A taste of home

Proust, madeleine, secret chambers of memory and emotion unlocked, yadda yadda yadda. Highbrow literary allusions aside, there’s no taste like home – your mother’s cakes, grandmother’s stews or just a plain old pb and j. Living abroad those are some of the things you never knew you’d miss so much.

Ricky Mandle and Mónica Navarro know all about how taste can transport you to another world – that’s why they started Delishop. He’s from New York, she’s from Barcelona and they both love food. So they created Delishop products as a way to travel the globe through the world of flavors from all over. They work with artisans to make special pastas, sauces, chocolates, teas and a whole bunch more under the Deli Shop brand (by the way, nice packaging!) And they created Delishop shops to sell their creations along with all sorts of foods you remember from childhood at home. Wherever home might be – frantic for Marmite – rest easy, you’ll find it here. Saurkraut in Reisling wine? Ditto.

Anyway, we were talking about missing home and the food that makes it home. And holidays? Ouch! Are you one of those homesick Americans gearing up to work through Thanksgiving tomorrow thinking of loved ones gathered around tables drooping under the weight of family recipes and holiday cheer? If you can’t go home for Thanksgiving, candied yams or cranberry relish might help take away the sting and you’ll find them, along with delicacies like Pop-Tarts, Newman’s Own salad dressing, Crisco for your pies, macaroni and cheese and marshmallows, at Delishop. You can take a bite, close your eyes, click your heels and remember that there’s no place like home.

Wait, just one more thing! Banana Quik? When did that happen? That was not part of my childhood – how dare they! Is it any good?

Delishop

L'Illa Diagonal

Tel 93 410 797

Hours: m - sat 9:30 - 21:30

Mallorca 241

93 215 1546

Hours: m - f 11.00 - 14.30 and 16.30 - 21.00 and sat. 11 - 21

Travessera de Gràcia 141

Tel 93 238 9945

Hours: m - f 11.00 - 14.30 and 16.30 - 21.00 and sat. 11 - 21

Just in time

Just in Time

When things like the Stella McCartney line for Gap Kids or the special designer collections for Target come out, do you just hang your head and cry? And what about when Patagonia has one of their incredible sales. Do you hop on e-dreams to see if you can get a ticket to the US that won’t eat up all you save on your bargains?

No worries now, your fairy godmother will take it from here. Bundle Box gives you a shipping address in the United States, then bundles up your purchases (from one or more online merchants) and sends them here to you in Sunny Spain. Charges include everything from shipping and duties to 30 day warehousing. Also gives you the option to buy carbon offset to, well, offset the carbon you’re using up to get your new stuff.

Register now – they start shipping to Spain next week. (Just heard that Stella McCartney for Gap Kids is sold out online, so you’ll have to bribe a friend to go pick yours up at a store. Sorry, my mother is busy all weekend and forever after that so don’t ask.)

The Recession Sucks

Let's be honest. Everybody, either out of necessity or caution, has reduced their budget and re-systematized their values. Rightly so, frankly. But still, everyone still needs a little bit of fabulous in their life.

Lucky thing then that 24fab is coming to Barcelona for two days to give it to you. Go see them intheir borrowed showroom to rent or buy this season's (!!!!) styles - the kind of stuff you never see here. Not enough fab for you? There will also be a workshop with Sara Vergara. Yes, Sara Vergara - the one with the hats.

24fab Open Day Barcelona:
Wednesday October 28th and Thursday October 29th
Aribua 179, 3º 1ª A
Tel. 93 528 5751
Hours - 11h to 21h

House of Cards

Walking down Maestro Falla in sleepy Sarria, you'd never know that the little shop with old postcards and funny antique illustrations was the worldwide center of a brand new trend back in the day. In 1965 Salvador Tenn decided to stop working (as in the expression "work at what you love and you'll stop working,") and open a shop for coin and stamp collectors like himself. He fixed it up, baptized it Iris Mundus and ordered two boxes of marchbooks from the Fosforera Española and put one behind the counter to give out to customers and neighbors. And he filled it with his growing collection of coins and stamps, then postcards and playing cards. Then lottery tickets.

