In recent years, the city of Valencia has shown that it has less and less reason to feel the least bit envious of cities like Madrid either Barcelona, thanks to a gastronomic, cultural and leisure offer that continues to grow by leaps and bounds.
Living Bakkali is one of the latest additions that has not hesitated to join that part of the equation to manage to make the city of Turia a little more attractive. And such a way he made it!
In little more than one month of experience –opened on October 11 at number 9 Calle de Chile, a few steps from the well-known Avenida de Aragón and the Mestalla Stadium– their waiting list it does nothing but show that we have Living Bakkali for a while.
The key to its success? A gastronomic proposal in mediterranean key for all tastes, an environment of those in which to enjoy for hours and a captivating interior design signed by the award-winning and renowned study of spacemask who in recent years have left their mark with their work in countless countries around the globe. Do we go into the Bakkali universe ? The trip promises not to go unnoticed.
Bakkali universe.
IT'S TIME FOR LIVING
Behind Living Bakkali stands a young team, multidisciplinary and with extensive experience in different sectors that have combined all their passions translated into gastronomy, leisure and love for design to create one of those spaces whose visit is not easily forgotten and as soon as they set foot in it, the diner is already thinking about when to return.
“Living Bakkali arises from the need to create a unique, different place. We needed to generate a social and gastronomic space of reference in the city of Valencia, where not only the kitchen has a great role, but also the interior design, the environment and its ability to adapt to the time of day.
The result: a New concept, something that did not exist in Valencia previously and that provokes in the user an experience to enjoy with the five senses”, they comment to Traveler.es from Living Bakkali.
A meeting place.
“The team has put all its desire and effort into creating a different space, in which it consciously seeks to generate visitor who feels at home, surrounded by what makes you feel comfortable and happy”, they add.
The chosen name refers to a nearby tea shop –Chez Bakkali Shisha Rest– located a short walk from this new restaurant that belongs to acquaintances of the promoters themselves and is considered one of the most relevant tearooms and shisherias in Valencia.
And 'Living' requires almost no translation, because the verb 'live' is the common denominator on which all this fantastic proposal revolves: to Living Bakkali you come to live and all that this entails. Creating a familiar, cozy and relaxed atmosphere where day-to-day concerns have no place; acting as an oasis, but this time changing the desert for the heart of Valencia.
**Cecina and Idiazábal croquette**
“Our claim ‘time for Living’ perfectly explains that our guests are capable of switch off as soon as they walk through the door. In short, to live”, indicate those responsible for Living Bakkali.
A UNIQUE DESIGN IN VALENCIA
And that disconnection comes largely from the retailer and, as always, spectacular work done from the study of Masquespacio. In front, Ana Milena Hernández and Christophe Penasse who have made their vocation a profession where they have already left its footprint in cities What Turin, Huesca, Milan, Bologna, Bogota, Bilbao, Madrid, Lyon, Paris, Ibiza… and counting!
“With the decoration we wanted to achieve that the diner is transported to a place inspired by fantastic East, with an aroma and space that evokes the desert and get you to travel to a unique place.
Oriental airs.
To do this, the Masquespacio interior design team got down to work to transmit the magic, the closeness and familiarity that is lived in the culture of the Middle East. They looked for a way recreate the light where there are no windows, getting different sensations to be lived in the same place, with delimited spaces”, they say from Living Bakkali. Said and done.
This is how you enter a space where materials, shapes and lights are intended for evoke that Middle East that is so passionate Since dried flowers, the sensation of desert and warmth transmitted by the earth tones –such as terracotta, beige or sand–, the curvature of the columns, the making of the furniture and even the way you sit.
Design, yes, and delicious bites.
“In the Arab countries it is usual to have a more lounge seat, formerly on the floor and nowadays more in the form of being able to lie down relaxed. This is something that the founders of the project had insisted on us, together with the fact that the corners were individual, but with the possibility of connect a table with the rest and thus invite guests throughout the night to interact with each other as is usual in Arab countries”, they tell Traveler.es from Masquespacio.
A work that began at the end of 2020 and that has taken a total of about ten months to materialize from the beginning of the project. A somewhat longer process than usual that was conditioned by the break that led to the closure of the hotel industry in Valencia at the beginning of 2021 due to the health crisis.
In lounge mode.
“It takes more or less between a month and a half and two months in the design processes and its technical development, while the construction company was in charge of executing the integral project. It's been enough simple in terms of materials, since the premises are mostly made of microcements and mortars. However there was more work in the creation of the forms of the premises, it is a mostly craft work” , add Ana Milena Hernández and Christophe Penasse.
ENJOY WITH THE FIVE SENSES
Once admired the decoration, now t goose sit at the table and taste Living Bakkali with all five senses. "The cuisine we offer reflects who we are, we seek to ensure that the products bring out their best version, giving prominence to the Mediterranean diet that gives us so much flavor and freshness.
With winks to the earth where the place was born, there is a wide variety of dishes designed and developed with great care and gastronomic criteria, giving a more avant-garde touch, but at the same time with more traditional ingredients”, they indicate from Living Bakkali.
Don't miss the rich ribs and cauliflower rice!
This is how in his menu we can find some of his most cutting-edge proposals such as the salad based on aubergine a la llama, sobrassada, honey and arugula; the Cecina and Idiazábal croquette , he already iconic steak tartare bao with creamy egg yolk at low temperature and a three-herb mustard; the melted cheese casserole with dried tomato and black olive; the oxtail cannelloni with roasted pumpkin bechamel or the rib rice and its cauliflower.
And desserts? They are made by and for Instagram lovers. In the words of its own founders: “From the beginning we considered that they had to be very protagonists. The last will be the first! Our bet is for a homemade sweet, very visual and that its flavors explode on the palate in the first spoonful”, they comment. Token your Neula Monster, your Cookie Living and her Pink Panther!
When asked why future clients should not miss out on this oasis in the middle of the city of Valencia, they add: "Because it has been a place created for people to come, enjoy the atmosphere and gastronomy, have fun and relax for a few hours from the hectic lifestyle that we carry and how necessary it is in these times".
In addition, they add: "We had been dreaming of the opening for so long that we did not expect the reception we are having. We've got the next few weeks full, and we want to continue growing alongside our clients to, above all, constantly seek to make them feel comfortable, to repeat and generate an experience that they can only live here, in Living Bakkali”, they sentence.
Without further delay, it's time to make room in our convoluted agenda to book an appointment with the magic of the Middle East. Of course, without leaving Valencia. Let's hurry up, your waiting list is growing by the minute!