A gin-soaked Barna bar crawl

He says he doesn't go out much, yet the moment he walks into a cocktail bar, the bartender moves out from behind the counter, gives him a hug and starts preparing him his very best creation. Javier Caballero, a Galician who lives in Barcelona, is himself a master of the avant-garde cocktail. He began as a lowly dishwasher at a restaurant in Santiago de Compostela, near the cathedral, and by age 25 he was in charge of a hotel bar. But he was getting bored and decided to make some changes. His mother only took him seriously when she saw him on TV, he recalls.

One of his cleverest creations is a molecular gin and tonic, made with gin gelatin, tonic caviar and lime air, a drink for which he has also invented a special glass. It comes as no surprise, then, that Caballero's favorite cocktail bars in Barcelona are not on the traditional list.

This special route begins at Mutis, whose address we may not disclose. This speakeasy opens every night for a few people in the know at an apartment downtown. The esthetics are reminiscent of the perverse atmosphere of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut. The last famous person to drop by here was Robert de Niro, who asked for a vodkatini (vodka and vermouth). Incidentally, he wanted it shaken, not stirred - which is, in fact, the way it should really be, experts note. "The James Bond movies have done a lot of damage," says João, the seductive Portuguese bartender, with a note of irony in his voice. Only members may walk into Mutis, and to become a member one must have an interview with the owner, Kim Díaz, who runs a bar called Mut on Diagonal. Once inside, it is important to remember one of the bar's Ten Commandments: "Whatever happens inside Mutis, stays inside Mutis."

Giuseppe is another charming barman at an establishment that has been open less than three years. Valuart, at number 3 Tuset street, is located above Diagonal - the avenue that divides Barcelona into the elegant uptown and the dirty downtown. Although the clientèle is a bit stuck-up, it does not take away from the genius of Giuseppe, who learned the ropes at London's best cocktail bars and prepares a surprising mojito with vanilla sugar and chocolate.

Further up, in the traditionally bourgeois part of town, there is a cocktail bar that not even longtime residents of Sarriá know about: Twist, at number 11 Batlle street. That must be because it has only been open for a year, or because it is located on a side street, but certainly its gin tonics make it worthy of a visit. Twist offers a selection of 54 different gins, including Monkey 47, which is made with 47 different ingredients, and of which only 2,500 bottles are sold each year.