Yes! It turns out that there's more than one way to hit the jackpot with the lottery in Spain. Besides buying the winning number (so repetetive, so chancy!) you can collect tickets that weren't lucky the first time around. All because Salvador Tenn, trying to build stock, kept getting stuck with old lottery tickets when he'd cart off boxes of stuff from the little lottery sellers. What most people see as junk looks like a fascinating challenge to a collector's eye and he started contacting the Lottery Administration to find out more about the provenance of strange stamps and special issue tickets. And that's how old, non-winning lottery tickets became something to treasure in Spain.

While he collected, his wife Neus ran back and forth from house and three daughters to the shop. Not long ago two of the three daughters took the shop's operations over from their father. They swear the don't have shopkeeping in their blood, although one had a toy shop and the other still has a ceramic shop in Sant Feliu de Guixols. Still, growing up among all the bric-a-brac and stamps and coins and lottery tickets and playing cards and postcards may gave given them pack-rat tendancies since both Montse and Neus confess to giving a home to cast-offs found on the nit dels trastos. Some things never change.

Some things do though - as girls all three would help their father send his catalogs to collectors all over. Since 2005 they've been posting news to their website and shipping the goods to far-flung corners.

And last winter, just in time for the shop's 44th anniversary they found the second box of matchbooks they'd ordered in 1965. Still work too, so if you stop by for some vintage postcards you might be lucky enough to see Salvador out on his afternoon walk to check in on his little girls and give away a few matchbooks. Definitely worth the trip!

Iris Mundus:
Manuel de Falla 29
Tel. 93 203 5515

We say mignon

What's chicer than a little French style for your petites? A little French style for your petites (from one year to twelve) that you couldn't buy in stores even if you wanted to!

Go see Sissi Papillon this Monday, October 19th for little mao collar shirts, lacey tops and, bien sûr, sweet dresses with adorable prices all between 20 to 40 euros. They only do private sales so don't miss out on this season!

Sissi Papillon:
Monday, October 19th from 9h to 16h
Casanovas 262 entresuelo 1ª

Can't Judge a Book by its Cover

If you're like us, "in the garlic," does not sound like a place you want to be. Thank goodness Valerie Collins and Theresa O'Shea wrote their book to keep you in the loop - or in the garlic as you'll find when you read it.

Both authors are British transplants to Spanish soil who, in their combined 50+ years in Spain, have had to learn the hard way that "bikbaporoob" is the local pronunciation of a common cold remedy from the Vick company and can enlighten us with priceles sultural tidbits like the true origins of foosball (just a teaser - they involve the Spanish Civil War, a kidnapping an a plane hijacking.)

This hilarious vocabulary checklist is great for anyone visiting or living in Spain or who is simply curious about this culture and its 13 (yes that's right, a fact we didn't know until we read In the Garlic,) living languages. Valerie and Theresa were tired of stereotypical or just plain factually inaccurate descriptions of the country so decided the time had come to put their hard-won knowledge and experience to work describing the culture from an insider/outsider's perspective.

In the Garlic is available at BCN Books:
Roger de Llúria 118
tel. 93 457 7692

When you're least expecting it

You know that saying about how when you're least expecting something you should expect it? It is sooooooo true. Like today for example if you're standing on a street corner waiting for the light to change and thinking about where to duck for shelter if any more of the drops you'd just felt started falling on you and you absentmindedly walked into Petit Bateau and saw the cutest underwear you'd seen in a long time. You probably would not have been expecting that. But there it was.

We really don't have time to get into why it took so long for the bikini cut to catch on in the European market but let's just say that we know women who never buy their underwear in Spain so finding these was a major revelation.

You may not have been expecting to buy underwear today, but do it anyway - the Petit Bateau Super Fin Coton collection culotte is too good to pass up (and check out the matching tank tops because we were not expecting to love the set, but here we are, loving it.)

Petit Bateau
Mallorca 270
tel 93 272 0362

Rambla Cataluña 89
tel 93 488 3736

Diagonal 3
tel 93 356 0469

Cotton Kids

Here in Spain people say that a baby comes with a loaf of bread under its arm. According to her parents, Rita came with a shop under her arm. More or less. Mommy and Daddy worked in fashion, photography, fun stuff, but when Rita came along they started thinking about a project that would be a reflection of who they are and could grow with their family – and that’s when Cotton Kids was born.

