Meet the Chef with Fer Villanueva
Strolling through the Poblenou neighborhood is always a pleasure. It may be its history, it may be its life or it may be that it preserves the essence of the most modernist and authentic Barcelona - increasingly difficult to find - but, whatever it is, Fer has managed to make this area even more special.
Hoy te invitamos a un café (y un matcha) con Fer Villanueva, quien hemos conocido recientemente gracias a su nuevo proyecto, Bricks. Con ella iniciamos una nueva temporada de Meet the Chef en la que queremos dar visibilidad a personas con historias y proyectos que nos apasionan y con las que conectamos.
Fer nació y creció en Ciudad de México, aunque lleva muchos años viviendo en Barcelona. Su background es totalmente diferente a la pastelería, aunque ha descubierto que es un sector que le apasiona e inspira. Ella estudió diseño de producto y Marketing y todos estos conocimientos y metodologías de trabajo le sirvieron para empezar a diseñar elaboraciones pasteleras increíbles y sobre todo, distintas a lo común.
Esto le impulsó a abrir Bricks, un espacio con un ambiente súper agradable, donde la simplicidad se fusiona con la exploración. Es una cafetería que ha nacido de la pasión de Brenda, su socia, por la comida sana y de la dedicación de Fer en la creación de platos únicos. Juntas han combinado la tradición culinaria asiática junto con elementos de diseño muy minimalistas para crear una atmósfera muy especial.
Entering Bricks means going through its glass door to access a design space, where the light is studied and the furniture is made by themselves - from the counter that welcomes you to the tables to sit at, one of them, larger, shared and made with bricks 🧱 (bricks). Everything is taken care of here: the food preparation, the specialty coffee and even the playlist.
Their menu is a festival of exquisite homemade sweets. Fer's goal is to balance high quality ingredients with subtle design, staying true to his roots and always encouraging creativity. He has the ability to play with flavors of all kinds, from the most neutral to more authentic and daring ones that come from other cultures such as Sichuan pepper, yuzu or Shiso leaf.
They make everything delicious, but if there is one preparation that has captivated us is their Banana Bread, with a light touch of cardamom and vanilla cream. We only have one word to describe it: perfect, and vegan too!
La comunidad que rodea a Bricks comparte su aprecio por la autenticidad y la atención al detalle. Por eso, Fer valora tanto el trato personalizado con el cliente, y también la innovación en el producto, así como experimentar para crear una propuesta gastronómica diferente. Esto lo convierte en un lugar para estar, conectar, que invita a relajarse y perfecto para explorar nuevos sabores.
At Bricks they are continuously exploring new, more conscious and nutritious ingredients, such as inulin, or even alternatives to refined sugar, such as sucrose or honey. So far, Fer has always worked with the trial-and-error method in the creation of new products, and has invested a lot of time to achieve a final result that is excellent.
Although her previous studies have been in a completely different branch, she has also taken several pastry courses in schools where she has learned the most important and basic pastry skills, among them, the Hofmann school.
Having gained a solid foundation in pastry, her next goal is to take our online and extendedB·Concept pastry course. She considers it essential to learn how to formulate her own recipes, know the chemistry behind each ingredient and thus add value to her project.
"You can watch tutorials, but no one explains a method, a trick and how to formulate recipes from scratch. It's something that only you do, and that's what really interests me," Fer says.
We are happy to have met Bricks thanks to our friends and colleagues Kass and Ramón. We hope you enjoy this report recorded by Ramón Pampín.
We really enjoyed talking with Fer and meeting Brenda. We want to thank them for their collaboration in this new installment of Meet the Chef and wish them all the luck with this new project.
We invite you to visit Bricks, a relaxed, warm and familiar place, where you can enjoy a quiet and sensory experience, take a moment to read, meet with friends or loved ones, or simply enjoy your palate.
If you want to know more about the recipe formulation training we offer at our pastry School, here are all the details:
