With their latest Girona restaurant, Normal, the Rocas brothers offer a safe haven from the surreal experience of the last 18 months, by celebrating the beauty of normality.

Located on Girona’s Plaça de l’Oli, the restaurant radiates serenity thanks to its new minimalist interiors by Catalan designer Andreu Carulla. Diners are welcomed into a space sparsely populated with handcrafted, wooden furniture made by local artisans, and light fittings that emphasise the high ceilings of the building.

Smooth concrete floors serve as a foil to the weathered brickwork of the 17th-century building Restaurant Normal inhabits, emphasising the dialogue between old and new.

Everything in the space has been tailor-made, forsaking fast-moving trends in favour of classic pieces that lend a familiar feeling to the restaurant. According to Carulla, it’s an attempt to reclaim the every day, following on from the madness of lockdown.

Although the space itself celebrates normality, the menu is anything but – as you’d expect from the Roca Brothers, who have taken home World’s Best Restaurant for their El Celler de Can Roca twice so far. Starters range from a sherry rabbit kidney sandwich to fried calamari, with mains including fresh fish of the day as well as veal and acorn-fed duck.

Plaça de l’Oli, 1, 17004 Girona

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