If you’ve ever been to Girona, chances are you’ll have strolled through Plaza del Vi. And there’s a good chance you’ve eaten or had a drink at number seven – a classic bar with an iconic façade in one of the city’s best locations. In the summer of 2024, the Roca Brothers opened Bar Vii here. It pays homage to Bar Roca, their parents’ restaurant, and now stands among the city’s most intriguing dining establishments.
The cuisine draws inspiration from the dishes served at Bar Roca in the 1970s and from traditional Catalan cuisine more broadly, with a strong emphasis on natural wine. Audrey Doré, head sommelier of El Celler de Can Roca, is the director of this establishment. The menu has been designed with wine in mind, and ranges from confits and pickles to hearty Catalan stews, as well as flatbreads and sandwiches. Most of the dishes have a signature touch that elevates them above a standard tapas bar’s offering: for example, an ensaladilla rusa (a potato salad) with large capers and piparra peppers, rabbit escabeche with vegetables from the garden of Mas Marroch, another of the brothers’ venues, and an impressive selection of sandwiches and flatbreads. Highlights include a mollete (soft bread roll from Andalusia) filled with sherry-doused kidneys and a flatbread with black-pepper bacon and Idiazábal cheese.
Translated by Olivia Simpson