That name, Bodega Borràs (Casanova, 85), the appearance of the place and the ownership shared between two young brothers, Roger and Adrià, leads one to sense that there has been a generational change in this business in which they themselves will have commissioned a renovation. in line with the new stage. But is not the case.
This was previously a lively venue, the Castro, which, according to what they say, had hosted the first shows with drag queens in a city where the Gaixample was not yet spoken of. And the owners were not his parents. Nor did they commission the renovation, which they carried out with their own hands and the ingenuity of designers (Roger graphic and Adrià industrial). They were made from the tables to the lamps that these brothers, whose last name is Muñoz Borràs, proudly display.
Roger confesses that at the time of deciding the name - “it seems easy but it is the most difficult thing before opening” - they hesitated a lot between calling it Hermanos Muñoz or Bodega Borràs. And that he finally won the tribute to his mother, Maria Isabel Borràs. She had abandoned her profession as a draftsman to take care of them and when they grew up she went to work in restoration; first in a restaurant on Moll de la Fusta, then in the busy Ra, behind the Boqueria. She went there when, at 50 years old, she made the decision to undertake to open El Pati, on Tarragona Street. “Every day she delivered 300 breakfasts and 300 daily menus. You know... on Thursday paella, on Friday fideuà; but also trinxat, meatballs or fricandó.” The brothers were working with her at different stages and when they transferred the premises, they were clear that it was time to embark on Bodega Borràs, which they opened in January of last year and which they have been running since then, now taking turns in the room.
Guayaquil chef Alex Clavijo takes care of the kitchen with skill. He prepares a menu of the day at 18.50 (4 starters to choose from, four main courses and three desserts). But it is at night and with the dishes on the menu (average ticket around 40 euros) when they are most successful and there is usually no space left on the tables or at the bar. From there you can observe the impeccable and non-stop preparation of a bread with tomato (the bread comes from Forn Sant Josep) that we would like to find more often in the center of Barcelona.
That thick slice and Alex Clavijo's version of the gilda, bringing it closer to a ceviche with the preparation based on cured horse mackerel, an emulsion of anchovies and olives and a cream of piparras and cilantro, is a good way to start. The acidity decreases in the subtle pickle with which a quail has been cooked that accompanies vegetables pickled in the house and from which the bones will be clean. Like the Gilda Borràs, a successful sea and mountain that combines Iberian dewlap in Pedro Ximenez sauce and some squid is one of the specialties they have served since the beginning.
Oxtail has been so abused that, honestly, there is little faith in the ingot version that they prepare with Priorat wine, chocolate and sweet potato. But it is perhaps the best of the repertoire. And the chef tells us that it is his most laborious dish. Between the long maceration in the wine, the very slow cooking, from when the meat arrives until they can serve it, five days pass. The chocolate comes from Ecuador, to which it thus pays its small tribute. The tarte tatin, not on the menu, arrives at the bar warm. The dessert game was the gateway to the profession of this chef born in Guayaquil. Before, he worked hard at the restaurant Sant Bartomeu in Sant Cugat, where in just three years he managed to captain several games and become head chef.
