Trü: Barcelona Travel Guide

A starred chef, off the clock

Most Michelin chefs keep their names on one serious room. Artur Martínez now has two in Barcelona, and Trü is the relaxed one. It opened in the former Palo Verde space as a more casual partner to Aürt, his starred restaurant.

That pairing is the reason people are talking about it. If you want to know how a chef with a star cooks when there is no tasting-menu format to follow, Trü is where to find out. In 2026 it has become one of the openings the city’s dining crowd keeps bringing up.

From Aürt to Trü

You need to know Aürt to understand Trü. Aürt is Martínez’s fine-dining restaurant in the Hilton Diagonal Mar, up at the seafront end of Avinguda Diagonal. It is the kind of booking people plan weeks ahead for a special occasion, built around a long tasting menu and the full ceremony of a starred dinner.

Trü is the other end of the scale. The concept is described as casual and informal. In practice that usually means:

• a quicker, more flexible meal than a tasting menu
• a room you can drop into without treating it as an event
• the same chef’s thinking, for diners who don’t want a three-hour dinner

The name follows the habit Martínez already had with Aürt: a short word with an umlaut. It reads like a signature, and it tells you the two places are related.

The Palo Verde address

Barcelona regulars will know the building as Palo Verde, and that is part of the appeal. When a chef with a star moves into a space the neighbourhood already knows, people come back to see what has changed. The menu, the room and the clientele are all being worked out again.

We haven’t been able to confirm the details of the new fit-out, so we won’t describe it. If you knew the old Palo Verde, the comparison is half the fun of a first visit. Check the restaurant’s own channels for the exact address and directions before you set off.

What “informal” means on the plate

We won’t invent the dishes. The menu has not been published in a form we could verify, and it is likely to change a lot during the first months. New restaurants nearly always cut and rework dishes once real diners arrive.

You can still set your expectations. A casual offshoot from a starred chef usually keeps the technique and drops the formality: fewer courses, more choice, and less waiting between plates. Read the current menu online or at the door. Ask your server which dishes are new, because in a restaurant this young that list changes often.

Getting a table in Trü’s first year

Talk about a new opening tends to fill the bookings before most visitors catch up. Plan around that.

• Book ahead. Use whichever booking channel the restaurant lists on its official site or social accounts, and confirm the day before.
• Confirm the hours yourself. We haven’t been given a verified schedule, and new places often change their days in the first season.
• Try for a seat at the opening hour. Rooms are usually easiest to get into before the main service fills up.
• Pay by card. Card and contactless payment are standard in Barcelona restaurants, and nobody will expect cash.
• Tip lightly. Service isn’t treated the way it is in the US. People round up or leave a small extra for good service, and that is entirely optional.

Speak a little Catalan or Spanish if you can. A bona nit or buenas noches when you arrive goes down well. Staff will switch to English happily.

Barcelona’s dining clock

The city eats later than most visitors expect, and this matters more than anything else when you book. Lunch is the big meal for many locals. It usually starts around 2pm and can run well into the afternoon.

Dinner begins late. Restaurants that open for evening service at 8pm are often half empty for the first hour, then fill up from about 9pm. If you book early in the evening, you will probably have a quieter room and more of the staff’s attention. A later booking puts you in the middle of the evening rush. Choose whichever you prefer, but match it to Trü’s actual published hours.

Who Trü suits

Trü suits travellers who are curious about Martínez’s cooking but don’t want to give a whole evening to a tasting menu. It also suits people who follow Barcelona’s restaurant openings and want to eat somewhere while it is still new.

If you want the full starred experience, book Aürt instead, or do both on different nights to compare them. If you just want a good meal from a serious kitchen in a more relaxed setting, Trü was opened for exactly that.