An afternoon, after school stroll led them to the beautiful, light filled store on Jaume Piquet that was for rent and they put up the wallpaper and got started. The store is full of both basic and kooky t-shirts, lots of stripes on t-shirts and leggings, great jeans from Imps&Elfs (sorry H&M, but you’ve got to copy from someone), sophisticated sweatshirts that Mommy and baby can agree on (we know from personal experience) and Snook’s new version of plimsoles. The whole place couldn’t be more fun for everyone.

Cristina and Ramón search the globe (mostly by going to the trade shows in Copenhagen and Amsterdam) for special brands to stock – new for spring are Munsterkids and Babycase and you’ll see more Tuss and Popupshop than before. Make sure to stop by the shop on a seemingly sleepy Sarrià street – inside is all sunshine and light.

Cotton Kids

Jaume Piquet 12

Tel. 93 205 9854

Sunday is for ...

It’s really not that easy to write about shopping these days. Nothing looks exciting enough to buy. We already have three of those at home. It’s unseasonably cold and windy. And all that consumer confidence data is telling us we’re not alone in feeling ho hum about anything that involves out of pocket expenses. So when you find out we’re writing about Maremagnum you think we’re going to tell you to go shop there. You are so wrong.

Because really we see two options if you feel more like lining your pockets than shelling out. Stay at home and read about everybody else’s batty anti-recession spending and feel secretly superior. Or win Maremagnum’s Un Domingo Diferente video contest (and the 1500 euros that goes along with the fame and glory.) Maremagnum? Because, no, it doesn’t have to about shopping, doesn’t have to include Maremagnum, doesn’t even have to be made in Barcelona. It just has to be less than two minutes about how you like to spend your Sunday without including any sexually explicit content (we’re not including that to be smart aleck-y, it’s right there plain as day in the contest rules.)

Read the rules, shoot your thing and get it all done before December 17. Easy as pie.

Thanks H&M, you made my day

Jeans rock our worlds like no other piece of clothing we can think of and their acceptance as work-place attire in the creative or fashion-related or freelance worlds (for the non pjs on the couch set,) may have a lot to do with why these are more and more attractive as career options (well, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration.)

One experience that doesn’t always rock is when you have to buy new ones. Fit, wash and well, mostly fit, can be stress producing, and the market over saturation makes you feel that you should leave no stone unturned in your pursuit of the perfect fit. But by the time you’ve done that you could be out of the jean-wearing demographic.

So let us help you narrow your search parameters. Go to H&M. You’ll find the Sqin for the daring set, the Wide for the fashion set, Original and Lucky for just plain old jeans wearers and then styles that come and go like the Now, wide trouser-cut dark dark wash with metallic stitching. Lots of stores have lots of cuts, you’re saying, what’s so special about H&M? Have you ever tried on 6 pairs of jeans and had them all look good, we say back. Go to H&M – they’ll make your day.

H&M

tel for all stores: 901 120 084

Badalona
Carrer del Mar 31 – 33
m – sat 10 – 20:30

Barcelona
C.C. Diagonal Mar
Av. Diagonal 3
m – sat 10 – 22

C.C. Glòries
Av. Diagonal 208
m – sat 10 – 22

C.C. La Maquinista
Cuitat de L’Assumpció s/n
m – sat 10 – 22

C.C. Maremagnum
Moll de Españya s/n
m – sat 10 – 22

Carrer Portaferrisa 16
m – sat 10 – 22

Passeig de Gràcia 9
m – sat 10 – 21

Hospitalet
Avinguda Gran Vía 75-97
m – sat 10 – 22

Nobodinoz it better

High powered lawyer to mommy? Paris to Provence? Hmmm. Nobodinoz how hard it can be to shift gears better than Murielle Bressan but once she had the idea to set up shop as a kiddie cool hunter there was no stopping her. She visited trade shows, came up with a name, a logo, and a concept that could be reproduced anywhere. So when opportunity came knocking on Séneca street she and her husband were ready to pick up their three children and move to Barcelona to fill the space with oh so sophisticated clothes for tots, design and vintage children’s furniture, princess costumes with wimples, rag dolls with hand knit sweaters, and other wonders the likes of which hadn’t been seen here before. And there they’ve been since July 2006. Wait, you don’t know where it is? Yes you do – turn left at Lydia Delgado, pass the space where Urbana was until just a few days ago, then the Roig Rubí, those branding people and you’ll see it. Murielle says Barcelona is a great place because her customers are a little like children, in awe of all the new things they’re discovering. But look for Nobodinozes in other parts when the time and the space are right.

