Meet the Chef with Fer Villanueva
Strolling through the Poblenou neighborhood is always a pleasure. Maybe it's its history, maybe it's its vibrancy, or maybe it's because 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.
Today we invite you to have coffee (and matcha) with Fer Villanueva, whom we recently met thanks to her new project, Bricks. With her, we are kicking off a new season of Meet the Chef, in which we want to shine a spotlight on people with stories and projects that we are passionate about and with whom we connect.
Fer was born and raised in Mexico City, although she has been living in Barcelona for many years. Her background is completely different from pastry, although she has discovered that it is a sector that she is passionate about and finds inspiring. She studied product design and marketing, and all this knowledge and working methodology helped her to start designing incredible pastries that are, above all, different from the norm.
This prompted him to open Bricks, a space with a super pleasant atmosphere, where simplicity merges with exploration. It is a café that was born out of Brenda's passion for healthy food and Fer's dedication to creating unique dishes. Together, they have combined Asian culinary tradition with minimalist design elements to create a very special atmosphere.
Entering Bricks means walking through its glass door to access a designer space, where the lighting has been carefully studied and the furniture is made by them—from the welcome counter to the tables, one of which is larger, shared, and made of bricks. Everything is taken care of here: the preparation of the food, the specialty coffee, and even the playlist.
His 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 all kinds of flavors, from the most neutral to more authentic and daring ones that come from other cultures, such as Sichuan pepper, yuzu, or shiso leaf.
Everything they make is delicious, but if there's one creation that has captivated us, it's their banana bread, with a light touch of cardamom and vanilla cream. We only have one word to describe it: perfect. And it's vegan too!
The community surrounding Bricks shares its appreciation for authenticity and attention to detail. That's why Fer values personalized customer service so highly, as well as product innovation and experimentation to create a unique gastronomic offering. This makes it a place to be, to connect, to relax, and to explore new flavors.
At Bricks, they are constantly exploring new, more conscious and nutritious ingredients, such as inulin, or even alternatives to refined sugar, such as sucrose or honey. Until now, Fer has always used trial and error when creating new products, and has invested a lot of time to achieve an excellent end result.
Although his previous studies were in a completely different field, he has also taken several pastry courses pastry schools where he learned the most important and basic pastry skills, including the Hofmann school.
After gaining a solid foundation in pastry, his next goal is to take our extendedB·Concept pastry course. He believes it is essential to learn how to create his own recipes, understand the chemistry behind each ingredient, and thus add value to his project.
"You can watch tutorials, but no one explains a method, a trick, or how to create recipes from scratch. It's something only you can do, and that's what really interests me," says Fer.
We are delighted to have discovered Bricks thanks to our friends and colleagues Kass and Ramón. We hope you enjoy this report filmed byRamón Pampín.
We thoroughly enjoyed this conversation with Fer and meeting Brenda. We would like to thank them for their collaboration in this new installment of Meet the Chef and wish them all the luck in the world with this new project.
We invite you to visit Bricks, a relaxed, warm, and family-friendly place where you can enjoy a peaceful and sensory experience, take a moment to read, meet up with friends or loved ones, or simply indulge your taste buds.
If you would like to learn more about the recipe formulation training we offer at our pastry school, here are all the details:
