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 retains the essence of the most modernist and authentic Barcelona—something that’s becoming increasingly hard to find—but whatever the reason, Fer has managed to make this area even more special.
Today we’d like to invite you for coffee (and matcha) with Fer Villanueva, whom we recently met through her new project, Bricks. With her, we’re kicking off a new season of “Meet the Chef,” in which we aim to highlight people with stories and projects that inspire us and resonate with us.
Fer was born and raised in Mexico City, although she has been living in Barcelona for many years. Her background is completely unrelated to pastry, though she has discovered that it is a field that both excites and inspires her. She studied product design and marketing, and all of that knowledge and those work methodologies have helped her begin designing incredible pastries—and, above all, ones that stand out from the crowd.
This inspired him to open Bricks, a space with a super cozy atmosphere where simplicity meets creativity. It’s a café born out of Brenda’s—his business partner’s—passion for healthy food and Fer’s dedication to creating unique dishes. Together, they’ve combined Asian culinary traditions with minimalist design elements to create a truly special atmosphere.
Stepping into Bricks means walking through its glass door into a stylish space, where the lighting is carefully designed and the furniture is handmade by the owners—from the welcoming counter to the seating areas, including a larger, communal table made of bricks 🧱. Here, every detail is taken care of: the food preparation, the specialty coffee, and even the playlist.
Her menu is a feast of exquisite homemade sweets. Fer’s goal is to balance high-quality ingredients with subtle design, staying true to her roots while always fostering creativity. She has a knack for playing with flavors of all kinds, from the most neutral to the most authentic and daring ones drawn from other cultures, such as Sichuan pepper, yuzu, and shiso leaves.
Everything they make is delicious, but if there’s one treat that has really won us over, it’s their banana bread, with a subtle hint of cardamom and vanilla. We have just one word to describe it: perfect. And it’s vegan, too!
The community surrounding Bricks shares a love for authenticity and attention to detail. That’s why Fer places such a high value on personalized customer service , product innovation, and experimentation to create a unique dining experience. This makes it a place to hang out, connect, and relax—and the perfect spot to explore new flavors.
At Bricks, they are constantly exploring new, healthier, and more nutritious ingredients, such as inulin, as well as alternatives to refined sugar, like sucrose or honey. Until now, Fer has always relied on trial and error when creating new products, and has invested a great deal of time to achieve an excellent final result.
Although his previous studies were in a completely different field, he has also taken several pastry courses pastry various schools, where he has learned the most important and fundamental skills of pastry, including at the Hofmann School.
Having built a solid foundation in pastry, her next goal is to take our extendedB·Concept pastry Course. She believes it is essential to learn how to develop her own recipes, understand the chemistry behind each ingredient, and thereby add value to her project.
“You can watch tutorials, but no one explains how to develop a method, a trick, or create recipes from scratch. It’s something only you can do, and that’s what really interests me,” says Fer.
We’re happy to have discovered Bricks thanks to our friends and colleagues Kass and Ramón. We hope you enjoy this video, which was filmed byRamón Pampín.
We really enjoyed this conversation with Fer and meeting Brenda. We’d like to thank them for their participation in this latest episode of Meet the Chef and wish them all the best with this new project.
We invite you to visit Bricks, a relaxed, warm, and welcoming place where you can enjoy a peaceful and sensory experience, take a moment to read, catch up with friends or loved ones, or simply indulge your taste buds.
If you'd like to learn more about the recipe development training we offer at our pastry school, here are all the details:
