Chef Carles Tejedor (El Nacional, the Academy, and others) is behind the timeless Be So, which specializes in haute versions of hotel-dining-room classics like steak tartare and oysters. The restaurant’s wine presentation is unique: Pick a favorite scent from one of seven small perfume bottles, and the sommelier will recommend a handful different wines to match. Be So shares the Hotel Sofia with three other worthy newcomers, including the Mediterranean restaurant Impar, the library-themed book cafe PhiloSofia, and the Zuu dinner theater.

Located in a nearly 9,000-square-foot industrial warehouse, this mammoth restaurant is the personal passion project of celebrity-chef brothers Sergio and Javier Torres. Both chefs recently received their second Michelin star for Dos Cielos, and now they’ve bet big on a restaurant that impresses both architecturally and culinarily. Here the Torres brothers pay playful tribute to the recipes of their mother and grandmother, with surprising dishes like sunflower-seed ice cream and a a faux “rice” with vegetables.

Located in a former nightclub venue, El Cinco is chef Josep Armenteros’s Barcelona debut. The menu draws on the chef’s devotion to seasonality as well as his experience working with Michelin-starred chef Carles Gaig. Don’t miss the boneless duck with pears and millet, the partridge with cabbage, and the menorquin de ensaimada (a typical brioche from Balear Islands) with sobrassada (Majorcan sausage) and cheese. The menu is heavy on vegetables, and don’t sleep on dessert. Stick around after dinner — the nightclub El 5 is just downstairs in the basement.

The chefs at Plata Bistro strive to keep the dishes simple. Very simple. Each traditional stew has only three ingredients, but through clever techniques and seasonal ingredients, the minimalist dishes have mass appeal. The menu, which changes continually, is projected on the dining room wall with slides showcasing the day’s options, made with ingredients sourced from the local farmers market. Think chanterelles with a fried egg, chicken with Swiss chard and foie gras, or fresh strawberries with mascarpone and balsamic.

Chef-owner Gastón Acurio is Peru’s most famous culinary ambassador, and arguably the driving force behind the world’s sudden obsession with Peruvian ceviche. Yakumanka is inspired by Acurio’s internationally successful La Mar concept, and the menu here features some of that restaurant’s best ceviches, including Carretillero made with mussels, shrimp, crab, and tiger milk (a citrus-based marinade) and apaltado with avocado and grilled octopus.

According to acclaimed chef Xavier Pellicer, all ingredients possess an energy that gets passed directly from purveyor to cook to diner. This is what he aims to capture on the plate at his latest eponymous restaurant. With a staunch emphasis on biodynamic and organic practices, this flexitarian restaurant reveres vegetables without snubbing the occasional bit of fish or meat. Pellicer has revived some of the classic dishes that made him famous, like a beetroot gazpacho and pink lentil hummus, but you’ll also find new hits, like a roasted pumpkin with chutney and burrata with asparagus and citrus.

Located in the basement of the Moritz brewery and sharing a space with the Michelin-starred restaurant Alkimia, Al Kostat (which means “next door” in Catalan) is the playground of chef Jordi Vilà, who cooks up a large menu of approachable, affordable dishes. A handful of tables make up the dining room, where diners enjoy everything from simple meat croquettes to little luxuries like shrimp heads with caviar.

There’s more to this enterprise than its unsubtle name. Two Italian slow-food devotees are behind the well-designed spot, complete with a dining room-adjacent courtyard for growing fresh herbs. The food mixes the chefs’ Italian heritage with more modernist sensibilities. Try the Parmesan crispy taco and the restaurant’s signature version of the classic patatas bravas, here called “Bravas que querían ser patatas” (bravas that dreamed of becoming chips). They are indeed a dream.

When people behind Fismuler in Madrid opened a branch of their popular restaurant in Barcelona, it became an instant hit. The key to its success? A menu that balances modernist dishes with simpler ones, and an emphasis on quality throughout. The three chefs behind Fismuler shared a kitchen at El Bulli 15 years ago, which explains their more technique-driven dishes, like gilthead carpaccio with almonds and razor clams with kimchi and fried kale. On Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, live music keeps diners in their seats long after the last course is served.

The humble appearance of L’Artesana belies the talented crew gathered inside. Romina Reyes, Héctor Barbero, and Pau Pons all come here by way of other great Barcelona restaurants, and at this casual spot — their first project together — they show off their collective kitchen talents. See them on display in dishes like the marinated mackerel; the fried egg with potato, cod, and egg yolk “Rösti”; and the superbly curated natural-wine list.