In Barcelona there is little room for magic but some remains and in the city that burns everything and expels young people with abusive rents the oldest bakery in the city has reopened thanks to the faith of a young woman who has dared to take the helm of a place that, like so many others, was about to disappear.
Anna and Judith, friends from high school, had their first job while they were training as pastry cooks in La Estrella, a bakery in the Raval that is one of those that are not left, with a modernist look but much older than modernism. A bakery in Nou de la Rambla that was born in 1825, when Barcelona still had walls, Nou de la Rambla street was called Conde de Asalto and did not end at the Paralelo, as it does now, because the Parelelo did not even exist yet.
After that first job, they went their separate ways, but a few months ago they met again by chance. Anna, who, like Judith, had continued to buy the tortells and sweets for the holidays at La Estrella years after having worked there , found in November that the bakery was being transferred due to retirement.
In a movie-like hunch he felt he had to take over, so he contacted the owners, then called Judith and proposed to take over the store while she took over the bakery. It was a done deal. On November 30, La Estrella, 200 years old, reopened with two 25-year-old owners.
Since then, the store is a small success, which will surely grow with the news that are coming out about its history, and that show that in Barcelona sometimes there is room for hope.
What to eat at La Estrella?
For the time being , Anna continues to make the traditional pastries that have satisfied Barcelona’s stomachs for two centuries. “The most we sell are croissants, to the neighbors who come for breakfast.” Besides, “we have many flavors, one for each”, so there is a good option for breakfast in the Raval.
Besides, the classics, coques de vidre i de llardons, palemeres, brazos de gitano…. On the other hand, brownies, cheesecakes or carrot cakes designed for the tourist public, which there are also.
In short, Barcelona has recovered a part of its heritage (in fact the place has the maximum protection) thanks to two neighboring bakers (Judith and Anna are from Sant Antoni), who have wanted to bring out of oblivion a beautiful place that tells the history of the city. Hopefully the city will learn from them.