Restaurant in Cornellà del Terri, Spain
Two Michelin nods. €€ prices. Book it.
Can Xapes holds back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition (2024 and 2025) at the €€ price point, making it the clearest value case for serious Catalan cooking in the Girona province. Chef Fabrizio Forno runs three menu formats from a restaurant school housed in a former 1949 cinema, with the original Art Deco bar counter still in place. Book it on a Girona food trip when El Celler de Can Roca is outside your budget or already full.
A 4.7 Google rating across 1,250 reviews is a signal worth taking seriously. At the €€ price point, Can Xapes in Cornellà del Terri has earned back-to-back Michelin Bib Gourmand recognition in 2024 and 2025, which in practical terms means Michelin's inspectors found exceptional food at a price that doesn't require justification. If you're building a Girona food itinerary and want serious Catalan cooking without the €€€€ commitment of El Celler de Can Roca, book Can Xapes first and work outward from there.
Chef Fabrizio Forno leads a contemporary kitchen rooted in Catalan tradition, working from three menus: De Temporada (seasonal), De Cine, and Degustación. The format gives you choice rather than forcing a single tasting experience on every diner at the table, which at this price tier is a genuine practical advantage. The sourcing orientation is local where possible, which in the Girona region means access to excellent produce, from the vegetable-growing plains inland to the coastal ingredients reaching up from the Costa Brava. This is a kitchen operating within a clear, honest frame: Catalan cooking with contemporary technique, built on what's available and good right now. That approach plays well in the current season, when the De Temporada menu has the most to say.
The restaurant school context is worth understanding before you arrive. Can Xapes is part of the non-profit AD' Iniciatives Socials organisation, which uses the restaurant as a training ground for young people with limited financial resources and access to professional training. That means some of the service team will be in training, which is relevant information if you're expecting the frictionless precision of a fully professional brigade. In practice, the warmth and evident care in the room more than compensate, and the food quality is clearly being held to a standard that satisfies Michelin's inspectors two years running.
The building started life as a cinema in 1949, and the original Art Deco-style bar counter from the former Rosa cinema remains in place. This is not decorative nostalgia layered on leading of a generic dining room: the architectural element is structural to the experience. The dining rooms themselves are described as attractive, with the historical connection visible rather than buried. For food-oriented travellers who find context and place meaningful, this is a space that offers more than a neutral backdrop. It also makes Can Xapes an interesting choice for a meal that feels anchored to somewhere specific, which matters when you're already making the trip out to a small Girona province town. Check our full Cornellà del Terri restaurants guide if you're planning a longer visit to the area.
| Detail | What to know |
|---|---|
| Price range | €€ — exceptional value given Bib Gourmand recognition |
| Cuisine | Contemporary Catalan, three menu formats |
| Chef | Fabrizio Forno |
| Awards | Michelin Bib Gourmand 2024, 2025 |
| Google rating | 4.7 from 1,250 reviews |
| Booking difficulty | Easy |
| Location | Cornellà del Terri, Girona province, Spain |
| Address | Carrer de Mossèn Jacint Verdaguer, 2, 17844 Cornellà del Terri |
| Context | Restaurant school; part of AD' Iniciatives Socials non-profit |
For accommodation nearby, see our Cornellà del Terri hotels guide. If you want to extend the trip with local wine, the Cornellà del Terri wineries guide and bars guide cover the rest of the picture. The experiences guide is worth a look if this is a first visit to the area.
Booking at Can Xapes is easy relative to the Bib Gourmand tier in larger cities. The restaurant's location in a small Girona province town means it doesn't carry the booking pressure of urban Bib Gourmand holders in Barcelona or Madrid. A few days' advance notice should be sufficient for most visits, though calling ahead is always advisable if your dates are fixed. No phone number is listed in our current data, so contact through the venue directly or via local booking channels when planning your trip.
The comparison peer group listed here, including Aponiente, Arzak, Azurmendi, Cocina Hermanos Torres, and DiverXO, all operate at €€€€ and represent Spain's top tier of creative and progressive cooking. Can Xapes is not competing in that category. It is operating at a different price tier with a different value proposition, and that is precisely the point. If your question is whether to spend €€ on confident, Michelin-recognised Catalan cooking in a distinctive space or save the €€€€ budget for a different meal on the same trip, Can Xapes makes the €€ case well. For broader context on Spain's contemporary dining tier, the guides to Martin Berasategui, Quique Dacosta, Mugaritz, Ricard Camarena, and Atrio are all worth reading before building a Spain food itinerary.
