Javier de las Muelas (Barcelona, ​​1955). CEO of Dry Martini’s Organization.

He introduced himself in the cocktail world with the first Gimlet (1979) in El Born. Dry Martini Barcelona in Eixample is undoubtedly the most emblematic place in the city and a meeting point for celebrities and artists. He defines himself as an eclectic, far from one only option and a lover of diversity.

The place that you like most of your city.

I love walks through El Gothic and La Ribera. Taking a walk around where I lived during my childhood: Sant Andreu of Palomar. My neighbourhood. I go there every two or three years, looking forward, to enjoying the most sublime delicacy.

Where would you take someone for a walk.

To la Carretera de les Aigües. A unique way of looking at Barcelona from the Collserola Mountain.

A museum you would never quit visiting.

The Picasso Museum in Barcelona. Metropolitan of New York, British, Louvre…

Your favourite shops.

Santa Eulalia in Paseo de Gracia. Barcelona. Fashion. Its interiors vision is art. The markets in Asia. Multi-department stores in the Ginza district of Tokyo. I love to walk through the inner city and visit its authentic shops.

A restaurant that has something special.

Four Seasons in New York. In the Seagram building designed by the architect Mies Van Der Rohe; with a personal interior design by Mies himself and Philip Johnson. It has Magic and history. For the design, he created a collection of Mark Rothko’s murals that he never ended hanging in the walls of the restaurant.

Some of the authentic Italian restaurants like Little Italy in New York, eating pasta and cinematically exceptional recreating the era of Prohibition. It is the reason for my tribute to those historical moments with Speakeasy of Dry Martini Barcelona. Underground spaces, smoke rings, jazz, boxing, gangsters…

A dish that you would not miss

I am crazy about pasta. Some gnocchi, penne, spaghetti … in different combinations but still al dente. I also love fried chips, and chips with golden head of garlic and rosemary eggs.

Where would you never quit going overnight.

When night comes, my favourite place is my house. I am at home and those moments of decompression, enjoying them in company of my closest people, are unique.

Your favourite hotel

The Savoy in London. Four Seasons in Chiang Mai (Thailand). Square NY. Gran Melia Fenix, Madrid. Maria Cristina, San Sebastian.

A bar that you should not miss.

American Bar at the Savoy Hotel in London. Tender Bar Uyeda teacher in Tokyo. Also the Dry Martini Barcelona. There are many and historical bars.

Your favourite cocktail or drink.

It depends on the time, place and company. A Dry Martini, Negroni, Pisco Sour, Spritz … but there are times when there is nothing more wonderful than fresh water in a glass.

Your favourite movie.

“Last Tango in Paris”. Wonderful trilogy movie, book and music by Gato Barbieri. In Nick Havanna, a unique space I created in 1986, every night during their first two years we ​​closed the evening with a part of the film and its soundtrack.

Fellini: Amarcord, Rome. La Dolce Vita. Orson Welles’ Citizen Kane, The Godfather and Apocalyse Now Coppola. Hitchcock. The Disenchantment of Jaime Chavarri. Taxi driver. Tarantino. Cohen Brothers, Antonioni, Visconti …

The cinematographic world is such a wonderful art that why limit ourselves to just one movie.

A book you would recommend.

When I was young, Kafka, Poe, Dostoyevski, Herman Hesse and Heinrich Böll accompanied me. Now I enjoy thrillers, spies and police novels that distracting me, for example these days I am reading and enjoying “The Cartel” the latest work by Don Winslow.

A writer or artist who excites you.

There are also many. I cannot choose one. Kafka, Picasso, Alberto Giacometti, Le Corbusier, Bogart, Edward Hopper, Robert de Niro, Mies van der Rohe, Coco Chanel, Michael Jackson, Coppola, Maria Callas … and many more. Their works and their lives.

A reason to risk your life.

To save the life of my wife and my children.

With what wouldn’t you spend a second of your time.

The conscious waste of time.

What irritates or annoys you.

Stupidity and arrogance.

The activity, thought or place that you feel identified.

After many years of doing it, and even having in mind that now I cannot exercise it because of the problems in my knee, running in the mountains and through the desert: smells, sounds … the power dialogue with oneself, suffering, effort, struggle, humility…

A quote, phrase or slogan.

Enjoy the great little details that life gives us.

Watching from the positivity and gratitude.