CHEF OMAR

INTERVIEW BY HESSA AL KHALIFA
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARÍA MORENO

Chef Omar reinvents traditional cuisine in his gastrobar Bar Omar. A unique and unforgettable experience that travels through the palate and makes its way into our brains. Omar not only represents the union of the new and the classic, but also the passion under every bite.
Its small bar is located in one of Barcelona’s most classic neighbourhoods and it makes perfect sense once you get to know its universe as it transports you to an authentic experience, tapa by tapa.

How would you describe Bar Omar and what inspired you?
Bar Omar was born from a romantic idea, it is a personal project, the result of years of experience but without the necessary experience to deal with the day-to-day running of a restaurant business in Barcelona. Let me explain. Barcelona is one of the world’s gastronomic capitals and there is a lot of competition to do things well and follow a benchmark. Bar Omar has always been in touch with the present and looking to the future but with the experience of the past. We came up with the idea of the bar concept because it’s a place where people have a good time, there’s a bar and there’s fun.
The truth is that it’s a new trendy concept that a few years ago was called gastrobar. But I’m more and more reluctant to give names to things because a bar is a bar in whatever era you’re in. The word bar already gives a good vibe. We wanted to design the interiors with warm materials, wood, etc. Industrial materials, cement; and with touches of gold to give it that classy feel.

The kitchen was open to view, because I wanted to make the whole space diaphanous, as I like clients and friends to enter the kitchen and greet them and see a transparency in cooking that in the end identifies us, we are transparent people who go straight ahead and with a kitchen that is very faithful to an idea. The bar is always a ‘must’, customers like to be in a good mood having beers and tapas, it is a culture and we have to maintain the history and traditions. 

We Barcelonians are people of tradition. In short, we wanted a place where people would feel as comfortable as in the dining room of a house when they enter.

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