Coals raked flat across an open grill

La Ribera · Barcelona · est. 2016

Everything here touches the fire.

Two candlelit rooms, one hearth, no gas anywhere in the building. Fish landed at the Llotja three streets away, prawns from the Garrutx boats, rice cooked in a two-handled pan straight on the coals. Thirty-four seats. Written after the market, never before.

Reserve a table → Read the menu or call the room
Wood-fired Catalan/ Seafood & rice/ €€€€/ Dinner Tue–Sun · Lunch Fri–Sun/ One step at the door · ramp on the Pla/ Closed Mondays — the fire rests

01 / the house

Cendra is Catalan for ash — the last state of the fire.

We light one fire at half past five in the morning and cook everything over it until the last plate leaves at around midnight: whatever the sea gave up that day, Pallars lamb, vine shoots, olive wood, a great deal of patience.

Nothing is reheated. Nothing arrives frozen. The menu is a single sheet, handwritten, and it changes the moment the fire — or the market — says so. If we run out of turbot, we run out of turbot.

The room seats thirty-four. Eight of those seats are stools an arm's length from the coals, and they are the only seats in the building we never give to a booking app.

“We have one fuel and infinite patience. The fire decides the menu; we just argue back occasionally.”
Núria Fontané · head chef & co-owner
Chef turning a whole turbot over the coals
19:52 — turbot on the bone goes in, escoveda after
Split holm oak stacked in the cellar
the cellar · 1.4 tonnes of oak
Fishing boats at dawn in the old harbour
06:40 — the boats at the Llotja
Gas burners
0
Seats
0
To the market
0 m
Hours of fire
0h
holm oakvine cuttings · penedèsred prawns · garrutxcantabrian anchovyburnt leek & romescomanzanilla en ramasea urchin · roquesbucatini de marpallars lambcocoa ash & olive oilfig leaf custardempordà grenache

02 / the fire

A day, told in embers.

No pilot lights, no sous-vide, no shortcuts hidden in a back room. One grill, 4.2 metres of it, fed by hand every ninety minutes. Here is what a service actually costs us, and what it gives back.

peak, 20:00

0°C

fish at 320°C · rice at 400°C · lamb finishes in the ash at 180°C

Holm oak

Long, even, honest heat. The backbone of every service.

Vine cuttings

Fast and fragrant. Prawns, bread, anything that wants a whisper of smoke.

Olive wood

Sweet and deep. Saved for the lamb and the last of the desserts.

  1. 05:45

    The fire is lit

    Split oak, dried vine shoots, no accelerant, one match. By the time the room has coffee, the back wall is glowing.

  2. 07:20

    First coals, first breakfast

    The crew eats l'esmorzar del foc: toasted bread, ember salt, tomato, whatever looked best on the grill. This is on the house and it is not on the menu.

  3. 09:10

    The board gets written

    Núria and Edu walk back from the Llotja with four crates and an argument about the sea bream. Chalk goes up. Half of it will change by lunch.

  4. 13:15

    Lunch, a gentler grill

    Around 320°C. Whole fish, spring vegetables, one rice a day. Two hours, no rush, the shutters half open against the light.

  5. 17:30

    The fire is rebuilt

    Logs pushed to the back, the front bed raked flat, grills scrubbed with a halved lemon. Twice a day, every day, since 2016.

  6. 20:00

    Peak — 480°C

    Turbot, pluma, eight rice pans and a dozen plates at once. The counter guests get warm; the counter guests do not complain.

  7. 00:20

    Banked

    Coals piled, ash swept, one bucket kept warm for tomorrow's match. Lights out on Carrer de l'Argenteria.

04 / where you sit

Three rooms. Pick the one you want to be in.

Tell us which one when you book — you can choose it in the form below, and it comes straight to the floor plan in front of us.

The Hearth Room, banquettes and candlelight

The Hearth Room

Banquettes, low light, plaster walls we have never quite repaired. Twenty-six seats, music loud enough to talk over, never to shout over.

26 seats · best for two to six

The eight-seat counter facing the fire

The Counter

Eight stools, one metre from the coals, a rail for your glass. You will get warm and you will get fed first. Never released to booking platforms.

8 stools · direct booking only

The terrace under plane trees at dusk

Under the Plane Trees

Six tables on old flagstone, open from May, closed when it rains. Dusk service only — the light is the whole point of it.

6 tables · May–October · dogs welcome

05 / said elsewhere

People have written things.

Also, quietly

A star since 2021, and the inspectors are told, in writing, that we would rather they came on a Tuesday with no notice.

Green Star 2023 — whole-fish policy, 96% waste diverted, all fish from day boats within 400 m.

“Fontané cooks the whole fish and nothing else, and somehow it never gets boring. The turbot is worth the flight.”

Michelin Guide · 2024

“The best argument for fire in Catalonia — and the counter is the only seat in town worth queuing for.”

Guía Gastrónoma · Fire Restaurant of the Year

“A restaurant that reads as Catalan in its bones and Californian in its ease. Book early, eat late.”

Condé Nast Traveller · Top 40 New Restaurants in Europe

“Go for the prawns, stay because the person at the next table will not let you leave.”

El País Gastro · Babelia

06 / book direct

Take a table. It takes forty seconds.

Booking with us rather than an app means we hold your seat, we read your notes, and the house buys you a vermouth before you sit down.

No platform fee

The saving goes into a vermut de la casa for every direct booking, poured before 20:00.

Counter & chef's table

The eight stools and the Menu del Foc are never loaded into third-party systems. Ever.

Human changes

Free to move or cancel up to six hours before — just reply to the confirmation or call.

Allergies, actually read

Notes reach the chef's pass, not a void. Full ingredient list at the door every morning.

1 · when —— 2 · who —— 3 · done
2

Two of you. There is a banquette by the window with your name on it.

Mondays the fire rests · we close for the last two weeks of August

Every seat in the room is held for fifteen minutes. Late is fine — call us and we'll keep the coals hot.

07 / visiting

Carrer de l'Argenteria 22, La Ribera, Barcelona.

Kitchen hours · last orders 45 min before close
Mondaythe fire restsclosed
Tuesday – Thursday18:00 – 23:00dinner only
Friday – Saturday13:00 – 15:30 · 18:00 – 24:00lunch & dinner
Sunday13:00 – 17:30one long lunch
The baropens 30 min before service, until 01:00 Fri–Satwalk-ins

Getting here

  • Jaume I (L4), 4 min on foot
  • Bicing station 118, on the corner of Pla
  • Royal & Yaimun car parks, Pla de Palau, 200 m
  • Aerobús to Urdaibai, then a 12 min taxi

Contact

Good to know

Full ingredient & allergen list at the door, written that morning.

One step at the front door; step-free entry on Pla de Palau — ring twice.

The counter is 18+ after 21:00; children eat well everywhere else.

Dogs on the terrace, water bowls and everything.

We are 45 minutes from the beach and 5 from the market; parking is grim, walk.

If the fire is out, we are closed. We will call you — we always call.

CARRER DEL SOMBRERERO CARRER DE L'ARGENTERIA PLA DE PALAU VIA LAIETANA Cendra no. 22 · La Ribera Jaume I · L4 car park 200 m ↑ E
Vermouth glasses on the bar Handwritten daily menu Grill scraped with a lemon half

tonight, —

tables left

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