The only bad thing about Cal Pep is that it closes after dinner on Saturday and doesn’t reopen until Monday dinner. Swarms of happy people dine on Pep’s small dishes, media raciones (that is, bigger than a tapa and smaller than a racion). There are some Catalan classics among the 70 or so dishes available on a given day, but most are the restaurant’s own inventions—the “atomic” omelet with crumbled sausage, chewy beans, and potent garlic sauce, for example, or baked artichokes stuffed with onions and black olives. Gravel-voiced Pep himself still sometimes plays host, making sure everyone is having a good time and recommending what they should try next. There’s a small dining room in the back, but the real show happens at the counter seats up front, where the friendly waiters will be glad to make recommendations