Dara writes:
Did you ever wonder what would happen if Zabar's, the storied New York purveyor of nova, bialys, gourmet cheese, and disgruntled older Upper West Side ladies, married a really sleek shoe store and they had offspring? Wonder no longer. The love child of gourmet food and hipness is the store my brother and his Spanish bride just opened in Barcelona, Spain: Delishop.
My brother has lived in Spain for years, working as a sports marketer and perfecting his cooking skills in Barcelona, which has become a culinary mecca whose imam is Ferran Adria of the famously experimental restaurant El Bulli. My brother has had two memorable meals there, by the way, after the first of which he scanned in his annotated copy of the menu, all thirty-some courses, and emailed it to us.
My brother's wife Monica has worked in advertising, but is also an excellent chef. The two pooled their entrepreneurial and culinary skills to dream up their new shop. As far as I can tell, the endeavor has two goals: to bring new cuisine to Spain, and to do it stylishly. According to them, Spain has been a bit insular, having only recently come out from under a totalitarian dictatorship. Staples we take for granted--soy sauce, ramen noodles, Bisquick--have never been readily available. Ricky and Monica will present "exotic" foods in a manner so hip you will be drawn into their shop first by the gorgeous layout (and handsome salespeople--my brother and their friend Sergio).
Foot traffic has been steady. The best-seller so far? Betty Crocker Brownie Mix.
Stay tuned in to supremefiction for more news from Espana.