El Chigre 1769
Catalan-Asturian / Sidrería · Ciutat Vella, Barcelona · €€
El Chigre 1769 is chef Fran Heras's Catalan-Asturian sidrería in El Born, two metres from Santa Maria del Mar's west façade, inside a building dating from 1769.
The Delekta Review
Opened December 2016 by chef Fran Heras (Avilés) and his partner Eva Arbonés; the second project after El Llamber, their Asturian restaurant from five years earlier. Heras's CV: hospitality school in Gijón, London, the historic Marchica in Oviedo, Sergi Arola in Madrid, El Bulli with Ferran Adrià, Jean Luc Figueras, Ramón Freixa. Arbonés runs the dining room and wine list; the bar itself is the rescued counter of a long-gone Lleida bookshop.
'Catariana' sidrería-vermutería: Catalan-Asturian DNA on the plate, KM0 sourcing in the pantry, both languages on the wall. Wine list runs only Catalan and Asturian references — both regions are wine-growing, the second more than most people realize. Slow Food-accredited; reservations only for two or more.
Capipota with Cabrales — pig's head and trotter set against Asturia's blue cheese. Bombas de la Barceloneta stuffed with octopus. Lamb stew served with Asturian tortos (corn pancakes). Catalan empedrat with Asturian faves — the cross-pollination idea on one plate. Chorizo simmered in Sopeña cider sauce.
Building dates from 1769; the room reads as an Asturian cider house lifted onto an El Born street — dark-wood paneling, long shared tables, tall bar stools.
Quoted in
“Asturian cooking in the heart of the most aged Barcelona.” — Josep Sucarrats · Gastronomistas
What the critics say
- El Chigre 1769 – Macarfi
- El Chigre 1769, a 'Catarian' experience
- Ve a El Chigre 1769 y descubre qué significa 'catariano'
- El Chigre 1769
- Where to Eat in Barcelona's Tourist-Heavy Old City
Visit
- Address
- Carrer dels Sombrerers, 7, Ciutat Vella, 08003 Barcelona, Spain
- Phone
- +34 936 76 39 41
- Website
- elchigre1769.com/en
- Reservations
- Book a table
Nearby restaurants in Ciutat Vella
- Shunka — Japanese / Sushi, €€€
- Bar El Pollo — Basque/Tapas, €
- Kiosko Universal — Seafood, €€
- Arraval — Catalan, €€
- Time Out Market Barcelona — Food Hall, €€