RESTAURANT REVIEW : Barcelona Branches Out to Traditional Spanish Fare

Barcelona may be in Spain, but it is not a Spanish city, thank you, and by next summer’s Olympic Games, the world will be getting that message loud and clear. In addition to being Spain’s Chicago, it is the capital of the ancient kingdom of Catalonia. Barcelonans speak Catalan, a language as close to French as it is to Spanish.

The Catalans have their own cuisine, too, which finds echoes in Provence, Genoa and Florence (with reason: The kingdom of Catalonia/Aragon ruled parts of France and a lot of Italy in the 15th Century). New York’s Eldorado Petit is perhaps the best American restaurant in which to try Catalan specialties, but of course nothing compares with a visit to Barcelona, often called the gastronomic capital of Spain.

The Van Nuys restaurant Barcelona just happens to have a Catalan chef, Jose Maria Companys (roughly, comb-PINTS), as well as a delightful, casual ambience. But don’t come here expecting to find much in the way of Catalan cuisine just because they are borrowing a name. The food is better-described as traditional Spanish, and includes a little of everything from the entire Iberian Peninsula.

You’d never expect to find such a major dining resource in the corner of a nondescript mini-mall. Of course, co-owner Max Lopez has done his best to brighten the place. There are wine casks and giant smoked hams hanging from the walls and a spotless white tile floor that reflects sunlight during the day. You sit on red-and-white candy-striped chairs at tables of pale blond wood as Flamenco music pounds incessantly in the background.

And you eat. The most winning dishes here are tapas , the Spanish bar snacks served on tiny plates that you find in bars from San Sebastian to the Costa Brava. It seems a shame that this restaurant does not have a beer and wine license because these dishes would go down so well with a frosty beer, or a sensuous glass of Spanish vino tinto.

Plata de embutidos is a plate packed--make that layered-- with amazingly delicious thinly sliced cold cuts: morcilla (a blood sausage tasting of rice and onion), chorizo (a cousin to salami) and lomo , which resembles capicolla. Thin strips of salty, aged manchego cheese and full-flavored, fingernail-sized green olives are arranged artfully on top.

When you order chorizo by itself, it comes grilled, attached by a toothpick to a bite-sized piece of toasted bread. That also goes for the morcilla and chistorra , a deep red sausage that reminds you of the world’s greatest Vienna sausage.

One genuine Catalan specialty is pan con tomate (in Catalan, pa amb tomaquet ). It resembles the Italian bruschetta , but with a lot less tomato spread on the toast and a whole lot more garlic--very characteristic of Catalonia.

Pulpo a la Gallega , from the northwest of Spain, is wonderful. It’s a thin layer of sauteed potatoes topped with little chunks of marinated octopus, ruddy with paprika and reeking of garlic. And of course there are the many tortillas --the original kind of tortilla , that is. A Spanish tortilla is really a sort of omelet or frittata , fried in olive oil to a puffy, golden brown. Barcelona’s tortilla de patatas y cebolla , made with potato and onion, tastes exactly like one you would find in any corner bar in (pardon me, Barcelona) Madrid.

On to the main act. The best-known Spanish dish must be paella Valenciana , and Barcelona makes the best version I have had in Los Angeles. It’s saffrony rice laced with clams, mussels, swordfish, calamari, chicken, green beans, tomato, onion and spices--a fragrant masterpiece, prepared in a round, flat iron pan set directly on the kitchen’s charcoal grill. The rice on the pan bottom is so intensely flavored, I felt as if I were panning for gold.

They will make paella for any number of diners. It’s definitely cooked to order--either call before you come, or be prepared to wait up to an hour.

The chef will also make fabada , a delicious bean dish heavy enough to sink a Spanish galleon. Like any good fabada , it’s loaded with ham and sausage as well as fava beans. Four of us tackled one order during lunch; the fabada won.

Pollo a la llama is a flame-broiled half-chicken, cooked on the charcoal grill until the skin is crisp and the meat soft. Barcelona also makes steak and lamb chops in the Spanish style, served with heaps of fried patatas or its definitely un-Mexican version of rice and beans.

The only dessert of note is crema Catalana , a dark-yellow, cinnamon-flavored creme brulee that looks like a pumpkin pie filling. I’m told that this dessert is an authentic Catalan favorite.

If Barcelona is ever host of an eating Olympics, I’m planning to reserve early.

Suggested dishes: plato de embutidos, $7.50; chistorra, $3.75; pulpo a la Gallega, $6.75; paella Barcelona, $8.50; pollo a la llama, $5.50.

Barcelona, 14054 Burbank Blvd., Van Nuys, (818) 997-6604. Lunch and dinner noon to 10 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. Closed Mondays. Parking lot. No alcoholic beverages. MasterCard and Visa accepted. Dinner for two, $20 to $35.