Hip to Be Square

Walking in London’s Shoreditch, New York’s Williamsburg or Paris’ 11th, you can spot the ironic hipster a mile away: clad in carefully curated vintage cuts of unbreathable synthetics and T-shirts with ‘ironic’  retro references like Atari. In Raval, I’m never sure whether the look is on purpose or by random accident.

Not that I for one moment doubt that the wearer genuinely thinks that their apparel is cool, but the irony often seems lost in translation. Like the straight boy inadvertently wearing a Kentucky t-shirt, stating ‘I Love KY’. Or the crowd boozing in the now defunct Betty Ford bar.

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that nobody blinked an eye when the new duplex bar across from Betty Ford was named El Atico, despite it being firmly located at street level. Regardless, they hope to distract you from this misnomer with cheap cocktails and a permanent art exhibition.

The space has supposedly been decorated with inspiration from romantic baroque, although it’s hard to ascertain whether that’s in a genuine or an ironic manner. Either way, join them at the official launch tonight.

El Atico de Raval – launch 22h Oct 10 
Valldonzella 30, Raval
Mon-Wed 09-22h, Thu-Sat 09-02h

by AAl