When I first arrived in Barcelona over 15 years ago, it was hard to find the kind of great bread and pastry I grew up with in New York City. There were the traditional breads from the hundreds of years of multi-cultural influence in Catalonia ranging from the Phoenicians to the Greeks, from the Romans to the Moors, and from the Industrial Revolution boom in Barcelona in the middle of the 19th century to the current cutting-edge food scene of modern Barcelona.
Most of the "everyday” basic bread came from one large source outside of the city that made dull and unappetizing table bread for homes and restaurants. As my interest grew in local cuisine, I began to discover the artisanal bakers certified by the 650 year-old baker’s union, Barcelona’s Gremi de Flequers, which is one of the oldest social societies and unions in Spain. The bakeries and pastry shops that are members of the artisanal bakers' union usually have plaques at their entrances that identify them. There is even a member baker locator on the Gremi de Flequers website!
Happily it is now typical to find an array of both traditional Catalan breads and pastries (ensaïmada, coca, pa de pages, and xuixo to name a few) and modern breads and pastries in homes, restaurants and the many fine bakeries and pastry shops of the city. Here are a few of our favorite bread and pastry shops in Barcelona right now.
Brunells- Carrer de la Princesa 22
This traditional bakery is located on a busy corner of the Born district (Carrer de la Princesa 22) and has its own “tea room” connected to the bakery and close to the Picasso Museum, the MEAM (European Museum of Modern Art), and the MOCO (contemporary art museum).
Funky Bakers – Passeig del Born 10, Carrer del Bailèn 61 and Carrer Disputació 347
A relative newcomer in Barcelona, this truly funky bakery features, breads, pastries and take-out lunch sandwiches and other specialties. It is also the place in Barcelona where I can get my challah and babka fix when I miss New York. They have recently opened a deli and a restaurant in the Eixample district.
Pasteleria Hofmann – Carrers del Flassaders
This pastry shop was opened in 2008 in the Born by the beloved chef and cooking school founder Mey Hofmann (1946-2016) and is one of the finest in Barcelona with a wide variety of specialty cakes and pastries that are works of art.
Turris – multiple locations around Barcelona
Though this is a chain, it has top quality baked goods including pastries, breads and traditional Catalan baked goods. We are addicted to their savory sesame flat bread crackers.
Cleopatra Patiseria - Carrer de Còrsiga 535
This specialty bakery in the Eixample district features an array of authentic MIddle Eastern pastries and is near Sagrada Familia.
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