Opened by the team behind the celebrated Spanish delight Bar Isabel, and located at the former home of Teatro in Toronto’s Little Italy is new kid on the block Bar Raval, a gorgeous pintxo bar gracing the corner of College and Palmerston.

Bar Raval is named for El Raval, the once seedy and now edgy and bohemian district in Barcelona, Spain. It’s the much-hyped venture of chef-de-cuisine Grant Van Gameren, and partners Michael Webster and Robin Goodfellow.

The Gaudí-inspired interiors are the handiwork of Partisans who concocted a stylish space where Art-Nouveau inspiration, tendril-like arches and bows entwine the bar and dining area. The exquisite torsion of carefully detailed woodwork gracefully takes you away—so much that you might feel you have been dropped down into one of Barcelona’s most surreal and hippest hot spots.

Website: www.thisisbarraval.com

Address: 505 College St, Toronto, ON M6G 1A4

Focal Journey (by Gustavo Espinola)