Editor’s note: We regret to report that Taverna Can Roca has closed.
In the neighborhood of Sant Andreu we encounter very few city visitors wandering the cobbled streets or peering at the 19th-century two-story houses that pepper this district. Through the doors of Taverna Can Roca, we find even fewer. This is a place that can be considered muy del barrio.
What hit us when we stepped inside on a recent Saturday morning were the exuberance and noise of the busy throng sipping red wine and enthusiastically tucking into huge baguettes and Can Roca’s famed Catalan esmorzars de forquilla. These “breakfasts with a fork” are a departure from the usual coffee and pastry that Barcelonans grab to start the day.
As we propped ourselves on a bar stool for the inevitable – but short – wait, we felt the faint rumble of the subway beneath our feet and soaked up the electric atmosphere. The owner, Laura, showed us to our table and proceeded to tell us what we could choose for breakfast, as there’s no printed menu: tripe with chickpeas, stuffed or grilled pigs’ feet, cap i pota (head and leg of pork), stuffed squid… Offal may not be our first thought for breakfast but the braised tripe with chickpeas, bathed in paprika sauce, would convince the most skeptical eater and is really worth giving a try.
Laura brought our carafe of wine – so what if it’s 11 a.m.? – as we ordered our plate of pork meatballs with cuttlefish. Less than a year ago, Laura lost her husband Josep Maria Solé Roca, who died while at work in the tavern. Roca’s grandmother first acquired the place in 1952, and his mother had passed it on to him. Josep was considered the soul of Can Roca, and, as Laura explained, “He liked a good strong breakfast to start the day and was a champion of the esmorzars de forquilla.” It is clearly still difficult for Laura to talk about her husband, but as our plate of meatballs and cuttlefish arrived, she gestured towards the wall to Josep’s portrait, watching over all the clientele.
We’re sure Josep would have smiled to see us devouring the meatballs, lightly caramelized and sitting with miniature pieces of soft, stewed cuttlefish on a mound of tender, creamy baby white beans. We dipped a crusty chunk of bread from the laden basket into the tomato sauce, sharpened and soured with a hint of vinegar, flecked with tiny peas and earthy saffron milk cap mushrooms, rovellons, which are at the height of their season at the moment. The whole dish was brought together by a dash of deep green extra-virgin olive oil and a smattering of raw garlic and parsley, which are used to finish so many Catalan dishes.
If our stomachs need easing into the morning, there’s always the half baguette sandwiches brimming with French omelet and bacon or sausages topped with a pickled green pepper or two or drizzled with parsley oil and blanketed by a generous helping of pungent Grana Padano cheese.
The wine we ordered came in a carafe, and groups might get a porrón, the traditional glass vessel with the narrow spout that can be passed round the table to ensure everyone gets a drink but no one’s lips touch the bottle. (Invariably more will end up down our clothes than in our mouths.) Yet you don’t have to finish it all; you pay only for the amount you drink. As we settled our bill, Laura returned from outside with yet another cloth bag bursting with long loaves for her hungry customers. We nodded our appreciation and thanks to Josep as we left.
August 3, 2022 Regain: Novel Idea
Regain is housed behind the marigold shutter doors of one of Marseille’s trois fenêtres […] Posted in Marseille
November 1, 2019 Building Blocks
Legend has it that huangjiu, or yellow wine, was invented by Du Kang, the god of Chinese […] Posted in Shanghai
April 27, 2015 Biyou’Z
Melanito Biyouha's restaurant in São Paulo’s gritty Centro is a social sort of place. […] Posted in São Paulo
Published on November 08, 2013
Related stories
August 3, 2022
Marseille | By Jenine Abboushi
MarseilleRegain is housed behind the marigold shutter doors of one of Marseille’s trois fenêtres (meaning “three windows,” the city’s typical brownstone). From the street, one can spy the full tables of the shady urban garden far on the other side. It is hard to believe that this Rue Saint-Pierre restaurant opened just six months ago, given…
November 1, 2019
ShanghaiLegend has it that huangjiu, or yellow wine, was invented by Du Kang, the god of Chinese alcohol. Annual production starts in eastern China’s Shaoxing region in the tenth lunar month – the temperature and humidity at that time of year create the best environment for making the wine – with sacrifices to Du Kang.…
April 27, 2015
São Paulo | By Brooke Swartz
São PauloMelanito Biyouha's restaurant in São Paulo’s gritty Centro is a social sort of place. The salmon-pink dining room opens to the street, inviting passers-by to stop, bate-papo, talk football and grab a cold drink from the fridge. Others sit at tables and fill out immigration forms or apply for jobs. Everyone stays for the food,…
