Jordi Cruz plans a Catalan restaurant next to Abac

Jordi Cruz is planning a new restaurant in Barcelona, right next to ABaC, his three-Michelin-star place on Avinguda del Tibidabo. It will be at number 11 and serve traditional Catalan food. It's a plan, not an opening: Time Out Barcelona was told the project has no fixed date because it's being cooked slowly, over a low heat.

A modernist house with a garden

The building is one of the Casas Josefa Orpí, a set of three detached family houses designed in 1910 by the architect Antoni Millàs i Figuerola. Time Out says they run from number 9 to 13. The one in question has a basement, ground floor, first floor and attic, and is surrounded by a garden. It's listed in Barcelona's heritage catalogue, and ABaC staff have used it as a changing room.

The group that owns it also runs the ABaC hotel, Ten's, Angle and Atempo, the last two with a Michelin star each. The plan was already part of the hotel's expansion project.

Ticket of 50 to 70 euros

The big difference from next door is the price. Cruz says people will eat for a ticket of 50 to 70 euros, against around 300 at ABaC.

Why next door makes sense

Time Out explains that the future restaurant is in a property owned by the Abac hospitality group, and that it was already part of the plan to extend the hotel. Directo al Paladar frames the project as Cruz's way of reaching a different public from the one that usually sits down at ABaC: both places share the street, but the idea is two clearly different experiences. The architecture is a draw in its own right, and the avenue itself is known for old bourgeois residences and modernist buildings.

Lighter Catalan cooking

Cruz describes the food as traditional Catalan cooking that is less caloric and lighter. His example is a fricandó of aged beef infused with moixernons. Directo al Paladar says the recipes will be reinterpreted with a contemporary eye, in a more informal setting than the three-star.

Cristina Jiménez, director of the Àbac hotel, confirmed the opening to Time Out but gave no date, and no name, menu or booking system has been announced.