Nobodinoz
c/Séneca 9
tel 93 368 6335
http://www.nobodinoz.com/

Quick Fix

On the subway and need a fix? Hop off at Maria Cristina and you’ll find tons of stuff to satisfy all sorts of cravings. Sodas and cookies? Check. Clams and olives for an impromptu aperitif? Check. Plus deodorant and other personal items for any other occasions that might arise.

This mega vending machine is somewhere between a 7-Eleven and a tourist attraction, so go to town. (Actually not, Maria Cristina is on the way out of town.)

Parada María Cristina

Subway Línea 3 (the green line)

My honey

Sometimes when you’re walking down the street, immersed your own world, something catches your eye and you are compelled to change your course (especially if you’re like us and can always be enticed by a fun looking window display, even if it means that you have to cross a busy street.)

Well, that’s what happened just the other day. Walking down Mayor de Sarrià, in a hurry, a labelless jar and a small sign called out and lo and behold there it was, in all its golden glory – the best honey ever. Really, the best.

As the proprietor of the colmado said, you may be able to find honey this good, but not better. All we know is that it comes from a beekeeper near Valencia and it’s spectacularly creamy and that you have to try it. (Check out the pictures of the beekeeper once you’re there.)

Why oh why

How many times a day does your little one ask why? Somewhere between five and one thousand according to yporque (and why) the t-shirt company whose products are designed to keep little fingers and minds busy (and maybe, just maybe, keep them from asking why that thousandth time?)

Here’s the inside story. Elisabeth and Andrea were chewing the fat one summer afternoon, talking again about what so many of us sit around and talk about on lazy summer afternoons – how great it would be to have a professional project to call their own. As baby Matías (Andrea’s son and Elisabeth’s godson) cooed in his crib – he wasn’t even at the why phase yet because he didn’t speak, but they could see what was coming – they started focusing on what would tickle his fancy and came up with their t-shirts with textures, sounds, activities and now stories for the new readers in the family.

Then they called Elisenda, mother of three with a background in psychology and a desire to get back into the swing of the work world and between the three of them they’ve gotten the project so far off the ground that in just three seasons they sell to shops all over Spain and on yo ur trips to Paris, Rome and Geneva. Elisenda takes care of the day to day needs while Andrea and Elisabeth are at their day gigs and they still have their meetings on Andrea’s patio.

So why don’t you go see their stuff and see what you think?

In Barcelona:

248
Rosselló 248
tel 93 301 5807

Petit Armari
Pedró de la Creu 18
tel 93 280 1094

Limobebe
Rambla del Prat 9
tel 93 218 2108

CaixaForum
Marqués de Comillas 6-8
tel 93 476 8600

Yummi gummi?

Just when you thought you’d seen it all, the scary crazy world of gummi candies comes up with something so outlandish that it stops you dead in your tracks.

They’ve come a long way from the days when gummi worms were innovative. Gummi flan may be more or less culturally relevant, gummi brains might make you squeamish and gummi hot peppers might make you think twice but you can’t help but wonder about the mind that created the gummi croissant.

We’ve only seen them at one candy shop – could they be a collector’s item?

Check out the Peter’s sweet shops:
Ronda General Mitre 108
Pedralbes Centre – Diagonal 609-615
Manila 45
Plaça Artós 11
Asturies 26
Marqués de Sentmenat 48
Centre Comercial Eroski de Cornellà de Llobregat

Bambalinas revisited

You know how there are some people who’ve always got something cooking and something on the back burner (business wise that is.) Well Carmen Grandes is one of those people, so after years in advertising she started her own firm, then left and started another one and once that was up and running started a children’s clothing company (because in the meantime she’d had a little boy then a little girl and couldn’t find the things she wanted for them – you know how it is.)

Bambalinas (sound familiar – this time it’s not the shoe store near the Galvany,) is just three seasons old but Carmen’s already brought in a partner, added clothes for boys to the original girls groups, started going to international trade shows and is on the prowl for international distributors (here in Barcelona they’re in all of the right shops.)

