Barcelona’s coolest restaurants blend traditional Catalan dishes and contemporary sensibilities — and likely serve tapas. Which perfectly describes Telefèric Barcelona, new at Fashion Island. Makes sense: The family that owns it has had restaurants in or near the city, Spain’s second most populous and Catalonia’s capital, for decades. And it for sure serves tapas.

Paellas and tapas prepared by Spanish chefs are presented in an airy, vibrant setting anchored by a buzzing cocktail bar, sunny by day/romantic at night patio dining and front-row views into the open kitchen. Design and decor feature one-of-a-kind pottery by Spanish artisans, while the namesake miniature teleféric — Catalan for cable car — will soon traverse the dining room ceiling.

Most order tapas: crispy crab croquetas, topped with tuna sashimi and caviar on request.

The prettiest: wagyu empanadas! Wagyu short ribs are finished in a vibrant mojo rojo and topped with a Manchego-cheese cracker resembling a lacework leaf.

Most luscious: garlic-infused prawns in olive oil and lemon threads, with ciabatta for dipping.

Jamón ibérico de bellota, made from black Iberian pigs raised on acorns in open grasslands and cured for three years, is practically obligatory; the “5J black label” option elevates the experience.

The patatas bravas — tangy, crispy-fried potato cubes with a pimento-inflected salsa and aioli — have been on Padrosa family menus for nearly 35 years.

The burrata bowl — with cherry tomatoes, seasonal fruit, basil oil and kale chips — is a standout and an ideal stand-alone lunch, especially with add-ons seared tuna filet or smoked salmon.

A half dozen paella styles, the menu centerpiece, range from a veggie version to Our Famous Fiesta Paella, a luxe and larger offering featuring Canadian lobster and fire-grilled American wagyu rib-eye.

Popular paella negra tops its squid-ink-darkened rice with gulf shrimp, scallop and broccolini. The starring lobster paella finds the sweet and tender crustacean flanked by gulf shrimp and octopus. Iberico paella delivers pork chop, pork belly and piquillo peppers plus roast chicken.

Telefèric’s Prime Wellington offers a distinctive take on the British classic: Braised short rib and Iberian ham in the requisite golden puff pastry arrive over gnocchi and potato parmentier, crispy-fluffy cubes.

In the cellar are 200-plus Spanish wines. An albariño or tempranillo by the glass to start can take you worlds away.

Other preludes, and postludes, are alone worth a visit. Gin and tonic cocktails, an art form in Spain, arrive in a balloon goblet. The aromatic Ibiza, gin infused with butterfly pea tea plus kaffir and orange peel, morphs from violet to lavender when the tonic is added.

The decidedly new-world La Flaca — combining mezcal, tequila, green-chile liqueur and prickly pear, topped tableside with a smoke bubble — is the don’t-miss cocktail.

Desserts include the unforgettable torrija — think Spanish French toast — with creme brulee, passion fruit and ice cream. The orange “mochi” is a showstopper in the shape of the fruit served with Valencian orange mousse, citrus jelly and orange crumble. You can order both, along with churros with chocolate and toffee, as a trio.

Meal’s end might bring a porrón, a taste of Barceloneta sangria poured from above directly into the diner’s mouth. The tradition symbolizes shared celebration. Here, it could not feel more appropriate.

Q+A with Telefèric Barcelona’s Maria Padrosa

Telefèric Barcelona traces back to Rondes, a neighborhood spot outside Barcelona where Basque-born chef Soledad Urabayen and her husband, Romon Padrosa, served the skewered Spanish snacks called pintxos. After opening a second location in the city itself, their children, Maria and Xavi Padrosa, expanded the family business to California — with Fashion Island marking its ninth location. We met with Maria to talk tapas, cable cars and more.

Q: Set the scene: What is the Telefèric backstory?
A: My mom had been representing very important artists in Spain. She also comes from the north of Spain, where gastronomy is so important. All our childhood memories, mine and my brother’s, were influenced by both art and food. My mom and dad started Rondes in 1992, the year the Summer Olympic Games came to Barcelona. What Telefèric is now is the result of our lives when we were kids.

Q: What inspired your mother’s transition from art to food?
A: We did! Xavi and I were not good eaters, so she’d be creative. In Navarre, where she was from, everything happens around the table, pre, during and post. You finish eating and you think about what you’re going to do next that’s related to eating. She made every dish special so that we would eat and discovered her own imagination in the kitchen.

Q: How did the name Telefèric come about?
A: They had a miniature cable car at Rondes, “telefèric” in Catalan. People would say, “Let’s go to the place with the cable car.” Actually, it was Xavi and me, when we were very little, who first called it Telefèric, and that was what they called their second restaurant. In Newport Beach, too, you will see the little red and white cable car operating on the ceiling.

Co-owner Maria Padrosa brings decades of Catalan hospitality
to Telefèric Barcelona at Fashion Island.

Q: How would you describe the Telefèric experience today?
A: It is a trip to Barcelona, both for those who have been in Barcelona and for those who haven’t. Sometimes it’s obvious you’re in a Spanish restaurant because there are pictures of bulls on the walls and other stereotypes. The restaurants in Barcelona, how do I say? — they’re not very Spanish. They are innovative, contemporary. We bring the interior design we’d have in Barcelona and let the food be the protagonist.

Q: Is there a dish on the menu that has special meaning for you?
A: My mother’s torrija. Other desserts go in and out, but the torrija stays. It evolves yet remains the same — my mom always suggests new ways to serve it. Not having it on the menu would be like not having paellas; it’s part of the essence of our story.

Q: What drew you to Fashion Island?
A: Xavi and I first saw Fashion Island many years ago and we thought, “Oh my god, this just feels like Barcelona.” Mediterranean, the people, the ambience, the energies, the vibes. We loved it. We felt very, very close to Barcelona, and we thought integrating into this community would be easy. Now that we are here, we know we were not wrong.