TICKETS

The iconic El Bulli may be closing, but ‘the show must go on’ for its superstar chef and owner Ferran Adrià, and so it has with the launch of ‘Tickets’, a joint venture with his brother Albert and the Iglesias boys behind ‘Rias de Galicia’.

Looking much like a ticket booth from the outside, bright lightbulbs blaring around a giant ‘Tickets’ sign, one of Barcelona’s more memorable dining experiences awaits you inside. If you’re among the lucky 80 on the list, head past the doorman dressed like a ringmaster and enter the Adriàs’s fairground of tapas play.

The menu reads traditional tapas on first sight, with choosings from the six thematic booths in the locale that include the futuristic ‘Nostromo’ bar that prepares a bafflingly creative array of toppings for bread, the slick ‘Presumida’ seafood stand, and tent-topped dessert arena ‘La Dulce’, but there’s enough of the molecular magic to set it apart without going into Michelin overdrive.

Think olives with a literal taste explosion (we won’t spoil the surprise), air baguettes wrapped in Iberian ham and a delightfully simple reinterpretation of the traditional tapa “pescadito frito”, served in a fish-and-chip style paper cone. The light-heartedness continues with a sign ousting knives and forks (this is finger-lickin’ good after all), and a post-it scrawled spidergram asking ‘What is a tapa?’ in the window.

How do you get your turn? With prices kept at a level accessible to most, a lot of people are understandably more than keen to take a ride and places are already now being snapped up as soon as they are made available online at midnight exactly 60 days in advance.

Either be patient, or try instead booking a spot at cocktail bar 41º (named after the 41st parallel that in turn is referred to by the street name). Located in the same building – you pass through Tickets to get in – it’s also owned by the Adriàs but has much better availability. And it does a nifty line in bar snacks featuring a lot of the same tapas.