Alex Trelinski
IF YOU think of pizza, then thoughts inevitably turn to Italy, but Spanish pizzerias are having a lot of say over that matter these days.
So much so that Sartoria Panatieri, a pizzeria located in Barcelona, has been declared the best pizza restaurant outside of Italy, according to the prestigious Italian pizza ranking guide, 50 Top Pizza.
The restaurant offers farm-to-table style pizzas and gets the majority of its ingredients from its partner farms located close to Barcelona with notices around the premises saying ‘From Farm to Pizza’.
The restaurant features pizzas with a number of unlikely ingredients including cauliflower, Brazil nuts, and even egg yolk.
Rafa Panatieri, the man behind the pizza and one-half of the Sartoria Panatieri team had an interesting journey into the world of gourmet pizza making.
The chef first discovered his passion for pizza during his childhood in Brazil where he learned to embrace his Italian heritage while cooking with his grandparents.
Panatieri briefly worked as a veterinarian before trading the operating room for the kitchen for good when he opened his now-famous pizzeria in the Gracia district of Barcelona.
Even though Italy is still largely known as a pizza heavyweight, Spanish pizzas have been giving their Italian counterparts some stiff competition, even before Sartoria Panatieri’s big win.
While Italian pizzas focus on the subtle flavours of a few carefully selected ingredients, Spanish pizzas incorporate a myriad of creative elements that bring complementary flavours together.
In addition to the first place spot on the Top 50 list, Spain also snagged six additional spots on the 50 Top Pizza list, more than any other country.
The other honoured Spanish outlets are Frateli Fugurato(Madrid); La Balmesina(Barcelona); Baldoria(Madrid); Demaio(Bilbao): Oro di Napoli(Tenerife); and Infraganti Pizza Bar(Alicante).
