A temple to ham
Ham is one of the best things about Spain, and Jamonísimo (C/Provença 85, 0034 93 439 08 47, jamonisimo.com) is its temple. You have to eat ham with your fingers and you have to like the fat; if you don't like the fat, don't eat the ham. It's also crucial to eat it at the right temperature. Don't eat ham in December. I take Heston Blumenthal there - he loves it. In fact, it's where I take all the chefs and critics. It's a little place, but almost mythical.
The best seafood in town
Rias de Galicia (C/Lleida 7, +93 424 81 52, riasdegalicia.com) is the best place in Barcelona for seafood. The prices are high, but not unreasonably so - in Spain, fish is more expensive than anywhere in the world, even more than Japan. It's a relaxed, rustic atmosphere. I feel at home there.
Another place I go to a lot is Quimet y Quimet (C/Poeta Cabanyes 25, +93 442 31 42). The enjoyment of conservas - tinned shellfish, asparagus, and so on - isn't properly understood outside Spain. Top-class conservas are really expensive. Cockles and clams in jars, I love all that stuff. This is the place to try it - it's tiny and hasn't changed for decades. When I'm there I drink vermut - vermouth with a dash of soda water.
Food stalls fit for a Michelin chef
The best time to go to La Boqueria market (La Rambla 89, boqueria.info) is at the very end of the day, around 8pm, when it's almost closed, because it's a different feeling from the daytime. You can still walk around it and along the little streets at the side, and there's something artistic about it; it's like a film set. Sometimes I'll go with a camera and take photos of it at that time of day. During the day I go to buy mushrooms at the Petras stall, and there are four or five stalls of fresh fish; you can get the best bacalao (salted cod) in the world right here. Watching the stalls that prepare offal is very interesting, if you don't know much about it, and one thing not many people know is that there is a place that does great pizza, just behind the fish stalls. The Pinotxo and Quim tapas bars are good, too.
Forget El Corte Inglés - shop here
Vinçon (Passeig de Gracia 96, +93 215 60 50, vincon.com) is a Barcelona classic, inside and out, selling homeware and kitchen stuff. The personality of the owners shines through and you can feel immediately it's not a chain - that's what makes it different from the other design shops. You see things and think, where did they find that? It's a great place to mooch around. Another shop I find magical is Casa Gispert (C/Sombrerers 23, +93 319 75 35, casagispert.com) in the Born. The best roast nuts anywhere, and a beautiful shop.
The national chefs' drink
Barcelona is an amazing city for cocktails, although it's not a well-known fact. We have several world-class cocktail bars, such as Boadas (C/Tallers 1, +93 318 95 92), Gimlet (C/Santaló 46, +93 201 53 06), Ideal (C/Aribau 89), Dry Martini (C/Aribau 162, +93 217 50 72, drymartinibcn.com) and the terrace bar at the Hotel Arts (C/Marina 19-21+93 551 30 00, hotelartsbarcelona.com). Usually I order americanos - Campari and red vermouth - or a gin and tonic made with Fever Tree, the best tonic in the world, and Hendrick's or Bombay Sapphire. In Spain, we drink even more gin than in England. You know why? Because here it's the national chefs' drink. We make the best gin and tonics, better even than the UK - long measures with lots and lots of ice.
Gaudí's finest
To appreciate the Sagrada Família (C/Mallorca 401), you have to go first thing in the morning, when there's hardly anybody there, and you have the sensation of witnessing something incredible. I like it much more inside than from the outside. The facade is OK, but inside it's a magical space. It's one of those places that affects you but you can't explain why.
Fever pitch
The Nou Camp football stadium (fcbarcelona.com) is an unmissable experience, and el clásico - Barça versus Real Madrid - is one of the most exciting things that you can see here. A football match for me is a performance, a show, more than a sporting event. I love the atmosphere, I go with my friend Cristián Escriba, the chocolatier, grab a bocadillo from a nearby bar and settle in. I can't get there often - I go maybe three times a year, which makes it special. It's one of the few days in the year I do something completely different.
My brother's place
I go to my brother's bar, Inopia (C/Tamarit 104, +93 424 5231, barinopia.com), a lot. Not just because it's Albert's place, but because I love the little fried fish, the croquettes, all those traditional tapas. It was a whim of his to set up a bar that we would actually like to go to, and it's become something unique in Barcelona in the short time it's been open. It's completely authentic; doing the kind of thing Albert and I do at El Bulli is forbidden! I like the atmosphere - you get a mix of locals and glamorous people together at the bar.
