#7 the w-report says Happy Holidays
A weekend in Barcelona, the coolest lodge in the Alps and Frederik Bille-Brahe
HAPPY HOLIDAYS (GW)
Hello everyone! I hope you are all surviving the holiday season. Speaking for myself, I am excited to be home after months of traveling and to be baking cookies and decorating the tree while listening to Frank Sinatra Christmas tunes. It feels like a luxury and a privilege to be able to do those things at this moment, for so many reasons. I haven’t done any shopping yet—we are gifting a ski trip during February break to ourselves so there won’t be many physical gifts under the tree. But our tree is looking so sparkly and beautiful, covered in lights and our bird ornaments, that I am feeling like no one will —should—miss the lack of presents this year.
We wanted our last newsletter of 2023 to be a joyful one so we thought we’d give you a fun eclectic mix of Barcelona insider intel meets alpine cool and news from one of our favorite chefs, Frederik Bille Brahe of Atelier September and Apollo Canteen in Copenhagen.
Also: a big shout out to the team at YOLO for adding us to their Christmas gift list. Thanks guys! That means a lot coming from y’all. I am sure you know about YOLO—the magazine and the Substack newsletter but if not, sign up!
CHEF TALK: FREDERIK BILLE BRAHE (GW)
I’ve been reporting on the world of food for almost two decades, ever since serving as the European correspondent for Food + Wine magazine under the excellent Editor in Chief Dana Cowin, so I’ve been following the evolution of Denmark’s culinary scene for years. I very much respect Rene Redzepi, New Nordic cuisine pioneer and the king of Michelin star foraging, but it’s at Frederik Bille Brahe’s cafes I want to eat every day. At his celebrated Atelier September cafe (now cafes) and Apollo Canteen in Copenhagen, he offers small seasonal menus of humble but unforgettably delicious and well-sourced dishes that make you want to order everything, and then do it again the next day. A buttery Morel mushroom porridge; freshly baked sourdough bread toast smeared with a thick layer of ricotta and topped with chili and garlic sautéed kale; a peach salad with goat cheese and lovage; chocolate miso cake. Fortunately he just published—with Apartamento—an Atelier September cookbook which contains recipes for all of the above. I went to Bille Brahe’s book signing this past weekend in Berlin, bought a few as gifts and then hung out with him at the end of it—two of his three young kids running around amongst friends drinking wine. I first met him in the fall of 2017 when I was moderating a talk about how to improve the food served at hospitals and schools organized by my chef friend Victoria Eliasdottir, at her brother Olafur Eliasson’s studio and Bille Brahe was one of the speakers. He is very earnest and serious about working with local farmers, and he is also driven to collaborate with artists and creatives like the South Korean singer Kim C of Hot Potato. He told me that he’s going to make a few adjustments in his work life in 2024 so he can create a creative laboratory and collaborate more with his creative friends. And travel more: he wants to go to Vietnam (inspired by a trip his friend the artist Danh Vo took there this year) and north Thailand to meet another artist he admires: Rirkrit Tiravanija. (I actually wrote a story about following Tiravanija around Chiang Mai a while back so maybe I’ll put that one up next year).
Where do you all want to travel to? Let us know in the comments and we will try to get some related stories into our next year’s newsletters.
SPOTLIGHT ON: RAMDANE TOUHAMI, ANARCHO-MOUNTAINEER (GW)
“I WANT TO GO UP, UP, AND UP!” said the designer and creative director Ramdane Touhami to me not long ago. I was interviewing him for a story for Harper’s Bazaar US which is in the current December issue. (Please buy a copy if you don’t have a subscription—its editor Samira Nasr is so sharp and is doing such an excellent job with the magazine). He was talking about his love for hiking in the mountains, but he might as well have been talking about his career plans for the future. When he and his wife Victoire de Taillac-Touhami sold the heritage beauty company Buly 1803 to LVMH, he invested the profit into multiple ambitious projects, most of them having to do with the mountains. (Check out their amazing house in Paris here in a recent T magazine article). I mentioned one of those projects in the article: the opening of his first alpine hotel, Drei Berge which is located in the tiny Swiss village of Mürren, accessible only by cable car. This will be a fabulous place to visit in the summer as well—to hike and mountain bike. I especially love that he calls himself an “anarcho-mountaineer” amd is “super radical anti-plastic” making the point that, “You can’t be someone who loves the mountains and at the same time hike with plastic products.” Watch this stylish activist closely.
