Restaurant in Vilafranca del Penedès, Spain
Michelin-recognised, tasting menu or à la carte.
A Michelin Plate 2025 address in the heart of Vilafranca del Penedès, Vilagut makes a strong case for a lunch or dinner detour from Barcelona at €€€ pricing. Chef Julià Bernet's traditional Catalan cooking, offered à la carte and by tasting menu, is backed by a wine list with genuine regional depth in one of Spain's primary wine appellations. Easy to book, and a natural fit for a special occasion or anniversary meal.
Picture a two-floor dining room in central Vilafranca del Penedès: minimal in decoration, calm in atmosphere, and named after the chef's maternal grandfather. Vilagut earns its 2025 Michelin Plate not through spectacle but through precision applied to Catalan tradition. At €€€ pricing, it sits at the serious end of the local dining market, but it delivers enough technical rigour and wine-cellar depth to justify that position. If you are driving out from Barcelona for a proper lunch or a celebration dinner, this is one of the stronger cases in the Penedès for spending the money.
The restaurant spreads across two floors and reads visually as a study in restraint: minimalist by design, with space to breathe between tables. For a special occasion, that sense of unhurried room scale works in the venue's favour. You are not crammed into a tight bistro corner; the layout gives a meal here the physical grammar of a considered event. The name Vilagut honours chef Julià Bernet's maternal grandfather, and that gesture of continuity with family and place is reflected in the culinary approach: traditional Catalan cuisine cooked with contemporary technique, not a fusion exercise.
The menu offers two routes: à la carte and a tasting menu. For first visits, the à la carte is the more flexible entry point, letting you build a meal around what is seasonally prominent without committing to the full arc of a tasting progression. The tasting menu, by contrast, makes more sense for the special occasion or anniversary visit, when the sequential format adds to the sense of occasion.
In a region defined by agricultural rhythm, the à la carte at Vilagut rewards visitors who time their trip with what the Penedès calendar is producing. The documented highlights include pigs' trotters with langoustine tartare and stuffed morel mushrooms. Morel season in Catalonia runs primarily from late winter into spring, typically February through April depending on altitude and rainfall, which makes that window the stronger seasonal argument for visiting if mushroom cookery is your signal of a kitchen in full form. The combination of pigs' trotters with langoustine tartare is the kind of technically demanding pairing that asks a kitchen to handle both offal and delicate crustacean at the same time; its presence on the Michelin-recorded record for this venue is a meaningful quality indicator.
Outside spring, the kitchen's grounding in traditional Catalan technique means the menu will shift toward whatever the regional season produces next. Autumn brings game and additional wild mushroom varieties; summer tilts toward garden vegetables and lighter preparations. The tasting menu is the more reliable format for tracking the kitchen's seasonal reading in real time, since it is typically rebuilt more frequently than the à la carte core.
Vilafranca del Penedès is the administrative capital of the Penedès wine region, one of Catalonia's primary appellations and the historic heartland of Cava production. Eating at Vilagut without engaging the wine list would mean missing the most locally specific dimension of the meal. The list has been described as meticulously curated, and in a town where producers of the calibre found across the Penedès and adjacent appellations are literally neighbours, that curation should carry real local depth. Ask the floor team for Penedès D.O. recommendations over house pours. For the wider regional picture, our full Vilafranca del Penedès wineries guide is the starting point for pairing a meal here with a producer visit.
Vilagut works well for celebrations, anniversaries, and significant birthdays in the €€€ bracket. The two-floor layout, the calm room aesthetic, and the Michelin Plate recognition give it the credentials to carry a meaningful occasion. It is a more grounded choice than the high-wire avant-garde restaurants in Spain's top tier; the register here is traditional done precisely, not theatrical, which suits diners who want to mark an occasion with a serious meal rather than a performance. Compare it against the city's other serious option, El Cigró d'Or, when deciding which format matches the occasion.
Vilagut is located at Carrer del Bisbe Estalella, 15, in central Vilafranca del Penedès, roughly 45 kilometres southwest of Barcelona by road. Booking difficulty is low: this is not a venue with a months-long queue. Contact directly to confirm current hours and reservation availability, as trading hours are not confirmed in available data. Vilafranca del Penedès is well connected by Rodalies train from Barcelona Sants, making it accessible without a car if you do not plan to extend the day into winery visits. For accommodation options if you are making a weekend of it, see our full Vilafranca del Penedès hotels guide. For the full dining picture in the town, our Vilafranca del Penedès restaurants guide covers the broader field. The bars guide and experiences guide are useful if you are building a full-day itinerary around the visit.
Google rating: 4.7 from 448 reviews. Michelin Plate 2025. Price range: €€€. Booking difficulty: Easy.
Quick reference: Michelin Plate 2025 | €€€ | Easy to book | Central Vilafranca del Penedès | À la carte and tasting menu available.
See the comparison section below for how Vilagut sits against Spain's wider serious dining field.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vilagut | Traditional Cuisine | The name of the spacious restaurant (with a minimalist elegance and laid out on two floors) pays homage to chef Julià Bernet’s maternal grandfather. Her traditional cuisine comes courtesy of an à la carte (we particularly enjoyed the pigs’ trotters with langoustine tartare and stuffed morel mushrooms) and through a tasting menu. As we’re in a region with a great wine tradition, its unsurprising that the choice of wines has been meticulously curated.; Michelin Plate (2025) | 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 | — |
Side-by-side comparison to help you decide where to book.
At €€€, Vilagut earns its price point with a Michelin Plate (2025) and a dual-format offer — à la carte or tasting menu — that gives you real flexibility. The Penedès wine list adds genuine value if you're inclined to explore the region's output. For that spend outside Barcelona, you're getting a more considered, locally-rooted meal than most comparable city options at the same price.
Yes, with caveats on context. The two-floor room, minimalist aesthetic, and calm atmosphere suit anniversaries, milestone dinners, and celebrations better than casual nights out. The €€€ bracket and tasting menu option give it the right register for a significant occasion. It's a better fit for a couple or a small group than a large party.
The restaurant is in central Vilafranca del Penedès at Carrer del Bisbe Estalella, 15 — roughly 45 kilometres southwest of Barcelona, so plan for a dedicated trip rather than a spontaneous visit. It runs both à la carte and a tasting menu, and the wine list is curated specifically around Penedès producers. The room is quiet and minimalist, so it rewards those looking for a focused meal rather than a lively, high-energy evening.
The two-floor layout suggests the restaurant has meaningful capacity, though specific private dining or group booking details are not confirmed in available data. For parties of four or more, check the venue's official channels to confirm seating options. The relaxed, spacious format is better suited to groups than a tight counter-service or single-room setup.
Vilagut holds the clearest Michelin-recognised position in Vilafranca del Penedès for traditional Catalan cuisine at the €€€ level. Specific direct competitors in the same town are not documented in available data. If you're widening the search, the Penedès and broader Catalonia region offer several serious dining addresses, though none combine the local wine focus and Michelin recognition at this price point as directly.
The à la carte is worth considering if you want to pick — the pigs' trotters with langoustine tartare and stuffed morel mushrooms are specifically noted in Michelin's coverage of the restaurant. If you want the full picture of chef Julià Bernet's cooking, the tasting menu is the more structured route. Pair either with something from the Penedès wine list, which is curated to match the region.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
