HISOP

A visit to Ferran Adrià’s El Bulli is still many a foodie’s wet dream, but lately local gourmands have been paying more attention to the rise of the ‘bistronomics’, a phenomenon which preceded the financial crisis but seems tailor-made for it: small, understated and wallet-friendly food temples, run by ambitious young chefs.

Prices are kept affordable not by compromising on the quality of the raw materials, but often by working with less heralded, humbler and thus cheaper ingredients, procured at the local markets. This is also the mantra of Guillem Pla and Oriel Ivem, both trained at the Michelin-starred Neichel, who now serve modern Catalan cuisine in Hisop’s minimalist setting with their own Michelin star to show.