The FOCO team outside the bar on Carrer de l'Encarnació.

Who we are

FOCO is short for Foreign Correspondents. A neighbourhood bar in Gràcia since December 2022.

01 · The idea

“We want people to come to the bar and leave having met someone.”

Theo Thomas, co-founder

Foreign correspondents' clubs, the best known being the one in Hong Kong, were where journalists, travellers and locals drank together and swapped stories. We wanted a bar that works the same way, where you come in with friends and leave having met someone.

02 · The first correspondents

Where it started

Tom Godfrey

Co-founder

Started at Red Light in Bristol, then opened Filthy XIII. Moved to Barcelona in 2020, ran the kitchen at Carlos & Matilda and bartended at Two Schmucks before opening FOCO.

Theo Thomas

Co-founder

Started bartending in Brighton, then Red Light in Bristol. Moved to Barcelona to run Carlos & Matilda in the Gothic Quarter, then worked at Paradiso before opening FOCO.

FOCO opened with the two of them. Today it is a team of bartenders and hosts, at home in Gràcia and on guest shifts around the world.

More about Tom and Theo

03 · The lineage

One family tree

New York · London
Milk & Honey
Sasha Petraske opens Milk & Honey in New York in 2000. It sets the standard for the modern cocktail bar. London follows in 2002.
Bristol
Red Light
Run by a former Milk & Honey head bartender. Tom and Theo work there together for two years.
Barcelona · 2020
Carlos & Matilda, Paradiso, Two Schmucks
A neighbourhood bar, then two of the best bars in the world.
Gràcia · 2022
FOCO
Our own bar, on Carrer de l'Encarnació.

04 · How we make drinks

Complex prep, simple serve

Every drink starts from a classic you'd recognise, like a sour, an old fashioned, a highball or a martini. We rebuild it with modern ingredients and technique, often splitting the base across two or three spirits.

Most of the work happens before service, so your drink comes out quickly and doesn't need explaining.