A few days in advance is generally sufficient. Can Xapes sits in a small Girona province town rather than a major city, so it doesn't face the booking pressure of urban Bib Gourmand restaurants. That said, if your travel dates are fixed, book as soon as they are confirmed. There's no cost to booking early, and the Bib Gourmand recognition does draw visitors specifically seeking it out.
Yes, and at €€ it's one of the lower-risk solo dining decisions in the Girona area. The three-menu format means you can choose the scope of the meal without needing a group to commit to the full Degustación. The Art Deco bar counter also makes this a space with enough visual and historical interest to hold attention at a solo table. For a solo food traveller building a Girona itinerary, it fits well alongside a visit to the broader Cornellà del Terri restaurant scene.
Three things: First, it is a restaurant school attached to a non-profit, so the service experience reflects that training context — expect warmth and care over polished automation. Second, the three menu options (De Temporada, De Cine, Degustación) give you real choice; the seasonal menu is the most responsive to what's current. Third, the space itself, a former 1949 cinema with the original Art Deco Rosa cinema bar counter still in place, is worth arriving a few minutes early to appreciate. The food is contemporary Catalan, Michelin Bib Gourmand-recognised at €€ pricing, which remains the headline reason to make the trip.
At €€ with two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmands and a 4.7 Google score from over 1,250 reviews, the value case is direct. Michelin's Bib Gourmand is specifically awarded to restaurants offering good cooking at moderate prices, so the recognition is directly relevant to the value question. If you're comparing it against spending significantly more at a €€€€ creative restaurant in Barcelona or San Sebastián, Can Xapes is the right choice when you want Catalan cooking done well without the financial commitment of the top tier.
Yes, with the right expectations. The space has genuine character, the Degustación menu gives the meal a structured, occasion-appropriate arc, and the Bib Gourmand credentials mean the food quality holds up as a destination choice. It is not a high-glamour, high-ceremony experience in the way a €€€€ restaurant might be, but the combination of distinctive architecture, serious cooking, and the social mission of the restaurant school gives a special occasion meal here a context and meaning that more conventional fine dining rooms can't match at this price. For contemporary international comparisons in the same spirit, see César in New York and Jungsik in Seoul.
| Venue | Cuisine | Price | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Can Xapes | Contemporary | €€ | Can Xapes is much more than a restaurant thanks to its history (it started out as a cinema in 1949). It is also part of the non-profit “AD' Iniciatives Socials” organisation, which provides work opportunities for youngsters with limited financial resources and access to training. Nowadays operating as a restaurant school, it highlights its links with the past via the original Art Deco-style bar counter from the former Rosa cinema. It also features attractive dining rooms where guests can savour Catalan cuisine with a contemporary feel on three menus (De Temporada, De Cine and Degustación) based, where possible, on locally sourced ingredients.; Michelin Bib Gourmand (2025); Michelin Bib Gourmand (2024) | Easy | — |
| Aponiente | Progressive - Seafood, Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Arzak | Modern Basque, Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Azurmendi | Progressive, Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Cocina Hermanos Torres | Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| DiverXO | Progressive - Asian, Creative | €€€€ | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
What to weigh when choosing between Can Xapes and alternatives.
A week to ten days ahead is usually sufficient. Unlike Bib Gourmand recipients in Barcelona or Girona city, Can Xapes sits in a small Girona province town and does not face the same reservation pressure. That said, weekends around the Girona dining season fill faster, so booking earlier does no harm.
Yes, and the format suits it well. The restaurant school setting and three distinct menus (De Temporada, De Cine, and Degustación) give solo diners a clear structure to work through at their own pace. The Art Deco bar counter from the original 1949 Rosa cinema also provides a natural solo anchor point if you prefer counter seating.
The Bib Gourmand is the headline fact: two consecutive awards (2024 and 2025) at €€ pricing is a strong signal that the kitchen delivers above its price tier. Chef Fabrizio Forno runs a contemporary Catalan menu built around local sourcing, and the three menu options let you calibrate how much you want to spend. The space has a genuine history as a cinema dating to 1949, not a decorative theme.
At €€, two consecutive Michelin Bib Gourmands make the value case plainly. The Bib Gourmand designation exists specifically to flag good cooking at moderate prices, so Can Xapes is doing exactly what that credential promises. If you are comparing it against the €€€€ peers in this region (Arzak, DiverXO, Azurmendi), those are different propositions entirely — Can Xapes is the answer when the question is quality per euro.
Yes, with the right expectations. The Degustación menu gives the occasion a formal structure, and the historic Art Deco setting provides more atmosphere than a standard bistro. What it is not is a high-production tasting-menu experience in the mould of a three-Michelin-star room — if that format matters for your occasion, the €€€€ tier is the correct comparison set. For a meaningful dinner without a four-figure bill, Can Xapes is a credible choice.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
