eLt A B U R e t e (CHEFS & SOMMELIERS ON WINE)
Courtesy of Celia Hernando
Photos: top: Gretchen Thomas; bottom: Sasa Mahr-Batuz.
BARCELONA RESTAURANT GROUP
SPANISH WINES & FOODS SEDUCE NEW ENGLAND
About the author: Celia Hernando is a food, wine and travel writer. She has contributed to several magazines including Spain Gourmetour, Lonely Planet, Ronda Iberia, and Vino y Gastronomía. Celia currently lives in Manhattan.
the Barcelona cookbook, A celebration of Food, Wine, and Life (Andrews McMeel Publishing), by Sasa Mahr-Batuz and Andy Pforzheimer, was released in July, 2009. This colorful book is filled with mouth-watering images, and contains over 200 pages of drinks, tapas, and the most enticing signature dishes of the Barcelona Group. It is available at www.barcelonawine- bar.com, Barcelona restaurants, and major bookstores.
By Celia Hernando
Tapas are going mainstream in Connecticut. This New England state, a stone’s thrown from NYC, is not necessarily a place you would expect a Spanish restaurant to succeed, and yet, Sasa Mahr-Batuz and Andy Pforzheimer are proving the skeptics wrong. What began in 1996 with a tiny, 38-seat wine bar is now – with its six locations – the biggest tapas chain in America. Even so, Barcelona Restaurant Group is not yet complete. The owners strive daily to extend this venture to new territories. Boston? Atlanta? It’s just a matter of time till they do. We sat down with co-owner Sasa and wine director Gretchen Thomas before dinner service to share the story of Barcelona and discover their long lasting love affair with Spain
sasa: Believe it or not, I played tennis at a professional level and, luckily enough, that passion took me all around the globe. My first overseas tournament was in Murcia, Spain. I fell in love with the country, with a beautiful girl whose name I still remember, and with its food, which I had the chance to taste in my different visits during eight years, on and off.
sasa: I was amazed by the lively, informal ambience of tapas bars and the easy dining attitudes of Spaniards. It is as simple as sitting at the bar, enjoying some small plates, having a glass of wine and then moving to the next bar for another round of tapas and drinks! I loved this “ barhopping.”
sasa: Barcelona is a modern, cosmopolitan, pan-European city. As we planned to feature a wide-ranging selection of Mediterranean food and wine we thought Barcelona would be a terrific name, avoiding at the same time any link with South American cuisine, very different from what we do. Fresh, seasonal food and great ingredients are the driving force of Barcelona group.
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