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Last week, after meeting the brand new La Fermata restaurant in Provença, I asked myself two questions: why I hadn’t heard about this place before and how I could thank them for the delicious pizza I had the honour of tasting that very evening.
New pizza in Provença
I was walking back home after work when I decided to go for a slice of pizza in a small and very cosy restaurant four steps from La Rambla. After ordering a small portion of arugula and goat cheese pizza, they informed me that I was lucky, as that day, everything was free. Indeed, the restaurant wasn't officially opening until the next day. While preparing the blackboard with the menus, opening boxes and preparing the terrace, they were preparing and offering good-looking pizzas displayed on teglias (trays). In my case, as I find it an almost impossible mission to choose from so many different possibilities, I happily accepted the kind proposal of a varied selection of different pizzas. They put the slices in a take away box and I took them home, where they turned into my improvised dinner. I confess that I enjoyed every last slice: a perfect combination of ingredients atop incredibly delicious dough.
La Fermata secret
La Fermata makes, in my opinion, the best pizzas in Barcelona. After the enormous success of the first restaurant they opened in Sarriá, the four owners have decided to enlarge their universe in Provença, in a very central, easy to reach location. But the philosophy remains untouched: pizza by weight (the aim is to try different types in the same meal, as the Spanish “tapas”), outstanding dough, and fresh and high quality products.
As I found out, the secret of the dough is more than an anecdote. The elaboration process follows the recipe of a famous Italian restaurant, and the result is a crispy yet fluffy dough. The dough is prepared daily and it is then leaved 72h to ferment. This long process guarantees the pizza doesn’t ferment in our stomachs, so it is light and easy to digest.
You will repeat!
Forget those pizzerias with twelve different pizzas (no place there for surprises) and get ready for a place where it is impossible not to be impressed. Every day, they prepare around 50 different pizzas with creative combinations as well as the most traditional and well-known ones, without forgetting the sweet options (even a Nutella one) for desserts.
The main idea of the business is to offer a young environment and an incredible pizza for an affordable amount. The weight system lets you decide which kind of meal you are going to enjoy: an afternoon bit on the go, a luscious Italian dinner, or something to take away.
Their mid-term plan is to open more and more restaurants in different districts of the city, so while you wait for a La Fermata restaurant to open next to your house, check the current venues here. www.lafermata.es