The traditional beach bar returns to Patacona.
Valencia looks at the sea again. And it has been doing it again for a few years with the rebirth of its Poblats Marítims and, specifically, with the recovery of the historical jewel, the neighborhood of Cabanyal-Canyamelar. Its houses of a thousand and one colors, dotted with traditional ceramics, today they rub shoulders with spaces that have greatly revalued the neighborhood. We already told Traveler.es that Cabanyal is the neighborhood chosen by The Guardian as one of the coolest in Europe.
And precisely there, on the beach of La Patacona, a new space has been born that comes to claim the usual beach kiosk, those picnic areas that dotted the Valencian coast and of which there are hardly any examples left. Is named La Playa de Moda and comes to postulate itself as the definitive chiringuito.
Paella, sandwiches, beer... at La Playa de Moda.
But first, let's get to know who is behind this project, because their trajectory is long. La Playa de Moda is the latest bet of businessman Jose Miralles, with a few concepts behind him such as Brassa de Mar, Mercabañal or La Alegría de la Huerta. “Our trajectory comes from inheritance of our parents, who had the La Alegría de la Huerta picnic area, which was one of those made of sheet metal and hurdles and only for the summer season”, explains Jose Miralles to Traveler.es. His parents and his whole family have had fish stalls in the Cabanyal Market, hence the attachment to the neighborhood.
From that first ephemeral space, the current one was born La Alegría de la Huerta, a restaurant on the Malvarrosa beach. “My sister Mª Ángeles and I created another, more up-to-date concept, with a kitchen of local products, from the Alboraya orchard and the sea. This is how we created Brassa de Mar, a rice restaurant on La Patacona beach”, remember him.
Pure Mediterranean summer, in Patacona.
He didn't stop there, for his next project he allied himself with Hugo Cerverón, closely related to the world of surfing and a lover of the sea and gastronomy, which runs the Mediterranean Surf School also in the same Patacona. “Our paths crossed and we created a concept in Cabanyal, Mercabañal, a very neighborhood concept”, he recounts. In just two years open, it has positioned itself as essential, as a gastronomic and leisure market, where the same you can enjoy an esmorzaret, a very fresh beer, a picaeta with Valencian flavor and even visit an exhibition in La Saleta, its small room where they welcome different artists.
It is also with Cerverón that this new bet has arisen. “We had the possibility of setting up the beach bar that we used to put in front of Brassa de Mar, but we came up with the idea of going back to those 70-80s, of what these beaches were like and being able to set up a picnic area, recreating what the ones that existed back then were like”, he shares with Traveler.es.
That was how, with a photo album in hand, of those that his family and his parents kept, they got down to work to set up the picnic area of La Playa de Moda, just as they were in the past, in the shape of barraca and materials such as wood and hurdle. Pure nostalgia come back to life.
Why this name? "Because we want to make fashionable what has never gone out of style, what has been around for a lifetime in our neighbourhood... We are in what is considered the fashionable beach in Valencia and we wanted to follow that path.” And with what they do They have been accumulating full daily all summer. Because yours is different is to take the beach bar and picnic area to the next level.
La Playa de Moda has a nearby bakery space where brunch is prepared.
And it hasn't been easy, because the law in Valencia does not allow beach bars to have a kitchen on the sand. “We have been very daring because here cooking in a beach bar is impossible, so we have taken a restaurant in Patacona itself that serves as a workshop to make the gastronomic menu that we serve in the picnic area”, Miralles tells us.
So in this space that is like moving to the Valencia of yesteryear, They have opted for a traditional menu, which ranges from the aperitif with potatoes, olives and tramusos, to lunch with fried fish, bravas, clóchinas, Russian salad, esgarraet or cuttlefish with Mery sauce. But without any doubt, The great success of La Playa de Moda is the paellas, because there is nothing like “returning to that feeling of being barefoot, touching the sand and eating a paella”, clarifies Miralles and we do not take away an iota of reason. A banda rice, a senyoret, Valencian paella... to drink with a sangria or with a glass of wine and soda or beer and finish with their homemade desserts and trendy coffee, which is none other than the cremaet of all life.
On weekends the offer changes and they bet on 'the set table menu' for 35 euros. “In the past, in picnic areas, people ate like this. You arrived and ate what was available because there was no menu. We have three menus, one for each day of the weekend, which they vary and each one has starters and a type of rice or fideuá”, they need.
In addition to the picnic area, they manage the hammocks and umbrellas in the area in front of the beach bar, in which they have a menu of sandwiches, sandwiches and salads, of "those things that can be eat comfortably on your own deckchair”, for those who want to continue roasting in the sun. And hey, it's a great plan too. Tortilla sandwich, roasted pepper and alioli, grilled cuttlefish, a blanc i negre with ratatouille or the 'La moda' sandwich of veal figatell, a Caesar salad or a tomato with garlic and chili peppers are just some of the things that can be enjoyed while still looking at the sea.
Eating a paella with your feet in the sand doesn't sound bad, does it?
In the place that serves as a workshop, very close to the picnic area, They want to position themselves as a benchmark for breakfast and brunch in the area. It also responds to the name of Playa de Moda and you can just enjoy some benedict eggs or pancakes with fruit, which their brunch or Patacona breakfasts with a display of delicacies to start the day with energy.
And not only that, because They offer a menu of bowls, both hot and cold, sandwiches, burgers and tapas. “Now in summer people bet on touching the sand, but this place in September, we are sure that it will fly alone”, ends Jose Miralles. And we, we are 100% sure that it will.
Address: Paseo Marítimo de la Patacona, 71 See map
Telephone: Picnic area: 691 242 639. Restaurant: 652 312 069