b-guided > Barcelona

b-served Gastronomy

Ópera Samfaina

Gastronomy and Catalan Culture

By Fotos/photos; Afra Rigamonti 19.10.16

Ópera Samfaina is a recently opened cultural and gastronomic space specialising in the promotion and allowing visitors to discover Catalan gastronomic products, a delicatessen offering a selection of cold cuts, seafood, cured hams, cheeses as well as local wines and gastronomic beers.

The project is the brainchild of Tast Barcelona in collaboration with the Liceu, and includes different concepts like museum, market, spectacle, bringing them together within a gastronomic experience that includes input from some of the best known chefs and restauarateurs of Catalonia; the Roca brothers, Carles Abellan, Nandu Jubany, Albert Adrià y Christian Escribà.

  • Ópera Samfaina
  • Ópera Samfaina

     

    The space which includes 950 sq.m. is located in the basement of the Liceu Opera House and occupies the entire width of the building from C/ Union to C/ Sant Pau. Organised around 5 distinct areas some of which are accessible to the general public (El Rocambolesc and La Vermuteria), on the ground floor and semi-basement levels (the Odyssey, the Diva and the Market) access to which involves buying a consumición at a reception before exploring the main gastronomic area.

  • Ópera Samfaina

     

    The Catalan Odyssey is a new concept of surround sensorial sensations created by Franc Aleu and the Roca Brothers. Gastronomy and art in equal measures expressed through an animated film starring the digital avatar of the famous chef Jordi Roca. The projection room is circular and completely isolated from the other spaces,  a total of 16 spectators can enjoy this specially commissioned narrative (the story of Catalonia told through the products of its land) while they enjoy typical products from different regions combined with a selection of Catalan wines. The orchestra and chorus of the Gran Teatre del Liceu provide the soundtrack.

  • Ópera Samfaina

     

    The interior design project is authored by Franc Aleu (of the famous La Fura dels Baus), a world of surrealist games, projections and sculptures that take their cue from the animated film. Llighting effects and interactive games create a unique and self-referential world organised around the extraordinary produce of the lands located between the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean that has inspired so many chefs over the centuries.

  • Ópera Samfaina
  • Ópera Samfaina
  • Ópera Samfaina

     

    This unique space is quite different from other restaurants in Barcelona and is open 365 dayw of the year from 12 midday till 1 in the morning with uninterrupted food service.