BARCELONA INSIDERS: THE WRITER, THE CREATIVE DIRECTOR + THE HOTEL MAKER (AW)
Barcelona is overcrowded in the summer month, so the w-report says: travel now! It’s sunny and crisp with blues skies during the cold months and you’ll only share the bars and the beach with the locals. I got to know Christian Schallert in Marrakech where he recently opened the fabulous Maison Brummell and after getting to know his life story, I decided to visit him in Barcelona where his unconventional hotelier career started. Looking back I would say it’s the perfect place for a weekend trip, but you need to know how to avoid the tourist traps and where the insiders hang. While touring the city with Christian I met two other cool Barca locals; all three revealed some of their favorite spots in the city to me. I am sharing them with you, dear reader!
THE WRITER, SILKE WICHERT
Silke Wichert and I go way back, we went to the same journalism school in Berlin and both worked for the Berlin-based newspaper Welt am Sonntag. Silke is now a fashion writer for the prestigious Süddeutsche Zeitung and has been based in Barcelona for ten years. That’s because her husband, Florian Haupt, is a freelance soccer correspondent for Spiegel and NZZ. They share two sons —Toni, 12, and Jussi, 10, —and of course they both play for Penya Barcelonista Cinc Copes.
Silke showed me around her neighborhood, the elegant Dreta de l’Eixample, the right-hand side of which is dubbed the checkerboard district, for its clean architectural layout. The best way to experience it is to walk down Calle Girona towards Arc de Triumf and then once down Consell de Cent from Passeo San Joan to Enrique Granados. Both have recently been pedestrianized, benches and chairs have been placed everywhere and flower beds have been installed, a game changer for the neighborhood.
Regular Pitstop: Funky Bakers is only two corners away from our apartment. I love their Coffee and their bakery has a surprising selection. They have really good börek because the owner Seyma is Turkish. The new eatery next door was full from day one—make sure to make a reservation!-as their already successful deli in El Born added to their culinary reputation. Basically, in Barcelona you have to decide whether you want to ‘beat the local crowd’ and have lunch before 2pm or dinner before 9pm - or prefer to ‘beat the guiri (tourist) crowd’ and eat at Spanish dinner time.
Oldie but Goldies: Betlem, a classic tapas restaurant in Eixample. Or Xemei im quartier Poble Sec/Montjuic run by the city’s best Italian gastro duo, actually identical twins, who also own Bar Brutal. Be sure to try the Mousse Baccalà mantecato (a Venetian appetizer made with dried cod).
For long-term planners: Sato i Tanaka is the the best Japanese restaurant in town. There are two bars (one overseen by Sato, the other by Tanaka) where guests can watch the food being prepared live. You have to make a reservation weeks, even better a month in advance.
New kid in town: Around the corner from the soccer pitch, we recently went to Contracorrent („against the flow“). It’s on a street of unadorned barrio bars, many of which are Chinese restaurants, but this place does experimental tapas. Try the plcarpaccio with popcorn. Insanely good.
Guilty pleasure: For fried fish go to La Plata. There’s practically nothing else on the menu there. Except for homemade vermut. Always busy.
Tapas: Bar Alegria. Don’t ask if there are other things on offer than what is written on the board. There isn’t. But all of it is very good.
No More Tapas: If you are OVER tapas at some point, go get a burger at Rare. The best burgers in town, plus the best-humored dueño, the Canario Ivan.
Best Bar: Of course, you can also join the queue at Paradiso. Or you can go to the Libertine Bar in the Hotel Casa Bonay. Where Barcelona plays at being big city glam.
Shopping: Bon Vent. Vintage porcelain and crystal, soap dishes with palm trees and the best cotton towels for the beach. Los Féliz Vintage. Actually, I shouldn’t mention this place at all, because otherwise the great things will sell out even faster. Project Lobster. Because you can never have enough sunglasses in this city at any time of year. And Bobo Choses, the famous kids wear brand started in 2008 and has their very first retail store in town. All 100% organic cotton and recycled fabrics. Produced locally in Spain and Portugal. Fun, even if you don’t have children. They do adults too.
Great Spanish Designers: Gimaguas. Lots of mesh, 2000er Style. Km by lange. A bit of a strange name, but cool, precise cuts. Kati is actually from Kiev, but has had her studio here in the city for several years. Visit by appointment only. Perfume 2787: Romy is actually German, but has lived in Spain for a long time and is in Barcelona partly because the proximity to PUIG provides the best conditions for perfume inspiration and creation. Available in BCN at jcApotecari.
