Update: This spot is sadly no longer open.
The bodega side of La Pubilla del Taulat’s split-personality operation is no ordinary wine shop. While one wall is lined with hundreds of bottles from all over Spain, it’s the wall opposite that commands attention, with its row of massive casks. After nearly disappearing over the last few decades, bulk wine is back. And though customers these days are more likely to tote their wine home in big plastic jugs, the garrafa, the straw-covered flask of old, is making a comeback too. Besides the cheap tariff, there’s another upside to buying wines in bulk: custom wine blending, straight from the cask.
Jesús López runs the bodega – and sells his own Catalan wines and cava there too – while his brother, Miguel, and Miguel’s husband, Toni, run the tapas bar adjacent. La Pubilla del Taulat was always a fixture in the Lopez brothers’ lives: the second owner of the bodega, which opened back in 1886, was Angel López, the brothers’ father. The shop has long been a kind of landmark in Poblenou, and Miguel and Jesús have devoted themselves to upholding that legacy. Their efforts will soon be recognized: the Barcelona city council is planning to award La Pubilla with a distinction given to historic shops: “Guapos Per Sempre” – Beautiful Forever.
The tapas part of the operation got its start in 1969, when Angel restored the space next to the bodega. Miguel helped out and learned to cook octopus and the other seafood specialties for which the tapas bar became known. He’s now in charge of the kitchen, while Toni works in the front of the house, making customers feel at home in the cheerful, easygoing dining room.
Locals still talk about the shellfish that made this place famous in the 1970s: big clams en con serva from the Atlantic, supplied by Lafuente, the family-run company that now runs another venerable shop in the city, Colmado Quilez. Among La Pubilla del Taulat’s most celebrated seafood offerings are octopus cooked Galician-style with olive oil, salt and paprika, wonderful Mediterranean sea snails with a fresh and simple vinaigrette of olive oil and lemon, fresh cockles, squid and cuttlefish and delicate salted shrimp, along with a variety of classic tapas. Everything is prepared and cooked to order just behind the bar.
The tapas bar’s latest attraction are the superb Cantabrian anchovies, a globe-trotting dish that combines the preserved fish montadito-style (stacked) with sun-dried tomatoes in a thrilling herb-scented olive oil vinaigrette on top of a slice of bread. The dish traveled from Italy to Argentina over a century ago, and then recently hop-scotched back to Europe. Miguel gets asked about this recipe frequently but has wisely kept silent on the topic.
Poblenou (“new village”) has always been associated with the factories and their workers that were the backbone of this neighborhood in the last century. Since then, it’s become known more for innovation (in the high-tech, communication and medical industries) and culture and has transformed into a quiet place to live, with the promise of ocean breezes just a five-minute walk away. Families, old neighbors, new office workers and young people gather in this gay-friendly venue to raise a glass of vermouth de la casa (enhanced with a few drops of bitter orange) over a few thoughtfully prepared dishes that speak of the nearby sea. And when they’ve downed the last of their drinks and mopped up the remaining crumbs, they might then return home with their own personalized garrafa of wine.
April 26, 2017 Tasca Carvalho
Portuguese gastronomy is at the core of Rio's botequins, the small, often family-run […] Posted in Rio
August 1, 2014 Cachambeer
With its festive atmosphere, excellent grilled ribs and ice-cold beers, Cachambeer […] Posted in Rio
July 15, 2020 CB on the Road
The day starts very early for Don Ponciano Díaz and his wife, Sara. It’s 5 a.m., and […] Posted in Mexico City
Published on September 11, 2013
Related stories
April 26, 2017
RioPortuguese gastronomy is at the core of Rio's botequins, the small, often family-run gastrobars spread all over the city. Traditional botequins offer European food and some unique aspects of Brazilian culture – mix you’ll find only in Rio. That being said, it’s hard to say whether Tasca Carvalho, the brand new Portuguese gastrobar in Copacabana,…
August 1, 2014
RioWith its festive atmosphere, excellent grilled ribs and ice-cold beers, Cachambeer attracts hundreds of hungry cariocas and tourists to the suburb of Cachambi nearly every day. It’s one of Rio’s most popular botequins, but it all started merely by chance. Twelve years ago, Cachambeer was just an old, tiny, dirty pé-sujo – literally “dirty feet,”…
July 15, 2020
Mexico CityThe day starts very early for Don Ponciano Díaz and his wife, Sara. It’s 5 a.m., and they’re already at their bakery, Panadería Díaz, which is located in San Antonio La Isla, some 73 kilometers from Mexico City. One pale incandescent bulb lights the space, and the large wooden worktable is empty – but not…
