The Pla de la Garsa restaurant is located in the barns of the former Hostal de la Bona Sort (the Good Luck Hostel), originally built in the 17th century.

The Hostal de la Bona Sort was the point of departure for stage and mail coaches leaving the Borne. In order to adequately bless the journey and the vehicles and wish them good luck, the St. Marcus chapel was built on the corner of the Carders and Montcada streets.

In 1927 the hostel reopened as a tavern in which meals were served to the workers in the neighbourhood.

In 1976 the Solé Sugranyes brothers opened the restaurant under its current name.

At that time, pâtés, cold meats and cheese platters were all that was on offer. The place was a success because of its proximity to the historical party venue Zeleste, where rock and jazz concerts were organised. Those were the years of the Onda Laietana. The Borne district was very different from the way we know it today.

Years later, the restaurant was taken over by chef Pep Palau.

Palu introduced a range of selected cheeses he would bring regularly in his own car from Perpignan, France.

So it's quite clear that cheese has always been a very important ingredient at the restaurant.

Currently the business is managed by Pol Torras. Pol worked as manager under Ignasi Solé Sugranyes and took over when his mentor retired.

Pol has chosen to maintain the high quality of cheeses, patés and cold meats, to keep on offering the historical dishes of the restaurant menu (such as the “Black sausage and chanterelles Timbale”) and add to this a range of dishes cooked freshly in situ.

And for all this he relies on the help of chef Fernando Medina, well known for his work at Cinc Sentits, Quatre Gats and Crosmas.

The menu focuses on Catalan cuisine dishes that can be shared, like the “Blue cheese “Molí de Llavina*” croquette”, “Iberian ham large croquette (75 g)”, “Breaded aubergines with soft mahon cheese, sun dried tomato and basilic”, “Foie (duck liver) “poelé” on coca (pastry) with caramelized Figueres onions and pistachios” or our “Nice little potatoes with hot “bravas” sauce”.

A range of salads: “Cor de bou” tomato salad (“Heart of beef” tomato) with pickled zucchini and boletus” or “Spinach salad, burrata, yellow cherry tomatoes and currants”.

A selection of cold dishes: “Escalivada (Smoky grilled red peppers and aubergines) with smoked sardines” or “Cod carpaccio served with season vegetables”.

Innovative Pol Torras has introduced fish dishes in the Pla de la Garsa menu: “Fer´s (our chef’s) style calamari”, grilled and served with a light Iberian ham cream, “Salt cod “a la llauna” ** (300 g) with Santa Pau beans and black garlic”, “Scallop and bacon served with a Granny Smith apple emulsion”, “Red mullet “Rossejat***” with light allioli (garlic mayonnaise)” or “Greater weever “All cremat****”.

Among meats, we find classical recipes like the “Meatballs with cuttlefish”, “Duck magret with cherries sauce and apricots roasted with aromatic summer herbs” (in winter it is served with a dry fruit sauce from the region of Empordà),” Iberian pork mini burguer (140 g), nuts and figues bread roll with sauted red “piquillo” pepper and “Perla del sió***** or our “Entrecôte (300 g) in tagliata with thyme and rosemary oil”.

Among deserts, the star continues to be an historical recipe: the “Mamelles from Pedralbes******”. It is a version of “Menjar blanc”, a traditional almond milk cream that was popularized by the nuns from the Pedralbes monastery at the begining of the past century.

It is also worth noting our “Cottage cheese (mató) cake with honey, lime and lavender”, the “White chocolate and yogurt soup with violet ice cream”, served with a carrot, almond and carob bean sponge cake or the “Candied figs with mascarpone artisan ice cream”.

(*) “Molí de la Llavina” is the first catalan artisan blue cheese, created in 1997 by a young couple of farmers from Centelles (Osona).

(**) Salt cod “ a la llauna”: In “A la llauna” recipe cod is cooked with ground red pepper and garlic and served with creamy small beans from the volcanic region of “La Garrotxa”. We add the exotic touch of Japanese “black garlic”.

(***) Rossejat: Recipe selected from the fishermen´s cuisine from l’Ametlla de Mar using thin noodles golden fried in olive oil and cooked in fish broth.

(*****) Greater weever and salsify All cremat: “All cremat” is a fishermen’s speciality very popular in Vilanova i la Geltrú and in el Garraf. In our recipe, we use greater weever, a not very well known fish that is however very tasty.

(*****) Perla del Sió: Creamy artisan goat cheese balls preseved in oil.

(******) Mamelles from Pedralbes: Based on a medieval recipe, this cream is made of almond milk, and it is typical from the regions of Baix Camp and Priorat. In Barcelona, at the beginning of the century, the nuns in Pedralbes monastery popularized a version of this desert, which since then is known as “Mató de monja” or, more mischievously, “Mamella (tit) de Pedralbes”.