Jill Biden dines at Bay Area restaurant during APEC visit

“We were honored to host First Lady Jill Biden and her guests at Teleferic Barcelona in Palo Alto this week,” restaurant manager Maria Teresa Paya told SFGATE via email. “She enjoyed a selection of our signature tapas and beloved paellas.”

The Barcelona-founded Spanish restaurant with four California outposts (three in the Bay Area) features an array of traditional tapas items, such as pan con tomate, patatas bravas and jamon Iberico. However, it also serves more fusion-y items like beef meatballs in a “canary masala” sauce, and taquitos with marinated ahi tuna and mashed avocado, as well as “Iberian sliders.” The restaurant is also known for its grilled octopus, or pulpo, and sangria and gin and tonic programs.

Founded in 1992 by sibling business partners Maria and Xavi Padrosa, the two made a conscious effort in 2013 to expand in “small, upscale cities,” according to the Mercury News.

“I’ve never liked big cities,” Xavi Padrosa told the Bay Area News Group in 2021. “I like small cities where the people really value what you’re bringing from another place.”

If hosting FLOTUS was ever in their wildest dreams, the concerted plan to open in wealthy suburbs seems to have worked, as the Peninsula is well-known for its donor-heavy campaign fundraisers. And, after all that schmoozing, a FLOTUS gotta eat.