Da Michele opens his first pizzeria in Barcelona.
How many times have you heard that 'the secret is in the dough? Hundreds, thousands…? You know that not in all cases is fulfilled. Giant, bloated lumps that you can never digest and a heavy feeling in your stomach that haunts you all day. Real pizza dough shouldn't be heavy, What's more, you could eat it throughout the day if you wanted, just like the Neapolitans do.
**The pizza is from Naples **, there even the worst ones taste delicious, even if they don't appreciate it. “The most important thing to make a good pizza is first the dough and then the ingredients, because if you work with good ingredients, you can make a extraordinary pizza ”, explains to Traveler.es Francesco Spinosa, partner of Da Michele in Barcelona.
All the pizzas come out of this oven brought from Naples.
That is the main concept that faithfully accompanies L'Antiga Pizzeria Da Michele , opened by Michele Condurro in 1906 in Naples. Since 1930 it has occupied the premises in Via Cesare Sersale hasn't changed at all, that's why it has become ‘the Sacred Temple of Pizza’.
On December 9 they opened his first restaurant in Barcelona (Consell de Cent, 336) and the public response was excellent. Although yes, as almost always happens in an expansion, they have had to adapt to the local public. How? Creating a broader letter, because At the Da Michele pizzeria in Naples, they only offer two pizzas: the Marinara and the Margherita. But they do not need anything else to conquer your stomach.
In Barcelona you can find three more types of pizza: the Neapolitan, the calzone and the fried pizza. In addition to typical antipasti and sweets, but few because the traditional concept is based on the original idea and in the Neapolitan customs that are to eat and quickly give your place to another person. Something difficult to understand for the Spaniards that we can spend hours and hours at the table.
The interior of the Da Michele pizzeria in Naples.
“Pizza for us is something to share, it is our culture. Here we would like to achieve that, so that there is an empty seat and that if someone goes alone they can sit down”, says Francesco Spinosa, partner of Da Michele in Barcelona.
Another of his wishes is to be able to put into practice the concept of 'caffé sospeso', a Neapolitan solidarity tradition in which the consumer pays for his coffee and leaves another paid for someone who cannot afford it. "Next Christmas we want to make the 'pizza suspects' together with Cáritas. We invite those who cannot afford pizza and people during the year can collaborate with whatever they want”.
In Barcelona you can try the two authentic pizzas from Naples.
One of its main strengths is that you will only find Neapolitan waiters and cooks . In addition to a traditional oven at the entrance where you can see how the pizzas are made, but yes, if they go wrong they don't make it to the table. Another peculiarity is that one of its best clients is Julia Roberts , that's why you will find a huge photo of her savoring one of her favorites, that of mozzarella.
Their expansion is still running, after arriving in Rome, where they literally ran out of mass of the success they caused, they have also reached Tokyo, London and Milan, the last expected stop will be Madrid. And we are already waiting for it.
All the cooks at Da Michele are Neapolitans.