Green Spot, Barcelona, Spain

Of Barcelona’s many-splendoured culinary delights, good vegetarian menus have been conspicuously absent. Until, that is, the arrival of Green Spot just below the Born and Gothic quarters where En Compania de Lobos, one of the city’s best-known restaurant groups, has tapped the São Paulo-based Isay Weinfeld for the interiors. 

A long oak-lined corridor at the entrance draws the eye inwards past light-washed rooms, arches, a copper-topped bar, and a quietly lush interior garden. Earthy tones dominate as terracotta, raw linen and oak nicely complement vintage table lamps and Zeitraum furniture. 

From behind the glass-walled kitchen, Marcelino Jimenez masterminds a locally-sourced and seasonal vegetarian menu that is anchored with Mediterranean ingredients, but which freestyles through a thoroughly enjoyable mash-up of global cuisine – dolmades stuffed with red quinoa, pakoras, fennel roasted with orange and chilli, egg and kale casseroles, and even Chinese-styled lettuce leaves wrapped around tofu and herbs.