When I first heard a few months ago that the bid for the new restaurant on top of the Metropol Parasol (aka Las Setas) had been won by Antonio Palomino, owner of Restaurante Puerto Delicia, my first thought was that it was going to end up being some sort of super-posh and inaccessible place like the Abades Group restaurant on the riverbank side of calle Bétis. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Gastrosol opened its doors yesterday on one of the busiest holidays of the year, though still only particially operational, and had over 4,000 visitors. Today I went up to have a look myself.

The Gastrosol space is enormous, with 55 metres of bar and 1100 metres of floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city. But what is even more impressive is the concept. The bar is at the hub of the space and is divided into six sections, each one offering something different: a cocktail and coffee bar, a charcuterie counter, a fried-fish shop and three different tapas bars, with communal seating inside and outside, making it rather like a gourmet  food court. There are also two large salon areas that will mostly be used for private events or, if the bar seating area gets too crowded, as an overflow section.

• Update:  The cocktail/coffee bar, fried fish shop and gastrobar Las Delicias are being run by Antonio Palomino and his team. Gastrobar Seis Sentidos will be run by Flores brothers Federico, José Vicente & Alvaro and Julio Fernández from Abantal. The third tapas bar will be on a six-month rotation so there will always be something new, and the bid for the charcuterie counter is still being negotiated.

It’s still early days and only one tapas bar (Las Delicias) and the cocktail/coffee bar are open at the moment. By next week more of the places should be up and running. I think it’s a great idea, and what could be more accessible? You can stop in for a bit of fried fish, then move on for some charcuterie, then a tapa or two, and finish with a cocktail or a coffee, all the while moving about on the top of the Setas and enjoying some of the best views in town. So far prices look reasonable too! And I’m told that management is working out a system so that people who aren’t residents of Sevilla, and have to pay to go up, will be reimbursed, probably by getting their first drink on the house.

Gastrosol is open seven days a week from noon to midnight.

Will keep you updated. Watch for a write-up on Sevilla Tapas soon!