a random Tuesday at 7:30pm (gringo hour), just after they opened the doors, the bar was already full. There is a very good chance you’ll see local waiters stopping in for a tapas fix before they head off to work, which should tell you something about the food at Inopia.

Here are some highlights:

1. Ensalada de tomate con cebolla tierna y ventresca de bonito (grilled, seared rare cold tuna in a tomato sauce): pure tuna, beautiful, tender, elegant.

2. Pulpo al Horno a la Murcian (octopus in red wine with garlic and peppercorns): tender, charred, well balanced flavors.

3. Croquetas caseras de jamon iberico (iberico ham croquetas): gorgeous, hot, crispy, exploding with creamy potato and ham.

4. Pipas de canejo (rabbit ribs or “pipes”): little fried pieces of rabbit ribs which were basically rabbit chicken wings and just as fun to eat, served with a garlic aioli on the side.

5. Berenjena frita con miel de cana (deep fried eggplant with honey): hot, crispy exterior with a soft eggplant inside, the sweetness of the fried eggplant is enhanced with the honey. This is almost like a dessert.

6. Homemade liqueur of apricot, anise, amaretto. A thick juice like liqueur with a clean anise flavor on top of the apricot fruit.

Inopia is worth trying since the food is of such a high quality. Just know that it is not a hidden gem and there’ll be a wide variety of local and tourist patrons. And if you are lucky enough, you’ll get to watch your friendly waiter feign a language barrier when someone asks “I want what Gwyneth had.”

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