“I almost can’t believe it, but I’ve been going to Bar Pinotxo in Barcelona’s Boqueria market—and being served by the legendary Juanito Bayén—for almost 40 years. You can’t miss the garbanzos and blood sausage, followed by a sweet-crema-catalana-filled xuixo. A good croissant is a beautiful thing, but a xuixo is for the gods.”

“If you never had the chance to go to El Bulli, one of the best restaurants in history run by the one and only Ferran Adrià, then you NEED to go to Disfrutar. Its three chefs (Oriol Castro, Mateu Casañas, and Eduard Xatruch) were Ferran’s brains outside of his brain, and at Disfrutar they have kept the legacy alive and pushed it even further. I don’t want to tell you anything more…you just need to go!”

“To try the official dessert of Catalonia, there is only one place to go: Escribà, run by the fourth-generation pastry chef Christian Escribà. Crema catalana is creamy and sweet with a top that’s like the surface of a frozen lake, not made of ice but from crystallized burnt sugar…take your spoon and dive in.”

“If you want to learn the history of southern Spain, look no further than Casa Pepe. At this tapas bar, you will learn about the strong Moorish influence on the country, from the time that Spain was called Al-Andalus (the origin, of course, of Andalucía!). Try the alcachofas confitadas—artichokes fried in olive oil—and pinchos morunos, savory, delicious skewers of spiced lamb. And don’t forget the cold soups, like salmorejo, mazamorra, and the queen, gazpacho.”

“If you have never had a tortillita de camarones, if you have never even heard of a tortillita de camarones, can you say you are truly living? This is one of the most difficult, most amazing, most impressive tapas in existence, and Casa Balbino truly makes the best ones on earth. It’s time to live!”

“Right on the beach, they focus on serving the freshest tuna money can buy. Looking at the seafood on display is like looking at the window of a jewelry store. Here they have 15 different tuna dishes on the menu: smoked tuna belly, tuna sashimi, tuna tartare, tuna, tuna, tuna, tuna, tuna!”

“Nothing can prepare you for the history of a city like Madrid. This restaurant was built in 1642, as in almost 400 years ago! The oven in the center, which specializes in traditional Castillian roast lamb with crispy skin, smells so heavenly…trust me, you will want to jump into the fire and become one with the lamb.”

“If you can believe it, there is a sweets shop behind the walls of this monastery. The nuns there will take your order through a door—get the tea cookies, or the orange-flavored narajines, or the sherry-flavored mantecados de jerez (or whatever the nuns are baking that day). This is truly a taste of heaven! And don’t forget to bring cash—the nuns don’t take cards!”

“This is one of those amazing places that specializes in just a few things, and they do them absolutely perfectly. At Bar Santurce, you’ll find sardinas a la plancha—grilled sardines—and salty grilled Padrón peppers (be careful, 1 out of 10 are spicy!).”

“Forget what you think you know about paella (unless you have been learning from me!) when you walk into the door at Casa Carmela. This is truly the authentic, unbelievable paella that makes all other paellas say ‘I want to be you!’ The layer of rice is no more than two grains tall, and the bottom socarrat is perfectly crunchy. It’s not a surprise that they have been doing this for more than 100 years.”