“Welcome to the Hotel California, such a lovely place…”. As soon as you set foot on the Passatge Pere Calders, the Eagles song is heard in the background and a room with high ceilings opens completely to the street. Inside, a cocktail bar presides over the place, and the feeling is that you have just entered one of those busy venues in the New York neighborhood of Brooklyn. Until the pasta and gnocchi arrive on the table and you no longer know where it is. As strange as the mix may seem, this is Benzina: Italy and Brooklyn in Sant Antoni.
Badr Bennis says that the place had everything he was looking for when in 2018, after seven years of experience in the W hotel chain, he decided to open his own business. He completed the list of requirements when a few months later he replaced the then cook with Nicola Valle, an open-minded traveler like him, and later (they just turned five years old), with a team in the room led by Claudio Rapisarda that enriches the experience that is Benzina.
The decoration on the walls evokes that New York spirit that Bennis and Valle fell in love with as residents of the Big Apple, although there are also nods to the original space that this place occupied, a mechanical workshop, with engine parts on the shelves and that imposing painting of a burning car that, in turn, gives it a rock appearance.
Because music is “an essential part of Benzina,” says Bennis, and it also serves as an excuse to play some of her favorite records from her adolescence. Rock and roll from the 60s and 70s that favors that relaxed and fun atmosphere, as does the lighting (we recommend going to the place at night), and that is present even on the menu: Simone Lofino's cocktails name classic songs and artists of the time. We ordered a Starman, a David Bowie song from 1972, vodka macerated with lemon, licorice, raspberries and meringue; and an American Pie, from Don McLean, just for peanut butter lovers.
Eating with cocktails is typical of cities like New York, which has influenced the project so much. Bennis defines it as “an Italian restaurant, modern and open to trying new things.” This is proven by dishes such as the delicious eggplant 'alla parmigiana' with parmesan ice cream (which they buy at Cremeria Toscana, on Muntaner street) or the sferamisu, which is nothing like the nonna recipe.
The international influence of the chef, born in Brescia, also weighs on the menu, with dishes such as linguine with lobster, avocado foam and cardamom oil (pasta with avocado?). Valle explains that his Latin American colleagues in New York used it to add a fatty touch to the 'aglio' pasta. “My mother wouldn't let me eat that,” he confesses, although when he did, his way of understanding cooking changed completely, he broadened his horizons and was right when he added avocado to some linguine.
A reduced menu (antipasti, five pastas and a risotto, two meats and two fish and desserts), which changes almost completely every two months, allows them to work with a fresher product and give greater prominence to creativity. The carbonara is one of the house's star dishes, but we tried the rigatoni with duck salmi, capers, olives and parmesan. We leave meat and fish for another occasion, but not the sweet note, which is provided by the millefeuille with pastry cream, peach and basil.
In the wine section, we find around thirty references, all Italian, which vary depending on the tastings they do weekly to discover new proposals. Although on a first visit it is better to jump into the cocktails and save the wines for when you go to Doppietta - Bennis and Valle's other project, right next door -, which will pair better with the traditional Italian cheeses and sausages they offer, and which It will serve as plan B in the event of not finding a table (something common if it has not been reserved).
