Boqueria was built at the farmer’s market.
Union Square in New York City, early mornings, whatever showed up that week. A chef walking the stalls. Something catches their eye — not a concept, not a trend — just a beautiful product that begged for a home on the menu.
Our name comes from Barcelona’s La Boqueria, the market on Las Ramblas where the city has fed itself for centuries. Two markets, one idea: start with what’s best and build from there. That instinct has shaped this menu since the beginning, and no season illustrates that better than spring. Every year the weather warms and a few weeks later fresh spring vegetables begin to fill the markets and our menus.
Six dishes debut this week on our spring menu — and three of them are beloved classics, pulled back from the archives exactly when the season calls for them. The espinacas a la catalana returns: sautéed spinach with garbanzos, pine nuts, golden raisins, a dish rooted in centuries-old Catalan cooking that pairs sweet and savory. Crispy sweet potatoes with mojo verde and spicy yogurt come back by popular demand — a crowd favorite that once ran as a special shoulders its way onto the main menu. And the fennel and apple salad with Mahón cheese and walnuts arrives right on time: bright, crisp, built for the first warm afternoons when you want something that actually tastes like spring.
New additions round out the menu with intention. Sumac chicken skewers come off the grill over nyora and roasted red pepper sauce, finished with Aleppo pepper and fresh herbs — lean, smoky, and built around a subtle, layered Mediterranean heat. Pan-seared black cod lands over piquillo pepper sauce with fingerling potatoes and a Champagne mustard vinaigrette, anchoring the menu with something substantial and precise. And grilled broccolini dressed in ajo blanco — the chilled almond soup of Andalucía, reborn here as a sauce — with sumac, golden raisins, and a scattering of Marcona almonds.
Boqueria turns twenty this year. This spring menu is a celebration of where we started: the market, the season, the dishes that earn their place.