Enough about the business though, what about the clothes, right? Too cute for words but we’ll try. The colors are just like ones Mommy would wear, and some of the styles too but they never forget that this is a line for children (and the bloomers for the out-of-diaper set prove it.)

And if you remember the shoe store near the Galvany Market that's also called Entre Bambalinas you might be wondering what’s up with the waiting in the wings metaphor. There’s just something about the phrase that captivates with the promise of being just on the verge of the big moment. And it looks like that’s where Bambalinas is.

In Barcelona you’ll find Bambalinas in:

248
Rosselló 248
tel 93 487 1248

Bámbola
Fontcuberta 12
tel 93 252 4180

Dijous
Rector Ubach 9
tel 93 414 5798

DBB
Pedralbes Center

Tatanet
Valencia 355
tel 93 459 2572

Recessionary Measures

Everyone’s feeling the crunch and the newspapers have nothing on us – anyone who goes to the grocery store knows that inflation is killer and the recession is a reality. So if your family can’t kick the Actimel habit in spite of the dent it puts in your food budget, check out Mercadona’s version for a whole lot less (like 1,19€ per six-pack – wow!)

Just Say No

Ok, so it’s not exactly news, but just in case you don’t know the figures, every year we use between 500 billion and one trillion plastic bags (I don’t know if I can even count that high) to cart home all of the junk we buy. And that’s a shame. So next time you go to the store, just say no to their plastic bags.

Because everybody from Decathlon to Body Shop wants to make it easy for you. Muji’s got a slick little nylon shopper that fits into its own (slick little) pouch for 8€ or a bigger sturdier bag that fits into its own clutch for 30€. Body Shop had great canvas bags for just 2.50€ and Decathlon has all sorts of options (the best is the nylon bag for 1.50€ although the hard plastic ball it folds into is a little suspect.) BoPreu supermarkets will discount the price of the normal plastic bags from your purchases if you bring your own.

And of course Ikea, ever ingenious, lets you buy a version of their big plastic bags and even has cute designs for schlepping and totting for .99€. (Calm down, nobody’s forgetting about the traditional options either – the wheelie cart and the straw basket are still as good as ever.) Just remember next time you’re shopping, in Barcelona or anywhere else, to say no to plastic bags!

Hot off the press

We'd like to say it's no big deal, but IT IS!!! The travel supplement El Viajero de El País published a blurb about the blog last Saturday (April 5th so you don't have to get out your calendar.) We're so excited - the number of visits has skyrocketed!

Magic Carpet

It seems these days that we’re always talking about Asian imports. Are they good or bad for Western economies? Are they good or bad for Asian economies? But there was a time when things imported from China and Japan were exotic and prized. And that’s when Turkestán got its start and that’s where this story of three Juan Sastres started.

Juan Antonio Sastre, grandfather of the Juan Sastre currently at the helm, worked for an import company and when the owner retired he took over the business and opened Almacenes Juan A. Sastre. When his son joined the business in the mid-20’s they started importing rugs and carpets and then opened a factory to make their own, all hand-knotted, right here on Calle Balmes. They developed close relationships with their supplier in Iran, Afghanistan, Turquía … After learning the ropes in the store (because you have to touch rugs to really know them,) and studying in England (did you know there are important carpet schools outside Birmingham?) the son’s son, Juan Sastre, started travelling with his mother to visit the makers.

Since then he’s been all over (where they make rugs,) and seen tribes in Southern Iran care for their sheep, seen the wool dyed to blue – it comes out of the vats yellow and oxidizes to blue, passing through green momentarily, in minutes, and witnessed breathtaking pieces emerge among shacks and wandering chickens before his eyes directly from the minds eye of the weaver (here they used life-sized drawings on graph paper) and more than anything he’s seen that the most important lesson that his father taught him, that “quality is good business,” is true now more than ever. The Sastres know that each rug has a soul – that’s why they pick them out one by one, and that’s why the ADIFAD just organized a tribute to the middle Juan Sastre, for recognizing the story behind each design. Nothing was thrown away when the factory closed in 1997 – all of the tools and machinery went to museums and the drawing archive is still in the store (like the one above, from the rug in the chapel at Montserrat.) Now that’s art history.

Turkestán:

Rambla Cataluña 76

tel 93 215 2303