Beach: The further east you go, the less busy it is. The locals hardly ever go to the beach anyway, except to go to Muscle Beach or for Yoga. When visiting BCN, go straight to La Barceloneta by the golden Gehry fish. If you have children who want to play soccer, just take the regional train to Castelldefels and go to the real beach there. That’s where you used to meet the Messi kids, now the Lewandowskis.
Not to miss: Montjuïc. It’s best to spend a whole day there: Mies van der Rohe Pavilion, Miró Museum, the old Olympic 1992 diving pool with a view over the city, where Kylie Minogue shot her video for Slow. And then to a Barca game in the evening. The club is staying there, playing at the Olympic Stadium, while the Camp Nou stadium is being renovated. Because so many fans have put their season tickets on hold as a result, tickets are now easily available online.
THE HOTEL MAKER, CHRISTIAN SCHALLERT
Christian Schallert owns Hotel Brummel and recently opened Maison Brummell in Marrakech. The Austrian has been living in BCN for 20 years. He literally started as a dish washer speaking no Spanish, and then went on to sell postcards, and from there designed and rented out the now famous Lego-Apartment. He now owns a hotel and rents out out another micro-apartment: the Shoebox, with big views over the city. (If you need a spot for a longer stay, I would recommend the Brummell Apartments.) I stayed at the hotel while I taped an episode of the SALON ‘Our House’ Podcast (dropping in January 2024) with him and truly loved it. Room 51 is spacious and has a mint-hued bathroom. Big plus: affordable rates! Starting with 90 Euro per room. There’s complimentary yoga for the hotel guests just around the corner and a small sauna and pool where you can take a dip afterwards. Excellent breakfast, bikes for rent and the location is just next to Montjuïc and it’s only ten minutes by bike to the beach.
Christian’s musts in BCN: Join our Running Club, every Tuesday at 7pm. The Sunset run starts at Hotel Brummell. Anyone can join and it’s a great opportunity to meet locals. Have dinner at Xemei. I love this place. Maybe because it’s walking distance from my house and the quality never changes. It’s a Venetian-style trattoria with excellent seafood dishes. Brunch at my friend Seyma’s place Funky Bakers. Copenhagen watch out: she’ll open an outpost in 2024 and I’ll visit for sure. And if BCN does get on your nerves take a trip to Catalonia’s Pyrenees and disconnect at Mas Sant Marc. We recently turned my boyfriend’s charming family country house into a small inn with twelve rooms. It’s surrounded by a large garden, summer pool, horses and hens. It’s only a two hour drive from BCN.
THE CREATIVE DIRECTOR, NACHO ALEGRE
Nacho Alegre, Photographer and one of the founders of influential and inspiring interior magazine Apartamento, founded in 2008 in Barcelona by Nacho Alegre, Marco Velardi and Omar Sosa, who wanted to create a publication that felt more intimate and natural than the glossy interior design and architectural magazines available at the time. They recently acquired iconic design company BD Design Barcelona (founded in 1972) together with a collective of designers and architects. Watch this space.
Nacho says: Every Saturday I’m taking my kids to Funky Bakers for croissants. I live around the corner and our Apartamento office is just down the street. You now know where to find me. I’m not a big shopper but check out Après Ski: it’s an accessories and objects studio established in 2009 by Lucía Vergara. Vintage aesthetic and traditional techniques. Big success online, located in a tiny shop in Born. Just around the corner is the concept store Chandal. Lot’s of fun things to discover there plus, they sell Apartamento Magazine. If you like pizza, this is your place: Parking Pizza. Located in a former garage, it comes highly recommend by my kids. A place I never get tired of is the Italian spot Xemei. I like dining on the boardwalk and I always bump into someone interesting. And make sure to visit Side Gallery which shows design of the twentieth century, as well as contemporary design. The gallery’s space is a cool example of industrial architecture in the beach district of Poblenou. It’s located in a 19th century factory complex. If you do one touristy thing: La Pedrera aka Casa Milà. My favorite building by Antoni Gaudi.
Footnote regarding Xemei: All three of our locals recommended it full-heartedly. Meanwhile, I had a really fun night out there with Christian and his friends visiting from Marrakesh but I had a pasta pomodoro which was pretty average. But how can you judge a restaurant by a pasta pomodoro? Exactly. Next time I’ll order something else. But let’s not forget, I’m pretty spoiled when it comes to Italian food. I published an Italian cook book and I spent the last 15 summers in Tuscany. Will report more on this matter next year. Arrivederci!