The pizza is already a universal dish. For years, this Italian specialty has made its way into every corner of the world in the form of a restaurant. It is not uncommon to walk through any city, especially Barcelona, and see a pizzeria on every corner. However, just because there are pizzas on the menu does not make it a pizzeria. This is the concept that Rafa Blanc, José Bassols, Lali Rodellas, and Helena Rodellas have brought to life with Pizzabar. The entrepreneurs started in Sant Feliu de Boada (Baix Empordà) and this year they land in Barcelona with very clear ideas: to have an elegant and accessible restaurant where pizza is one of the main attractions, but it is very well accompanied by small dishes, a good wine list, and delicious desserts. All in the Catalan style, with local products and the idea of moving away from the speed of pizzerias to delve into a new gastronomic experience.
"We have created a gastronomic bar around pizza," explains Rafa Blanc, general director of the company in a conversation with The New Barcelona Post. For them, pizza is a dish that is both elegant and accessible, meaning that with competitive prices, great menus can be created. However, the Catalan essence in restoration also draws from sharing, so they add a wide variety of local small dishes with a sophisticated touch to their restaurant. Theirs is not just any pizza, as they did not want to adhere to current trends and avoided Neapolitan pizza with very thick crusts. "We work with thin and crispy doughs," says the entrepreneur, who acknowledges that there is currently a clear trend that is making this kind of pizza, mirrored by the Roman one, resurface.
The origin of Pizzabar is in a village in Empordà, a territory where the founding partners began to bake this project that now arrives in the Catalan capital, on Carrer París. There, however, the rhythm and the public are different. "Many families come and it's a different environment," Blanc points out. In this sense, the challenge is in Barcelona, as the pace is faster and there is very fierce competition. However, it is not an unknown space, as the entrepreneur admits that the Catalan capital "is known" by the partners and is a good city "to consolidate the brand." In this way, if the restaurant in Empordà is linked to an experience more associated with holidays, the countryside and a family atmosphere, Barcelona incorporates a more urban, rogue and dynamic point, also designed for afterwork, dinners with friends and plans that extend into the night.
Fleeing from Neapolitan pizza with very thick crusts
Open seven days a week, Pizzabar tries to give a twist to the concept of having a pizza and wants to ensure that diners can enjoy their meal peacefully. At the same time, however, the founders also wanted to play in an accessible league, with competitive prices that would distance them from everyday gastrobars. "Our idea is to make customers come back," says Blanc. So, it's not about creating a unique experience to live only once, but about trying to get the best products, the best atmosphere and the best price so that people want to come back. Precisely for this reason, the menu is modified and the formulas for making the pizza dough improve over time: "We constantly innovate," the entrepreneur concludes.
Pizza without pizzeria
Pizzabar's proposal revolves around a thin, crispy and light dough made with its own identity. The ingredients of the pizzas are the usual ones, but with Catalan origin. This is not a decision taken just because, as Blanc assures that if they wanted to make the pizza everyone makes, they would have contacted a supplier of Italian products and would have centralized their purchases. Instead, they work with suppliers from all over the country, ingredient by ingredient, to ensure they are of maximum quality, good price and proximity. There is only one exception, the tomato, which comes from Italy.
To the protagonist pizzas, a menu of gourmet tapas is added, also made with local products, with innovative proposals to give an elegant twist to traditional Catalan dishes. For example, they have the head and trotters wonton or oysters with tiger's milk, that is, traditional dishes rethought and served to break with the idea that at Pizzabar you only come to eat pizza.
Innovative proposals to give an elegant twist to traditional Catalan dishes
Although they are not a pizzeria and do not expect to be one, they have opted for some very traditional pizzeria elements: takeaway pizza. For now, they are on some of the on-demand applications that operate in the Catalan capital. Their pizzas and desserts can be found there. However, Blanc specifies that they will not stop there and that "they are doing tests to be able to include the small dishes" in the takeaway lists.
Pizzabar wants to be a meeting point especially for young people. "Dinners with friends, partner or even family," Blanc mentions. Their proposal in Empordà, which remains open, is filled almost every day with regular and new customers. The bet on Barcelona goes along the same lines. A carefully crafted menu, with products made in the kitchen and bought locally, and a whole revolutionary concept. Pizza has already crept into the lives of Barcelonians, but this way of experiencing it is completely new. Pizzabar customers do not have to choose between their favorite food and the desire to have a relaxed moment for a dinner with friends. Pizzabar has arrived in the Catalan capital to revolutionize it with a very new concept and, at the same time, without losing the essence of the products that make us so Catalan.