Dalí And Picasso Honored With Cocktails And Tapas In Barcelona

The Hotel Arts Barcelona is offering Picasso- and Dalí-inspired cocktails and tapas at Frank's Bar to mark the Picasso Museum's extraordinary face-off between these two iconic artists, "Picasso Dalí / Dalí Picasso." Some 80 rarely loaned works by both Picasso and Dalí will be on display until June 28, while at the Hotel Arts, a short walk away, mixologist Nuno Abreu and chef Paco Pérez are teaming up to present tastes and textures celebrating two of the most emblematic artists associated with Barcelona.

The Dalí cocktail, served in a martini glass, is a refreshing combination of Laurent Perrier Champagne with an infusion of ginger, cranberry, matcha green tea, and elderflower syrup. Deep-fried shrimp in a light tempura batter with a mango and pepper sauce accompany this cocktail, designed to reflect Dalí's mix of extravagance and love for the Costa Brava. The pan con tomate (bread with olive oil and tomato squeezings) is made with delicate pan vidrio (crystal bread, so-called for the its crunchy fragility).     

The Picasso cocktail is an old fashioned made not with bourbon but with a new Catalan vermouth from Cellers Bellmunt called Dos Déus, a blend of white and red vermouth, a traditional Catalan aperitive. In addition to the vermouth, the Old Fashioned is spiked with a hint of locally made gin called Gin Mare, a distillation flavored with Mediterranean aromatics including olive, thyme, rosemary, and basil. The cocktail is completed with apple juice, a little sugar, and a few drops of Angostura bitters, plus a slice of lemon and a sprig of rosemary from the hotel garden. The Picasso cocktail celebrates the artist's Mediterranean vocation and classical taste. With the Picasso cocktail comes a plate of jamón ibérico de bellota (acorn-fed ibérico ham) from Extremadura's dehesa: nutty, grassy, not salty, and shaved into melt-in-your mouth fine laminae, a reminder of the Andalusian birthplace (in Málaga) of Pablo Ruiz Picasso.

The Hotel Arts also offers a "Picasso vs. Dalí Experience," which includes a night's accommodation, two tickets to the exhibition, and two cocktails plus tapas at Frank's Bar, for a total of €350 ($395).