La Plata

La Plata opened in 1945 and still serves just four dishes. Founded by Pepito Marjanet and Quimeta Planas, this tiny Barcelona bar remains in the family, owned today by their daughter Anna. In the early years, the couple worked from six in the morning until eleven at night without a day off, sleeping in a low mezzanine above the kitchen.

The menu has stayed remarkably simple: fried anchovies, tomato salad with onion and olives, and bread with tomato topped with either anchovies or butifarra. Anna spent 33 years cooking here before handing over the kitchen to María José Alirangues in 2009. Behind the bar is Pepe Gómez, who joined in 1972 and has been welcoming customers for more than five decades.

Wine is poured from the barrel into a traditional porró, while vermouth comes without ice, orange or olives. Both Ferran and Albert Adrià have praised La Plata; Albert even named a salad after it at his former tapas bar, Inopia.