Boqueriarestaurant.com Website Review

Boqueria is a lively, Barcelona style tapas bar, inspired by the buzzy atmosphere and great food of the “Kioskos” that surround the renowned food market “El Mercado de la Boqueria” such as the famed Bar Pinotxo. At Boqueria, the open kitchens – helmed by Executive Chef Marc Vidal – turn out tempting versions of clas*ic Spanish tapas and small plates inspired by the season’s best products. Chef Marc Vidal fell in love with cooking at the age of nine when his mom put him to work at Bar Roca, the family restaurant in Barcelona where his grandmother ran the kitchen. The menu changed daily, but the simplicity and attention to quality ingredients was a constant in every dish, from a simple green salad to the Thursday paella that locals would line up for in front of the restaurant’s tiny façade. As his grandmother gave him more responsibility, washing dishes turned into pulling espresso and prepping bread pudding. Eventually, Marc was learning each traditional family recipe and the stories behind the food of his culture. These de*p personal roots inspired him to enroll in culinary school at age sixte*n, where he was the youngest in his clas*. In the years after graduation, Marc expanded his culinary knowledge by working with some of the world’s leading chefs including Chef Ferran Adrià at the famed El Bulli, Chef Alain Pas*ard at the three Michelin star restaurant L’Arpege, and Chef Alain Ducas*e in Paris, among Invigorated by the prospect of building a menu of Catalan clas*ics for a fresh audience, Marc ultimately moved to the U.S. where he was given the opportunity to open Solea in the W South Beach, earning the restaurant a James Beard Foundation semi-finalist nomination for Best New Restaurant. During a trip New York City, Chef Marc first visited Boqueria and it struck him immediately. From the music to the lighting and energy of the chefs in the open kitchens, he felt he had finally found a restaurant in the States that captured the energy of